New Berger Column Bullet

[cyanchycki]

I have been asked by a few people where I got them.  I lucked out. 

I stopped by my FAVORITE gun shop Jo-Brooks in Brandon and got talking with Travis and found out he had just placed his Berger order.  He said he would call his rep and see if he could get any and advise me.  Later that day he e-mailed me and said yep they are on the order and will make it on the current shipment.

Needless to say it was a quick thing and I lucked out.

I have enough to give them a good test and shoot a match with them.

Now, if anyone wants any to try some this is what I will do.  Send an e-mail to me at cyanchyc@mymts.net with your name saying how many you want.  I will gather the names and numbers and pass the quantity on to Travis.  I will leave this open until Sunday  April 8, 2012.  He will then be able to decide how soon the order can go in.  If you say you want them then I TRUST you will be like most BR shooters I know.  Standup and true to your word that you will take them.

I will say again that Travis was going to stock them but I advised against that.  He allready has lots of 68gr Bergers that are not moving so I do not want to see him take a chance with these.

In regards to pricing I paid 30.00/100 +taxes (12%).  I cannot guarantee the price will be exactly the same.  That all depends what the bank rate is the day his CC is charged.  So you need to ba aware of that.

Now I can tell you a little about what I have seen with my own eyes.  I compared them to the Opel 64.5 Gr bullet as you will read why below.  As time permits I can compare them to the small amount of Mitchell 68's, Barts Ultras, and Opel 66's that I have.

The Berger Column appears to be on a .790 jacket in comparing it to the Opel 64.5gr bullet which is built on a .790 jacket.
In regards to weight the Opel is more consistent than the Column bullet.  I just weighed 1% of the Column bullets I recieved and a equivalent amount of Opel.  80% of the Opels were the exact same weight while only 50% of Column were the exact same weight.  Now according to Lou Murdica and Bryan Litz it is not the weight that appears to matter but where the lead line falls inside of the jacket. 

I then measured Base to Ogive with my Stoney Point .243 comparator.  The Berger Column bullet was bang on at .356" while the Opel was 80% at .376".  So in other word's if I understand this correctly the bearing surface is longer on the Opel by .020". 

I then seated a Column bullet and an Opel into cases to give 5 thou jam.  The initial measurement when I find jam is done with my barrel stub.  Then I measure and use my Stoney point comparator as I find it a bit more user friendly.  A loaded round with the Column bullet measures .012" longer than with an Opel bullet.  As you will see in the pictures the Column bullet does stick out further does stick out further than the Opel.

The pressure ring according to my cheap micrometer is slightly larger on the Column bullet versus Opel 64.5.  I was meauring the Column at .2435 and the Opel at .2432.

All measurements were done numerous times to see if I could get repeatability.

So this is what I can tell you for now.



L to R:  68gr Mitchell, 68gr Bart's Ultra, 68 Berger, Berger Column, 64.5gr Opel, 66gr Opel



L to R:  64.5gr Opel, Berger Column



 

I do not know how soon he would be able to get another shipment but maybe if there is enough people wanting to try them they could get here in short order.

[RobS]

Calvin

Looking forward to a range report. Do you know how much free bore your reamer has? How does the seating depth compare to a Barts Ultra?

Robert

[cyanchycki]

As Robert requested I seated a Bart's Ultra for 5 thou jam.  I measured it in the same manner.  Here are the results of the Opel 64.5gr, Column bullet, and Bart's Ultra.  A bit of background first on how I get my readings.

The way I get my intial seating depth is using my barrel stub.  The total length of my barrel stub is 1.608 inches.  A properly sized case for my chamber will not stick out of the stub it will be flush.  I have checked this numerous times using the back side of my calipers to check the depth of the case.  

When doing the initial setup I give myself an extra 2 thou taking the measurement to a even 1.610 inches giving it a bit of give or take scenario.  From there, in theory, 5 thou jam with a bullet seated should start to push the base of the case out of the stub as the bullet is sitting against the lands.  When the stub measures 1.615", in theory I have my 5 thou jam.  

So for any bullet I load, I start with 5 thou jam which measures 1.615".  I then attach my Stoney Point comparator onto my calipers and measure that length.  I write it down in my book along with the die setting.  From then on it is easy to chase as the barrel is shot.  I tend to add 1 thou of overall length for every 100 rounds fired down range.  Over the life of a barrel that is only 15 to 20 thou.  Not a lot.  I do not even know if it makes a difference but that is what I do.  After a barrel has been shot it is pretty hard to get an accurate reading of how much jam you have so why not just chase it as you shoot.

As you try different bullets and get the initial length with the barrel stub you will see that the only measurement that varies is once you put the Stoney Point Comparator on.  This is where I was able to get the different measurements for the different bullets on how far in or out they are in comparison to one another.

Hope this makes sense.  If not call me and we can talk more about it or we can talk sometimes at a range near you.

Anyways getting to Robert's question here are the results.

64.5gr Opel seated for 5 thou jam measures 1.688"
Berger Column bullet for 5 thou jam measures 1.700"
68gr Bart's Ultra for 5 thou jam measures 1.745"

Those measurements are with the Stoney Point Comparator.

So even thou the Opel bullet measures longer from base to Ogive as mentioned at the start, the Column bullet is seated out longer to get the equivalent jam.

Man I hope I know what I am talking about.........................      

[cyanchycki]

Final thought for the night.

Barts 68gr Ultras:  

Pressure ring .2434
80% weigh 67.9gr
Base to Ogive not as consistent as either Opel or Column bullet. 40% is the best I could get at .392". 30% were .391

When you get down to measuring that small it is pretty darn tough.  Just doing the best I can to pass some info along.



L to R:  Opel, Column, Bart's Ultra
Seated for 5 thou jam

The reamer that I use has a 60 thou lead.  The deepest bullets into the neck are the 66gr Opel, followed by the 64.5 Opel, then the Column, closing out with the Ultra.  One thing I noticed when I was shooting the Ultra was that they were starting to hang out there even with a 60 thou lead.

Getting a bit off track from the above comments, it makes me wonder how much effect the various seating depths of different bullets plays into neck thickness and neck tension when you have those variations?  The comments "learn how to shoot a lot of powder" by getting to know its quirks, I feel can also be said for the bullet, bullet seating depth, length of neck, and neck thickness(.262 versus .269) on how it effects tension and whether or not a combination will work.

Is this one of the secrets of becoming a WORLD CLASS shooter?  The ability to figure this out and log it so when you screw that new barrel on you find out in short order if it is a hummer or not???  HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.............................................. 

Calvin

[sfulton]

I appreciate your time Calvin.  Remember to let us know how it shoots

[RobS]

Good info. This helps alot of people make decisions on different combinations without having to buy and try every combination.

Robert

[Gordon Wald]

Calvin,
Just a bit off topic , but,  DAMM you sure know how to take great photos

[cyanchycki]

Gord, I can't shoot worth a damn so I figured I better try and shoot the camera instead.

I am pretty pleased with the camera.  It is a Cannon T1i 35mm Digital SLR.  Mine was not all that expensive but I am happy with the pics it takes.