Yes, you got yourself a bargain with the Savage, and from what I hear they build those rifles RIGHT. I'll just assume you can measure powder to at least .05 grain accuracy, and leave it at that. After all, with the 50 BMG your accuracy only has to be +/- 1/2 scoop!!!
This is the drivel Berger originally released on their bullet in 2010. I was "just" shooting the relatively puny .338 RUM, but had the reported problems and let them know about it. Of course I never heard back from them.
http://www.bergerbullets.com/update-regarding-the-338-hybrids/Another honked off customers BESIDES me....
http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f17/i-am-very-dissapointed-berger-bullets-regarding-338-hybrid-bullet-57561/This is the Berger manual that came out in 2012, TWO YEARS after the .338 Hybrid SNAFU, and look at the index of calibers: Hmmmm - Nothing above .300"....
http://www.bergerbullets.com/reloading-manual-cartridge-list/http://www.bergerbullets.com/reloading-dataHowever, note in the ad above .338 cartridges have been included. If you click on the links and go to the PDF format data on your computer, please check out the 338 RUM data. With the Berger hybrid bullet, the max load of Retumbo is 87.3 grains, and the velocity is 2611 FPS. Unfortunately, this data does NOT line up with the Sierra manual, where the max 338 RUM load with the 300 grain SMK is listed as
93.6 grains and 2750 FPS!! As such, the Berger MAX 338 RUM load data is 140 fps SLOWER and 6.3 grains LIGHTER than the Sierra data. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
Okay, please sit at your computers, strap yourself in, and put on your oxygen mask for this revelation.
I just figured out this next part 30 minutes ago, and I am in shock. I did a Google search for "problems with Berger 300 grain hybrid bullet", and got a list of hits, and I have already shown you one of those above. This one has a rather familiar ring to it:
http://www.mnguntalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=15140 (Don't bother to read it now, or later for that matter, I'm still the same Curmudegon that you love to hate.)
Now I DO remember that this post was back there somewhere, but I didn't realize that nearly 7 years have since passed since I wrote it.
The real shock here is the following graph from 7 years ago, COUPLED with the Berger loading data from years later for the 338 Ultramag:
http://www.mnguntalk.com/download/file.php?id=5167&mode=viewThis is the graph of my chrono testing of the Sierra and Berger 300 grain bullets. The RED squares were the 1st Berger loads I shot, and they kicked like a mule, and the velocity was dead flat. I knew something was very wrong, stopped, and disassembled all the remaining loads. I then made up another string of Berger loads starting at 89.0 grains, and worked up in 1/2 grain increments as before. The first loads seemed normal, but then the hard recoil started coming back, and I called it a day.
The following is from my initial post in 2010: I went back and loaded up 5 shot strings starting at 89.0 grains of Retumbo, with the powder weight increasing in half grain increments up to 91.5 grains. Back to the range I went with a chrono with a new battery, and the results are shown as the dark blue data on the first graph. When I first looked at the velocity averages I thought I had a nice linear trend going, but my trendline said otherwise, and I had an INCREASING rate of velocity change. This is NOT good, as when the data curve is starting to accelerate that can mean your pressures are also starting to jump faster and faster, and that can lead to very bad things. Just for the sake of doing it, I projected this trend up to 92.5 grains, which was the starting point for my first string where the velocity was oddly constant and the gun was beating me up. Gee, would you believe they match up perfectly?? So, I have data that shows an ACCELERATING velocity trend, which normally indicates that your velocity may REALLY spike along with the pressure and blow the case and/or the gun if you continue, but I ALSO have data at a HIGHER loading that shows a CONSTANT velocity with increasing pressure in the first string. Normally, these two trends are mutually exclusive. Unless, of course, the bullet is deforming and creating so much additional friction that no amount of increased pressure can blow it out of the barrel any faster.
To sum this all up, I discovered TONIGHT that it looks like Berger may have taken my data (and or replicated it on their own) and then simply cut off the data above where the bullet slump started, and called THAT the max load!!! The velocities don't line up, but my data is for bullets bore seated 20 mils back, while the Berger data would have to be shorter to fit the magazine of the test rifle, so their velocities would have been higher and the slump would have started at lower charge weights.
In conclusion,
O M G.....