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Does anyone stand with Berger?

Mean_Man

Mean_Man

Sergeant of the Hide
Full Member
Minuteman
Dec 14, 2024
429
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Georgia
#1
Recently weighing Sierra match king, Berger Juggernaut’s, Hornady ELD-Match and ELD-VT and even their flag ship A-tip projectiles in .308, I noticed neither Hornady nor Sierra could hold a candle to the consistency in weight of the Berger’s I saw over half a grain difference in min vs max on Hornady and Sierra projectiles while over 100 projectiles of the Berger Juggernauts, they were all literally dead on 185gr or 185.1 split about 60/40.

I didn’t expect there to be that much inconsistency in the Hornady’s weight or the Sierra’s.

I guess the Berger’s cost more for a reason… I duno why I’m even posting this other than surprised in a negative way by the others.
 
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#3
I run other components side by side and don't have problems per-se with alternatives (typically 2x brass and 2-3x bullets in each cardtridge), its just that most other components need various extra steps to get sorted. eg sierra bullets I prefer to sort and bergers never get sorted. Also I find this with Lapua brass as well...right out of the box its typically like 95% good to go, in terms of accuracy and consistency. I do lube+mandrel Lapua prior to loading it tho as virgin brass, since the necks are super (squeaky) clean and kinda tight.
 
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#5
Maurygold said:
Just spend the money on Berger hybrid
Click to expand...
The 200.20x hybrid I think I got that right, is even heavier to a point in .308 she’s getting pretty slow though? Which is one reason I was really wanting the 169 SMK to do well, right now I’m waiting on seating stems in the mail that should fit them better, and then another weekend to try them again…

But yeah why do you recommend their hybrid over the juggernaut?
 
#9
I went through Sierra a few years back on the tour with my daughter. The guide remarked then about how some of the machines were from the 40's. That's what I recall at least. And that he seemed pretty proud of it.

I could be wrong but that's what I remember most about that tour.
 
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#10
Mean_Man said:
The 200.20x hybrid I think I got that right, is even heavier to a point in .308 she’s getting pretty slow though? Which is one reason I was really wanting the 169 SMK to do well, right now I’m waiting on seating stems in the mail that should fit them better, and then another weekend to try them again…

But yeah why do you recommend their hybrid over the juggernaut?
Click to expand...

You realize they make a 168 hybrid right?
 
#11
Ive been told by a couple of folks that a number of shooters sponsored by Sierra trade off or sell their bullets and use some other brands instead........

I sorted and weighed Berger vs Sierra 3-4 times and the variances in Sierras compared to Berger was stunning, at this point all I shoot are Bergers. I use Sierras for High Power where the variance doesn't really matter much otherwise, I pay up for Berger
 
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#13
I’ve found the same consistency with Juggs.
VLD Hunters are $80/100 now. I still shoot em because they’re awesome and I’m not poor. I’ve got thousands of Juggs that I shoot too. I rarely shoot anything else in 308. 1:10 tw
 
#15
Hetzer said:
I went through Sierra a few years back on the tour with my daughter. The guide remarked then about how some of the machines were from the 40's. That's what I recall at least. And that he seemed pretty proud of it.

I could be wrong but that's what I remember most about that tour.
Click to expand...
I would not get too caught up in 80 yr old machines being the cause. Such machines can run accurately if well maintained and operated by experienced machinists. These latter two factors would weigh more heavily in the end result than the mere fact of the machine being 80 yrs old.

There is also the "good enough" QA/QC attitude, which can echo through a business like the old cliche "close enough for government work."

My sense is that Berger, as an idea/business, arose from wanting to have better end results than what Sierra etc provided. So their process would be, top to bottom and side to side, more attentive to detail and possibly longer time in process per projectile. Which cuts into end sale profit pricing. And Berger is happy to do that while pricing their projectiles accordingly... higher priced than Sierra.
 
#16
To me, a lot depends on what your barrel likes. I have a bunch of 140 HT from Berger....and one of my 6.5 CM's barrel just like the 142 SMK's far better (they group far better at 100). So, does the weight consistency really matter in this situation? Now, I haven't shot the 142 SMK's past 550 yards so maybe the Berger's will fare better at further ranges but I don't have a lot of opportunity to shoot that far often. But out to 550, the 142's have worked very well.

Cheers
 
#17
flogxal said:
I would not get too caught up in 80 yr old machines being the cause. Such machines can run accurately if well maintained and operated by experienced machinists. These latter two factors would weigh more heavily in the end result than the mere fact of the machine being 80 yrs old.

There is also the "good enough" QA/QC attitude, which can echo through a business like the old cliche "close enough for government work."

My sense is that Berger, as an idea/business, arose from wanting to have better end results than what Sierra etc provided. So their process would be, top to bottom and side to side, more attentive to detail and possibly longer time in process per projectile. Which cuts into end sale profit pricing. And Berger is happy to do that while pricing their projectiles accordingly... higher priced than Sierra.
Click to expand...
Doesn't bother me, I still buy both. I was just making a comment on what they said. Take it for what it's worth . I'm no expert on such things.
 
#18
Mean_Man said:
I guess the Berger’s cost more for a reason… I duno why I’m even posting this other than surprised in a negative way by the others.
Click to expand...
It's pretty simple. The faster the machines run the greater the deviation from the mean will likely be. But the unit costs will be lower for the fixed costs. The real question is "can you shoot the difference in precision" between the brands?
 
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#20
DIBBS said:
How do the Hornady "copies" <ripoffs> of Berger and Sierra bullets compare? Inconsistent as well?
Click to expand...
www.snipershide.com

Hornady is making knockoff/clone bullets (Aeromatch)

They look a little shorter and fatter than the 140 hybrids do from Berger. Maybe they copied the SMK? Either way Sunday I’m shooting them at 1000 yards and I’ll get some groups. At 100. I’ll use my CCI 450 41.5 H4350 annealed starline load I have been having so much luck with and do a direct...
www.snipershide.com www.snipershide.com
 
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#21
Doom said:
It's pretty simple. The faster the machines run the greater the deviation from the mean will likely be. But the unit costs will be lower for the fixed costs. The real question is "can you shoot the difference in precision" between the brands?
Click to expand...
I might be able to find it somewhere, but there is an interview on YouTube with Erik Cortina and a guy they call "speedy Gonzalez" . He's an og benchrest/ f-class hall of fame guy. In one of the interviews he explains his process over the decades, and what he eliminated through scientific testing, and weight sorting bullets was one of them. He said that the weights mean nothing. They don't matter. You can have the most consistent bullets in the world and they can shoot like garbage, meanwhile you can have bullets that are all over the place and they stack up nice. He said the same thing about chasing low SD's. It's great that you have low SD's or whatever, but that doesn't necessarily create positive effects on target. He said he had loads that had really high sd's, but he won national championships with them, because sd's don't necessarily matter. I think all berger is doing is weight sorting batches before they send them out. They probably have a machine on their conveyor belt that creates weight sorted lots.
 
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#22
Hecouldgoalltheway said:
I might be able to find it somewhere, but there is an interview on YouTube with Erik Cortina and a guy they call "speedy Gonzalez" . He's an og benchrest/ f-class hall of fame guy. In one of the interviews he explains his process over the decades, and what he eliminated through scientific testing, and weight sorting bullets was one of them. He said that the weights mean nothing. They don't matter. You can have the most consistent bullets in the world and they can shoot like garbage, meanwhile you can have bullets that are all over the place and they stack up nice. He said the same thing about chasing low SD's. It's great that you have low SD's or whatever, but that doesn't necessarily create positive effects on target. He said he had loads that had really high sd's, but he won national championships with them, because sd's don't necessarily matter. I think all berger is doing is weight sorting batches before they send them out. They probably have a machine on their conveyor belt that creates weight sorted lots.
Click to expand...
Did that to be accurate, there would have to be lots fairly off from the advertised weight though wouldn’t there? Unless they’re culling the extremes themselves and that’s another reason cost per bullet is so high.
 
#23
Mean_Man said:
Did that to be accurate, there would have to be lots fairly off from the advertised weight though wouldn’t there? Unless they’re culling the extremes themselves and that’s another reason cost per bullet is so high.
Click to expand...
Or just selling the extremes as seconds, or maybe even weight sorting them and selling them in batches as loaded ammo. It's hard to say.

The truth is that excluding the most precise shooting sports, the difference in weight of any major manufacturers bullets probably won't have any effect on the shooter in the end anyways. If you can't shoot the difference, then it doesn't matter. For hunters and anyone not shooting groups at 1k or further, a half a grain of weight will probably never show up on paper anyways.
 
#24
Mean_Man said:
I guess the Berger’s cost more for a reason… I duno why I’m even posting this other than surprised in a negative way by the others.
Click to expand...

All bullet manufacturers have their warts. Berger's tend to be too small to notice or make a difference.

With the Berger .375 410s finally available, I am finally back to being a 100% Berger shooter, and I will never again shoot a caliber for which I can get the bullets in the yellow box.

Beyond consistency, their hybrids are just stupid easy to tune in with seating depth.
 
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#26
Hecouldgoalltheway said:
I might be able to find it somewhere, but there is an interview on YouTube with Erik Cortina and a guy they call "speedy Gonzalez" . He's an og benchrest/ f-class hall of fame guy. In one of the interviews he explains his process over the decades, and what he eliminated through scientific testing, and weight sorting bullets was one of them. He said that the weights mean nothing. They don't matter. You can have the most consistent bullets in the world and they can shoot like garbage, meanwhile you can have bullets that are all over the place and they stack up nice. He said the same thing about chasing low SD's. It's great that you have low SD's or whatever, but that doesn't necessarily create positive effects on target. He said he had loads that had really high sd's, but he won national championships with them, because sd's don't necessarily matter. I think all berger is doing is weight sorting batches before they send them out. They probably have a machine on their conveyor belt that creates weight sorted lots.
Click to expand...

That’s for short range BR. It absolutely matter for long range. I’m guessing you’ve shot neither in a precision match…..

I’m also guessing his idea of high sd is 8-10
 
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