Trying the Berger VLD

[TBark]

I just loaded a dozen 168 g VLD for my 7mm Rem Mag, 700 BDL.
I was hoping to find the Berger Classic Hunter Hybrid, but VLD was only ones I could find.
I went with 57 gr of IMR 4831 and set them for 3.418 (.040 off lands)
I'll be trying them on paper mid week and see just where they hit compared to my Barnes 160 gr mono.
Target will be at 150 yds, I know these are a longer range load but we will see where we hit.

TBark

[snroth]

With a VLD I would try them .010 off, they usually like to be a little closer than the Hybrids.

[sns2]

I'm no expert, but I have loaded VLDs, with great success, for a number of guns. IMO, COL is going to make way more of a difference than powder charge.

Berger instructs users to load rounds at 10, 50, 90 and 130 thou off lands at an arbitrary charge (I usually go 1 grain below max). One length will shoot dramatically better than the others. Then you can fine tune charge.

Trust me it works.

[TBark]

Thanks folks.
I may reset these loads then.
As a starting point, I found a post on the web, same 7mm RM 700 BDL loaded VLD 168's to OAL of 3.444, would be .014 off.
He shot 3 touching at 200 yds.
Hope I can do the same.

TBark

[myrand]

I swear by berger
the only problem with vld is that you just take all the books you had and throw them away. get rid of you're notion of oal and start using a bullet comparator.
if you notice the tip of your bullets, they are not perfect. they are actually far to be perfect, can't use that as a reference.
because the vld have a taper so long, its important to be perfect in your round length. doesn't take much to throw it off. not saying you absolutely need it, but a competition die make a damn good job at seating these puppies all nice and perfect.
for how far to seat, I used to go 0.015 off the land, then changed for 0.010, followed by a 0.005
they all shoot great, consistency is what you need the most. the bullet is long, tend to go a bit offset and create some runout. I ended up pressing in 2 stages as t seemed to help a lot with runout.

nowadays I make it so it stay 0.001 off lands, don't know if its the best but I need as much room as possible for powder. . . .

[dogslayer403]

Most guns i have loaded them in have two COAL sweet spots for instance my 6.5x284 shoots awsome at 5thou off lands and 70thou off like stated above seating depth is the biggest factor in vld accuraccy in my experience and dont own a rifle that i couldnt make shoot them great

[elkdump]

Love Berger VLD,s for both my 6.5 Swede and my 7mmRemMag ,

140,s and 168,s respectively ,

[JCP]

My 7mm rm x-bolt shoots the 168 bergers good. What others are saying about the seating depth held true for me. I ended up starting @ .01 off the lands with different powder charges until I found the one that shot the most consistent. I then loaded up some more ( about 30 or so ), all with the best powder combo, and set @ .01 off the lands. I also bought a cheap LEE hand press so that I could increase my seating depth @ the range. I went in 0.015 increments. My rifle shoots very well 0.08'' off the lands.

[260 Rem]

I shoot lots of Bergers at paper. Hopefully, I wil shoot only one at deer. I have tried different seating depths with the VLD's and pretty much settled with 0.003 jump for the (H) designation. The biggest drawback for box / detach magazines is that seating close to the lands can get overly long and may result in feeding issues, even if they fit in the mag. I always make few dummy rounds and make sure they feed with both slow and "panic" cycling of the bolt. It is not uncommon for Berger VLD's to shoot well when jambed .010 - .015, but that is not a good idea for a hunting application.