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My trials with Berger 185's have not been as convincing as the figures predict so I am planning on returning to a 155 / 155.g projectile.

I was trying to research which 155 to go for when I found mention that Brian Litz has written an article on the current stable of 155's, apparently saying that despite the cost they are all more or less similar with which one your rifle likes best being the deciding factor.

I have not been able to find that article, does anyone have a link?

I would also be interested in hearing if anyone has done any trials with the various 155's

DM

Just out of interest, how did you find the 185s lacking?

On paper the Berger 185's should be head and shoulders above the 155's. In practise I did not find them to be any better. Considering the extra expense and difficulty in obtaining I am seriously tempted to return to the SMK's at almost half the price.
I discussed this with Eggernoskill, who is a little more scientific in recording his own scores and he confirmed my own feelings.

DM

No better in terms of vertical spread you mean? I haven't found them to better a good 155 in terms of group size, but as long as you can get close you then have an advantage over the wind. Or were you getting flyers?

I've tested several 155s but I'd hesitate to recommend any one particular type because you do really need to find out what's best for your barrel, as Bryan says.
Generally, though, the good old SMK 2155 is near or at the top for a lot of people.

Dangermouse wrote:On paper the Berger 185's should be head and shoulders above the 155's. In practise I did not find them to be any better. Considering the extra expense and difficulty in obtaining I am seriously tempted to return to the SMK's at almost half the price.
I discussed this with Eggernoskill, who is a little more scientific in recording his own scores and he confirmed my own feelings.

DM

ENS and I shoot a very similar load.

Both using Berger 155 hybrids that are batched by BS, weighed, pointed etc.

They seem quite tolerant to jump (mine are doing 36thou) but can be a bit fussy seating (We think it is the portion of the nose past the ogive not being consistent) giving some weird discrepancies in OAL.

I shot 2 loads with both the hybrids and the 155.5s one after the other.

Both shot very well, but the hybrids were tighter and took less wind.

Otherwise I will stick to 2156 SMKs for anything other than LR comps.

He talks on several here

http://www.appliedballisticsllc.com/ind ... Scenar.pdf

Thanks, thats an interesting read but I can not see which SMK's he tested, is it there but i'm not seeing it?

DM

How is availability of the 155 hybrids holding up? I was tempted to look at the 168s as I assumed 155s would be tricky by now. Have been shooting up old bullets as new ones are ... expensive, and I've got quite a stock from years of 10 or 20 here and there...

Mark (1967 spud) has them in stock.