SHOT Show Report: Berger Crafts Hybrids in More Calibers
The big news at Berger Bullets for 2011 is the Hybrid. No, Walt isn’t switching to a Prius… but Berger IS committing to the dual-shape hybrid design for a full range of calibers. The hybrid design combines a secant ogive (VLD-style) profile in the front of the bullet, with a tangent profile further back. This gives bullets the high BC of the VLD-style bullets, but the tangent section makes the bullets less sensitive to small variations in seating depth. The tangent ogive is a more gentle curve. Tangent ogive bullets, generally speaking, are more “forgiving” or easier to tune. They also will stay in tune better as a barrel throat erodes.
What Berger has done with the hybrid bullet is put an easy-tuning geometry on the part of the bullet that actually engages the rifling, while using a more streamlined front end for improved ballistics. This hybrid design was introduced in 2010 with hybrid 7mm and .338 bullets. Both new hybrid designs proved very successful. The hybrid designs were developed with significant design input from Bryan Litz, Berger’s ballistician. Before Bryan signed on with Berger, he literally worked as a rocket scientist, so he knows something about low-drag shapes. In the video below, Bryan explains why Berger will introduced more hybrid bullets in more calibers, in the months ahead. Bryan also talks about other products Berger has in the works, including its much-awaited reloading manual.
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Tags: Berger Bullets, Bryan Litz, Hybrid, Ogive, Secant, Tangent, VLD
I found it amusing that the interviewer was careful not to talk about the .338 hybrid and only mentioned the success of the 7mm but Bryan threw them together and said they were both “successful”. Maybe he forgot that the 338’s were a total disaster and their item # was yanked within a month of their release. That’s not successful in my book. Honesty in business is one of those things going away at an alarming rate.
The 300 Hybrid was not a disaster. I’ve shot two boxes of 500 each without issue. The failure you may be falsely speaking of was with reloaders pushing the pressure of their cartridge beyond design limits. Berger has since thickened the Jacket to accommodate those folks. My 338 Lapua at moderate velocities of 2775fps in the 300gr weight has been extremely accurate and reliable. I’ve had virtually 100% hits on steel inside of 1000 yards and successful to 1830 yards on several occasions.
“Caveat Emptor”(buyer beware) is not a new concept. Nor is there anything new under the sun. Did you think the marketing practices of the firearms industry avoided tactics of sensationalism? That would be naive and
gullible. How about the gun shops and scribes telling everyone they should be spending more on their scope than their rifle? Or that rangefinder or spotting scope? And you just to buy these bipeds and bench rests. You got to test 5 different brands of ammo in that new rifle. A trigger job and bedding is a must. Sound familiar?LMAO And so many buy into it-pardon the pun. Firearms products Salesman/marketers separate others from their money with the best of them. No crime though. I’m always happy to see people spending their money on all of the aforementioned. It shows a distinct and devoted interest in firearms. Hence support of our sport.