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January 19th, 2011
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.
October 6th, 2010
Hornady plans to release a brand new 285gr, .338-caliber match bullet within the next few weeks. This bullet, which boasts a mind-blowing 0.735 G1 BC, has already proven itself in competition. At the 2010 IBS 1000-yard Nationals in September, Scott Fletcher won the Heavy Gun (HG) group title shooting the new Hornady 285gr BTHPs. Scott’s 4-match, 10-shot per target group Aggregate was 9.148″. Scott was shooting a large wildcat, the .338 Sloan. That cartridge is nearly identical to the new .338 Norma Magnum*, which could be described as a “chopped” .338 Lapua Mag — shorter with less case capacity.
Weight is unlimited in the 1000-yard Heavy Gun class. Weight soaks up the recoil of big cartridges like the .338 Norma Magnum, making them manageable to shoot. The Big 30-Cals have long dominated this HG category, but some shooters like Fletcher are experimenting with some really big cartridge/bullet combinations, in pursuit of class-leading ballistics. We don’t know how fast Fletcher pushes his prototype Hornady 285s, but that 0.735 BC has to give the bullets awesome performance in the wind.
Artist’s concept — No photos of the new bullet are available.
New Manufacturing Process Produces Bullets with Near-Zero Run-out
According to Hornady’s Chief Ballistic Scientist Dave Emary, the new 285-grainer is a VLD-style, secant ogive projectile with a standard, drawn-copper jacket and lead core. This is a BTHP, NOT a plastic tip bullet like Hornady’s A-Max designs. Emary says, “This bullet was originally developed for the military. It has just about the lowest drag possible with conventional bullet construction and ogive design.” The .338-caliber 285gr bullet is the first of two new super-low drag bullets Hornady will be releasing before the end of the year.
The new 285gr bullets are built with a new manufacturing process that improves jacket concentricity to previously unattainable levels. Emary says: “Measured along the entire jacket, these bullets have extremely low eccentricity. We measured zero to a couple ten-thousandths total run-out along the whole jacket. As a result the bullet has show truly outstanding long-range performance, with sub-half-MOA accuracy at extreme ranges.” Hornady Project Engineer (and 1K shooter) Joe Thielen added: “These bullets are specifically designed and built for long-range use, and the jackets are the some of best I’ve ever seen.”
When will the new bullets be available? End of the year at the latest. Emary says the 285s should be available “before the end of November”. When we asked Hornady Marketing guru Steve Johnson, he said “Soon. They’ll be out soon.” When pressed as to “how soon”, Steve responded: “The release is imminent… imminent”.
*The .338 Norma Magnum was originally developed by the American sport shooter Jimmie Sloan as a long-range sport shooting wildcat cartridge. It was designed to shoot the .338-caliber, 300gr Sierra MatchKing projectile from actions/magazines too short for a .338 Lapua Magnum. Sloan licensed the design to the Norma group. Both the .338 Norma Mag and the larger .338 Lapua Mag are derived from the .416 Jeffreys, but the .338 Norma Mag fits in a shorter action.
May 6th, 2010
 Berger Bullets has just released its new .338-caliber “hybrid” bullet, Berger’s first-ever projectile larger than .30 caliber. The new bullet has a very high ballistic coefficient (BC): 0.891 under the G1 model, and 0.455 under the newer G7 standard for boat-tail bullets. That high BC should translate into exceptional long-range performance. According to Berger, the BC of the new Berger .338 bullet BC is roughly 14% better than the BCs of other .338-caliber 300gr offerings from Sierra and Lapua. This claim is supported by testing done on all three bullets and published in a detailed Bullet Comparison Report (PDF). The new .338 Hybrid bullets will be sold in 50-count and 250-count boxes. To order, call Berger’s Tech-Line, (714) 447-5458.
The key design feature of the new .338 bullet is its hybrid ogive, i.e. a shape that combines both tangent and secant geometry. A tangent ogive meets the bearing surface very smoothly, whereas a secant ogive has an abrupt juncture with the bearing surface. The figure below shows the geometric differences between a tangent and a secant ogive, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each.
Practical Considerations — Load Length and Twist Rate
The superior ballistic performance of the 300gr Hybrid .338 is primarily due to the very long ogive and boat tail. However, that super-long bullet length can create some issues. Berger’s new .338 Hybrid bullets are so long that loaded rounds may not fit some magazines comfortably, unless you deep-seat the bullets, which cuts down on usable case capacity. If your loaded rounds with the new .338s are too long for your magazine, single-feeding is recommended. In addition, and this is IMPORTANT, to get optimal performance with the new bullets, you may want to extend the throat in your chamber. This can be done relatively easily by a competent gunsmith using a throating reamer. We caution, however, once the throat is pushed out, you can’t go back to a shorter throat without setting back the entire barrel.
The new .338 Hybrid bullets should stabilize well with a 1:10″ twist at the velocities achievable with popular .338 magnum cartridges. However, according to Bryan Litz, Berger’s Ballistician, at extreme long ranges (beyond one mile), as the .388 bullet goes trans-sonic, it may need more spin. As the bullet slows down into the trans-sonic range, extra stability is required — something you get by spinning the bullet faster. So, for those guys planning to shoot at one mile or beyond, Berger recommends a faster twist-rate. The faster twist provides more spin-stabilization at very long ranges. But for 1000-yard shooting, you don’t need to be concerned about trans-sonic stability. As Bryan explains: “So as long as you keep your shots under 1 mile, the 1:10″ twist is plenty adequate.”
Berger Bullets Video Update (Eric Stecker talks about the new .338 Hybrid and other matters.)
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