Berger Bullets 30 cal BT - 4 NEW BULLETS

[Eric Stecker]

As many of you know several shooters are testing four different 30 cal heavy BT (non-VLD) Berger Bullets. First, I want to thank those of you who spent your time and components helping us with this project. I am eager to see results from those who have not reported in yet.

The feedback we received compels me to officially add these bullets to our line.

Announcing the addition of four NEW Berger Bullets!!

Berger 30 cal 155.5 gr BT Palma BC = .486
Berger 30 cal 175 gr BT BC = .528
Berger 30 cal 185 gr BT BC = .570
Berger 30 cal 210 gr BT BC = .647

These bullets, like all our BT bullets, are designed to be an alternative to the VLD. The BT bullet is made with a tangent ogive, which proves to be less sensitive than the VLD (VLD bullets use secant ogives). The BT design is meant for those who do not have the time or desire to tune their loads as much as is sometimes needed when using the VLD.

Also, the BT bullets typically shoot well when seated off the rifling. This is useful for those shooters who feed through a magazine or do not want to stick a bullet in their barrel if they have to extract a live round.

For clarity sake, when the VLD bullets are dialed in they typically perform better in flight (higher retained velocity, less drop and wind drift). Also, our VLD design is proven to be very effective on big game. The BT bullets behave differently on game and are not recommended for hunting.

Our dealers were notified yesterday (3-26-08). Some will be set up to accept orders sooner than others. If you find that your dealer is not taking orders for these bullets yet you can place orders directly with Berger at 714-447-5456 to insure getting some from the next production runs. It is important to note that our prices are a bit higher than our dealers.

The production run for the 30 cal 155.5 gr BT Palma will be first. These should be ready in 2-4 weeks. The rest will follow and should be made in the next 6-8 weeks.

Regards,
Eric

 

[Tod Soeby]

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For clarity sake, when the VLD bullets are dialed in they typically perform better in flight (higher retained velocity, less drop and wind drift). Also, our VLD design is proven to be very effective on big game. The BT bullets behave differently on game and are not recommended for hunting.

Regards,
Eric

I am a little fuzzy on the whole physics thing and the BC thing......two questions.

1) If you fire two 30 cal 210 bullets at xxxx fps, how can the old vld (BC 631) have a "higher retained velocity, less drop and wind drift" than your new 210 BT (BC 647) ??

2) What would make the new BT a less effective hunting bullet than the old VLD (which is fantastic, I might add)???

Just curious.

 

[Roger T]

Eric, I'll have my report in tommorrow on the 185s , Thanks again for the chance to test these fine bullets

 

[Eric Stecker]

1) If you fire two 30 cal 210 bullets at xxxx fps, how can the old vld (BC 631) have a "higher retained velocity, less drop and wind drift" than your new 210 BT (BC 647) ??

2) What would make the new BT a less effective hunting bullet than the old VLD (which is fantastic, I might add)???

Tod,

My comments were meant for those who do not know of or understand the difference between VLD and BT designs in general. The original post was listed on many different forums with lurkers of every conceivable knowledge level. Leave it to the BRcentral.com crowd to spot this right off the bat.

The development of the 30 cal BT bullets has been quite surprising since as you have noticed the BC of these bullets is higher than the 30 cal VLDs of similar weights. Initial testing shows that these higher BCs are proving out with slightly less drop observed by some.

The 30 cal VLD are not quite as streamline as the VLDs is other calibers. Bill Davis designed all our VLDs (except the .270 cal) so the reason for the difference is his. My guess is that he made compromises for the fact that many 30 cal rifles are mag fed or he was trying to minimize the sensitve nature of the VLD. It may be related to balance.

I will watch this situation with great interest. We have no plans of changing our 30 cal VLD design given its successes. If the 30 cal BT bullets become the overwhelming favorite then maybe a more streamline 30 cal VLD is needed for those who want higher BCs but don't mind dealing with the sensitve nature of VLDs. (Maybe a 240 gr...time will tell)

Regarding VLD vs. BT for use as hunting bullets I can share that when the VLD was first used regularly by the hunting TV show The Best of the West they reported that when they used the BT bullets the animals were not as quick to drop as they would when hit with VLDs. Testing in media shows that the BT bullets behave differently than VLDs. We are keeping this difference quiet since we consider it a competitave advantage.

Since the BT behave differently in media combined with the reports from The Best of the West we will continue to suggest our VLD bullets only on game.

Regards,
Eric