Best bullet for PRS-type shooting, 6mm GT, 7.5 twist

[Malum Prohibitum]

Rockchuckers are well known to be excellent presses

I have like 10K 109s on backorder, you should do the same. Also when they come in stock buy a few K. Not getting caught short handed is part of preparing for the sport.

I understand your point, but I didn't run out. I am just getting started, building a 6mm GT rifle (still waiting on my chassis, 8-12 weeks), and gathering what I need. Now it is time to pick the bullet, but it looks like picking Berger means no shooting until next winter, so I will have to go with something else in the meantime.

I already need to go with Hornady brass rather than Alpha, which is not in stock anywhere.

I really appreciate everybody's input. I am just hoping to learn from the experience of others and avoid any expensive or time wasting mistakes to the extent I can.

Just FYI - I followed your advice. I have backorders in for Alpha brass and for Berger LRHT bullets.

I did manage to find an 8 pound Varget jug at Powder Valley and ordered it.

Now I just need to figure out what I will use in the meantime - - - oh, and figure out how to reload, lol.

I will probably grab some of the commercially loaded 6mm GT at GA Precision to start out, and then use the brass from that for reloading. It is Hornady (brass and bullet, the new 109 ELD-M).

In the interim, until Bergers become available, I don't know what bullet I will be reloading with yet, but I will be reviewing this thread carefully before I make a choice. Thank you again to everybody for providing me with your information and experience.

 

[High Desert duck]

@Malum Prohibitum
I wouldn’t hesitate to use the Hornady 109s while you wait on your Bergers. Again i have not seen a decrease in accuracy past 600-800 yards. I wonder if The reports of that may be the fact the the bc is less than the box(i use .275 G7 at 3000fps), and they will be more sensitive to winds. The posts I saw in the thread linked in the original post seemed to be more saying they shot just like the a-tip until 600 (this is my experience as well, i even use the same zero) then the bc starts to punish the 109. As far as stability i took the 109s out to 2070 last weekend just to see, and they went through the target strait. (transonic at 1650)
As others have stated i have personally seen Hornady bullets (6mm 108, and 6.5 140, 147) blow up in flight, but in all the cases they were being pushed hard and in a fast twist barrel. With your planned build you won’t have that problem. The Berger will be great, but try the Hornady while you wait.

 

[Rexman]

Looking at Bryan Litz’s latest book that others referenced (I believe page 123) it looks like Hornady ELD-M are the next best option after Berger Hybrids. There were 5 ELD-M referenced and all had less than 1% SD using either 108 or 140’s. I may also try the Match Burners and there were two I saw listed with .9% and 1.1% SD. I would think anything at 1% or less would be good to use.

Also, looking at G7 BC the ELD-M is .270 and MB is .300 which is similar to 105 hybrid’s at .275 and 109 hybrid’s at .292. Another one that has decent BC is 108 Berger Elite Hunters that has a BC of .287.

Kind of getting in the weeds here but I would think ELD-M’s or Match Burners would work well and are much easier to find. I have reloaded with ELD-M’s and had good results but haven’t tried MB’s.

 

[Lightning8]

I would just buy 1000 to 2000 Sierra107 SMKs or Berger 108 BTHPs that are available and start shooting. You could also buy a few hundred Barnes 112 MBs and use those initially to start the barrel off - you need 100 to 200 rounds down the barrel to get the speed settled anyway. If the Barnes 112s work well for you that will save a bunch of $$

 

[DairyDictator]

Might be a hot take but BC variation isn't something I'm very concerned with. Most PRS events don't go out beyond 1k and matches currently are won at the 800 and in range. Somehow I doubt the extra 1% BC variation is what lost you points. Velocity spread is more important to me than BC but even then, chances are you didn't actually drop points because of elevation, you probably missed left or right unless you have something wrong in your solver, your velocity spread is pretty big, or your position and/or trigger pull sucks.

Berger 109's are the gold standard for consistency and performance. They're also a massive premium over other offerings. Pick something you can afford to buy in bulk of the same lot and go shoot. You'll be better for it than backordering half as many bullets for the same price that you may or may not see in the next 6 months. 107 SMK's have been very good to me and I have a lot of them. If I didn't, George seems to keep the 109's in stock pretty well all things considered.

 

[LR1845]

Might be a hot take but BC variation isn't something I'm very concerned with. Most PRS events don't go out beyond 1k and matches currently are won at the 800 and in range. Somehow I doubt the extra 1% BC variation is what lost you points. Velocity spread is more important to me than BC but even then, chances are you didn't actually drop points because of elevation, you probably missed left or right unless you have something wrong in your solver, your velocity spread is pretty big, or your position and/or trigger pull sucks.

Berger 109's are the gold standard for consistency and performance. They're also a massive premium over other offerings. Pick something you can afford to buy in bulk of the same lot and go shoot. You'll be better for it than backordering half as many bullets for the same price that you may or may not see in the next 6 months. 107 SMK's have been very good to me and I have a lot of them. If I didn't, George seems to keep the 109's in stock pretty well all things considered.

THIS RIGHT HERE^^^...more misses are from shooters not being stable than BC or velocity spreads...ppl have gotten to caught up in group size, BC, velocities, 500 rounds to varify and have lost track of what actually makes the bigger difference....trigger time.

 

[CK1.0]

Might be a hot take but BC variation isn't something I'm very concerned with. Most PRS events don't go out beyond 1k and matches currently are won at the 800 and in range. Somehow I doubt the extra 1% BC variation is what lost you points. Velocity spread is more important to me than BC but even then, chances are you didn't actually drop points because of elevation, you probably missed left or right unless you have something wrong in your solver, your velocity spread is pretty big, or your position and/or trigger pull sucks.

Berger 109's are the gold standard for consistency and performance. They're also a massive premium over other offerings. Pick something you can afford to buy in bulk of the same lot and go shoot. You'll be better for it than backordering half as many bullets for the same price that you may or may not see in the next 6 months. 107 SMK's have been very good to me and I have a lot of them. If I didn't, George seems to keep the 109's in stock pretty well all things considered.

THIS RIGHT HERE^^^...more misses are from shooters not being stable than BC or velocity spreads...ppl have gotten to caught up in group size, BC, velocities, 500 rounds to varify and have lost track of what actually makes the bigger difference....trigger time.

This is why I originally tried and have been shooting the Match Burners... I could get a hold of enough of them at an affordable price to have enough to shoot out 2 barrels and then some, so I could shoot the same thing for a while... ya know, so I could concentrate on getting better at shooting instead of readjusting my load every 500 rounds with whatever was on the shelf out there. I think it was a better choice than trying to beat every other guy who shoots PRS to the check-out with my 1 box of Bergers or whatever we're allowed to buy for damn near 60 cents a bullet.

I haven't won anything to brag about with them yet, but I've finished higher than a whole bunch of MF'ers who were shooting A-tips and Bergers lol... the Match Burners aren't what has kept me from winning, that's for sure.

 

[Malum Prohibitum]

a better choice than trying to beat every other guy who shoots PRS to the check-out with my 1 box of Bergers or whatever we're allowed to buy

 

[LR1845]

This is why I originally tried and have been shooting the Match Burners... I could get a hold of enough of them at an affordable price to have enough to shoot out 2 barrels and then some, so I could shoot the same thing for a while... ya know, so I could concentrate on getting better at shooting instead of readjusting my load every 500 rounds with whatever was on the shelf out there. I think it was a better choice than trying to beat every other guy who shoots PRS to the check-out with my 1 box of Bergers or whatever we're allowed to buy for damn near 60 cents a bullet.

I haven't won anything to brag about with them yet, but I've finished higher than a whole bunch of MF'ers who were shooting A-tips and Bergers lol... the Match Burners aren't what has kept me from winning, that's for sure.

I quit reloading and am shooting a ARC nucleus rifle and factory 140g ELDM...this does not happen every time I shoot but when it don't i can pretty much guarantee its not the ammo or the rifle....

 

[CK1.0]

I quit reloading and am shooting a ARC nucleus rifle and factory 140g ELDM...this does not happen every time I shoot but when it don't i can pretty much guarantee its not the ammo or the rifle....View attachment 8081204View attachment 8081205

I'm of the opinion that, since it's not the 1960's, most of these companies are probably using nearly the same million-dollar computer-controlled machines to pump out their products while trying to hold a high enough quality standard to not have fudds calling/emailing them every day and blowing them up on forums like this one.

Some are better than others at it, but it's 2023, and I feel like most of the bullet makers' products are closer than many want to admit.

If a guy can't put a ~1/2MOA gun/load together using decent components and/or by just buying decent factory stuff in bulk... they suck, maybe rifles aren't their thing lol.

 

[Malum Prohibitum]

Just curious - is anybody using Vapor Trail Bullets 103 gr V-Tac?

 

[reelserious]

109 eld are fine for shooting steel. If I was a 1000 yard F class guy maybe Bergers then.