Setpoint Ammunition, a subsidiary of Setpoint Systems Inc., has finalized an OEM distribution agreement with Berger Bullets. The agreement allows Setpoint Ammunition to offer a selection of Berger’s precision bullets for use in custom cartridges sold on their SetpointAmmo.com website. Setpoint Ammunition will initially offer three Berger projectiles for use in their 7.62×51 / .308 WIN cartridges: 155gr Match Hybrid; 185gr Long Range BT;and 168gr Match Hunting VLD.
“The agreement with Berger Bullets allows us to offer some of the best projectiles available for use in our precision ammunition,” said Brad Angus, President of Setpoint Ammunition. Angus went on to say that this agreement has been anticipated for some time. “Teaming with Berger has always been one of our goals. When you combine the well-known reputation of Berger Bullets with the unprecedented precision that we’ve built into our ammunition loading process, you get the best custom rifle ammunition available on the commercial market today.”
Setpoint’s Unique Manufacturing Process
The revolutionary Setpoint Ammunition ordering and manufacturing process allows customers to dictate the case, projectile, powder load and overall length of the cartridge via the online ordering system. This unique process gives consumers the ability to fine-tune their ammo to fit their specific firearm and application.
The order is relayed from the website to the manufacturing facility, where fully-automated machines (designed and built for Setpoint Ammunition by Setpoint Systems,) load and assemble the cartridges to high levels of precision. By mechanizing the entire loading process, precision and consistency are maximized. The final outcome is affordable, reliable, high-performance ammunition. (Sales packages are available for military, law enforcement and tactical security groups.)
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by Robert Whitley
I recently received some of the new Berger 6mm 105gr Hybrid Match Bullets for testing. There is much interest in these new 6mm Hybrids, so I thought I’d share my initial observations. A couple of things are very striking about these new bullets:
1. They appear to be very long, sleek and aerodynamic, while they still maintain a good bearing surface length (full-diameter shank). I like bullets with a sufficient bearing surface length because I find that it makes for bullets that are easier to shoot and tune. I also feel a good bearing surface length makes for a bullet that has a better potential for consistent performance over bullets with a short bearing surface.
2. The published ballistic coefficient (BC) numbers on these bullets are quite high. They have a stated G1 BC of .547 and a G7 BC of .278. Looking at the bullets themselves it’s easy to see why these BC numbers are so high. The front end of the projectile is quite long and similar to what you see on long-range VLDs, but the transition to the bearing surface has a blended appearance (the Hybrid part) vs. the sharp transition you typically see with most VLDs and secant ogive bullets. The 105gr Hybrid bullets also have a long boat-tail.
3. The new Berger 105gr Hybrid bullets measure right around 1.261″ OAL. By comparison, the many other 105gr to 108gr bullets I’ve measured all seem to run in the range of 1.210″ to 1.225″ OAL. The Berger 105gr Hybrid bullets are thus a fair bit longer than the others, which is why a true 1:8″ or faster twist is recommended for them. The bearing surface diameter of the new Hybrids was dead on at 0.243″. So these bullets are neither “fat” nor “skinny”.
4. The tips on these bullets are quite uniform, with the meplats closed up nicely. The Hybrids have nice small tips similar those on the Berger 108s (reasonably tight in diameter). While I sometimes like to point my match bullets, I like to shoot bullets that are ready to go “out of the box”, and these are just that. I’m hoping they will perform very well without meplat trimming or pointing.
Berger’s 6mm 105gr Hybrids Slated to Go on Sale in Late October
Berger has done its own in-house testing on these bullets and found them to be accurate and appropriate for release for additional testing by shooters out in the field. Unless this additional field testing reveals something that no one anticipated (which I doubt), I suspect these new projectiles will be one of Berger’s most popular bullet offerings. The planned official release date for the new 6mm, 105gr Hybrids has been tentatively set for mid- to late-October of 2011. So, barring some last minute changes, these 105s should be on dealers’ shelves before Thanksgiving.
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Eric Stecker of Berger Bullets just revealed some details on Berger’s new 6mm 105gr Hybrid bullet. This projectile is now in the final stage of testing. Here are comparative ballistics for the new 6mm Hybrid vs. Berger’s popular 105gr VLD bullet:
6mm 105 gr Hybrid Target
Original 6mm 105 gr VLD (Now is Berger’s hunting version)
Averaged G1 BC = 0.547 G7 BC = 0.278
Averaged G1 BC = 0.532 G7 BC = 0.272
Longer Bullet Requires 1:8″ Twist
The new 105gr Hybrid Target is slightly longer than the original 105-grainer so a true 1:8″ is strongly recommended. The new bullet is made with the thicker Target jacket to withstand match shooting conditions. The Hybrid ogive is designed to be less sensitive to seating depth and has been working well in other calibers and sizes. This bullet can take all the 6mm cases can dish out and it has a BC equal to our own 6mm 115 gr VLD.
Eric Stecker tells us: “The moment we knew that we had to modify the 6mm 105gr VLD Target with a larger meplat, the need for this bullet was born. We’ve been working on it ever since. Bryan Litz has done an exceptional job with this design. I am very eager to see how they do in many rifles since I regard the 105gr class of bullets as key in Berger’s line. Between the 68gr, the 80gr and the 105gr (among other weights) we have been especially blessed with our 6mm offerings.” Eric is quite right — all those bullets shoot exceptionally well and the 105gr VLD holds many records. If the new 105gr Hybrid can come close to the accuracy of the 105gr VLD, it should be very successful.
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In the Berger Bulletin this week is a further discussion of the new Berger “Hybrid” bullet design. This combines a secant ogive shape in the front of the bullet with a tangent ogive shape near the full-diameter (shank) section. Currently the Berger Hybrid is available in .338 caliber and 7mm. Berger will soon release a new hybrid .30 caliber bullet, with 6mm and 6.5mm hybrid projectiles to follow.
How the Hybrid was Developed
In the late 80s, the VLD was born. This design allowed shooters to use lighter bullets and smaller calibers to achieve the same or better trajectory than heavier bullets in bigger calibers. Lighter bullets shot in small calibers were easier on shooters resulting in higher scores and an improved shooting experience. But, this improvement came with a price. Each shooter had to adjust their load in each rifle until they could get the VLD bullet to shoot precisely. Once the load was dialed in, the VLD was one of the most efficient bullet designs in history. But this didn’t stop shooters from yearning for a bullet that is easier to tune.
The VLD design was created by Bill Davis who was one of the top ballistic minds during this time. His [designs] have made a tremendous impact on how long range shooting over the last two decades. One might think that nothing this good can be improved upon. But it could… Ballistician Bryan Litz recognized both the advantages and disadvantages of the VLD design. He went to work to see if he could keep the good results the VLD produced while reducing its sensitivity to seating depth. His efforts have produced the Berger Hybrid.
The Berger Hybrid design incorporates two different shapes within the nose. As the bearing surface ends, a tangent ogive begins. This tangent section of the ogive results in the bullet being much less sensitive to seating depth. Testing results show that the Berger Hybrid shoot equally well at either a jam or a jump. As you move forward along the tangent portion, the shape changes into a secant ogive. The secant ogive is the shape used on the VLD bullets. This shape is very efficient in the wind and is why the VLD became so popular.
By bringing these two shapes together, Bryan has successfully created a bullet that is both not sensitive to seating depth and shoots very flat like a VLD. The key to all this is not just the combining of these two shapes, but also the partnership between the ballistician and the bullet maker.
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In discussions of ballistics, you’ll see references to “tangent” and “secant” bullet shapes. We know that, for many readers, these terms can be confusing. To add to the confusion, bullet makers don’t always identify their projectiles as secant or tangent designs. This article provides a basic explanation of tangent and secant designs, to help you understand the characteristics of both bullet shapes.
Tangent Ogive vs. Secant Ogive vs. Hybrid
Most match bullets produced today use a tangent ogive profile, but the modern VLD-style bullets employ a secant profile. To further complicate matters, the latest generation of “Hybrid” projectiles from Berger Bullets feature a blended secant + tangent profile to combine the best qualities of both nose shapes. The secant section provides reduced drag, while the tangent section makes the bullet easier to tune, i.e. less sensitive to seating depth position.
Berger Bullets ballistician Bryan Litz explains tangent and secant bullet ogive designs in a glossary section of his Applied Ballistics website, which we reprint below. Bryan then explains how tangent and secant profiles can be combined in a “hybrid” design.
How Bullet Ogive Curves are Defined
While the term “ogive” is often used to describe the particular point on the bullet where the curve reaches full bullet diameter, in fact the “ogive” properly refers to the entire curve of the bullet from the tip to the full-diameter straight section — the shank. Understanding then, that the ogive is a curve, how is that curve described?
LITZ: The ogive of a bullet is usually characterized by the length of its radius. This radius is often given in calibers instead of inches. For example, an 8 ogive 6mm bullet has an ogive that is a segment of a circular arc with a radius of 8*.243 = 1.952”. A .30-caliber bullet with an 8 ogive will be proportionally the same as the 8 ogive 6mm bullet, but the actual radius will be 2.464” for the .30 caliber bullet.
For a given nose length, if an ogive is perfectly tangent, it will have a very specific radius. Any radius longer than that will cause the ogive to be secant. Secant ogives can range from very mild (short radius) to very aggressive (long radius). The drag of a secant ogive is minimized when its radius is twice as long as a tangent ogive radius. In other words, if a tangent ogive has an 8 caliber radius, then the longest practical secant ogive radius is 16 calibers long for a given nose length.”
Secant Ogive vs. Tangent Ogive
Ogive metrics, and Rt/R
LITZ: There is a number that’s used to quantify how secant an ogive is. The metric is known as the Rt/R ratio and it’s the ratio of the tangent ogive radius to the actual ogive radius for a given bullet. In the above example, the 16 caliber ogive would have an Rt/R ratio of 0.5. The number 0.5 is therefore the lowest practical value for the Rt/R ratio, and represents the minimum drag ogive for a given length. An ogive that’s perfectly tangent will have an Rt/R ratio of 1.0. Most ogives are in between an Rt/R of 1.0 and 0.5. The dimensioned drawings at the end of my Applied Ballistics book provide the bullets ogive radius in calibers, as well as the Rt/R ratio. In short, the Rt/R ratio is simply a measure of how secant an ogive is. 1.0 is not secant at all, 0.5 is as secant as it gets.
Hybrid Bullet Design — Best of Both Worlds?
Bryan Litz has been developing a number of modern “Hybrid” design bullets for Berger. The objective of Bryan’s design work has been to achieve a very low drag design that is also “not finicky”. Normal (non-hybrid) secant designs, such as the Berger 105gr VLD, deliver very impressive BC values, but the bullets can be sensitive to seating depth. Montana’s Tom Mousel has set world records with the Berger 105gr VLD in his 6mm Dasher, but he tells us “seating depth is critical to the best accuracy”. Tom says a change of .005″ in seating depth “can cause the group size to increase substantially”. In an effort to produce more forgiving high-BC bullets, Bryan Litz has developed a hybrid tangent/secant bullet shape. This is explained in the illustration below.
Story sourced by Edlongrange.
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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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“The agreement with Berger Bullets allows us to offer some of the best projectiles available for use in our precision ammunition,” said Brad Angus, President of Setpoint Ammunition. Angus went on to say that this agreement has been anticipated for some time. “Teaming with Berger has always been one of our goals. When you combine the well-known reputation of Berger Bullets with the unprecedented precision that we’ve built into our ammunition loading process, you get the best custom rifle ammunition available on the commercial market today.”
Longer Bullet Requires 1:8″ Twist
In the 
