Sierra Versus Berger Bullets

[Toepopper]

175 Grain Bullets.jpg

I loaded up some different bullets in my 308 and shot a few at the range today. I have been shooting Sierra 175 MatchKing hollow points for about 8 years and have had great accuracy with them. These new bullets are Berger 175 grain VLDs or very low drag. They have a more streamlined profile with a milder boat tail angle and are advertised to give better aerodynamic performance and tighter groups. You can see the difference between the Berger bullet on the left and the Sierra on the right, in the picture. I fired a group of Bergers through the cronograph and came up with an average of 2556 feet per second while the Sierra's had an average muzzle velocity of 2532, so the Bergers do fly slightly faster than the Sierra's . Both types were loaded with 42.2 grains of Reloader 15 powder. After verifying muzzle velocity I shot some groups into a 3" ring at 100 yards. The Sierra's hit dead center with the 3 rounds touching, making a single hole. However, the Berger bullets hit 1-1/2" lower in the target and I could not get them to group as well as the Sierra bullets. I believe this may be caused by less of the Berger bullets surface contacting the grooves in the barrel so they don't stabilize as well as the Sierra's. With some experimenting with different types and amounts of powder I might be able to get the Bergers to shoot one hole groups but rather than going through all the time and expense involved in that process I will stick with what works and shoot the Sierra bullets.