Berger Releases SAAMI-Compliant ‘Classic Hunter’ Hybrids
Berger Bullets has announced a new series of “Classic Hunter” Hybrid bullets designed to fit and feed in magazines and perform well in barrels with SAAMI standard chambers. Berger’s Eric Stecker explains: “For the first time in Berger’s history we’ve purposefully designed Hybrid-shaped hunting bullets that comply with the restrictive dimensional standards set by SAAMI. We did this so that hunters can shoot ammo loaded with Berger Hunting bullets in their factory rifles while feeding through a magazine.”
Berger came up with a new hunting bullet design because SAAMI standard dimensions significantly limit the length of the nose (negatively affecting external ballistics performance) in two ways. First, the length from the end of the neck to the tip of the bullet of SAAMI standard ammo is typically so short that to make an ogive that will allow bearing surface to be forward of the neck it must be blunt and therefore have a low BC. The other way SAAMI limits nose length is by specifying longer throat lengths than are optimal. Stecker notes: “When you have a long throat, the nose can’t be too long or the jump to the rifling is considerable. This is typically bad for precision and accuracy. So what you end up with is stubby nose bullets with low BC and poor external ballistics performance.”
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To overcome SAAMI-imposed design contraints, Berger’s Bryan Litz designed Hybrid hunting bullets with noses short enough to conform to SAAMI dimensional standards. These bullets should be popular among those who hunt with factory rifles and feed their ammo through a magazine. The bullets use a dual-curve ogive design. As you move forward along the bearing surface, the ogive curve starts as a tangent tangent curve (which is forgiving of seating depth). As you continue forward on the nose the tangent curve transitions into a secant curve. Secant ogives are known to be more efficient in the wind (VLD bullets are pure secant ogives).
Eric Stecker is enthusiastic about the new Hybrid Hunting Bullets: “We know that this bullet design works [well] because we tested it not only in media but also on game. I took these bullets with me to New Zealand to test them on several animals of various sizes and at various ranges. I know from firsthand experience that hunters who try this bullet in the field will be happy that they did.” |
When you combine these two shapes you get the best of both worlds (less sensitivity to seating depth differences and improved external ballistics performance). Since these new Berger Classic Hunter bullets must have a nose length that is short enough to comply with SAAMI standards we get the most external ballistics performance possible by making the nose with Bryan’s Hybrid design.
