215 Berger Hybrids in the 30-06

[hwy1strat]

Has anyone here tried this combo? I have found a few forums posts of people trying this with great success. Everyone that I've read about trying it has used Reloader 17. I have a ton of H4350 on hand and no Reloader 17. I know that Reloader 17 packs down a little smaller and I think that will help when loading a 215 into the 30-06. If anyone has any experience with this combo, do you think h4350 would work instead? Will it shoot as well with a compressed load?

Thanks,
Travis

 

[Mustard Tiger]

Have heard great things about them as well, they worked well on a couple caribou out of the 30 Nosler this fall but I will be able to evaluate a bit better after CO 4th season elk.

 

[Yellowknife]

I haven't used the 215 from the 30-06, but have run a couple different 200 gr bullets with both H4350 and RL-17. In my experience (with just one gun, so take this for what it's worth) both powders will hit pressure before you get into much compression on the heavy bullets. H4350 will likely wind up at a slower velocity. In my gun anyway, they are about equivalent with 165's, but then RL-17 pulls away with the heavier loads.

I've also tried fairly compressed loads of H4831 with reasonable results. Still not as fast as RL-17, but not bad. Ramshot Hunter also worked well as it's both slow burning and dense.

If you try it, let us know how it works.

 

[hwy1strat]

Thank you, Yellowknife. I'll give it a shot and I'll report back what I find. If I can get close to 2600 fps or even a little higher, then it will be worthwhile and drastically increase the effective range for elk. It seems doable from what little info I have found, even in my 22" barrel. But then I am trying to figure out if I am trying to turn my 30-06 into something it is not.

 

[MontanaMarine]

I shoot some of the 215 Bergers over RL-17 in 30-06.

54.0 gr gives 2650 fps from a 22.5" barrel.

I just use them for long range shooting, rocks, steel.

I moly'd the bullets. With RL17 I got a little bolt stiffness at 55.0 gr, and 2700 fps.

Tried 4000-MR, bolt stiffness at 61.0 gr, and 2775 fps.

Very consistent to 1200 yards, at 4300 ft.

 

[gbflyer]

212 ELDX with Superformance powder. 2600 FPS with Hodgdon data.

 

[wind gypsy]

There is much less on game data from the 200-20x bullet but that is where I’d be looking for a 30/06 size case capacity.

 

[hwy1strat]

I have not seen very much info on them, but I have been considering trying them as well. I already have a box of the 215's so I thought I'd try it out. If that 200.20x bullet also has a small bearing surface, which it looks like it does, it may be the perfect bullet for what I am looking for. I tried loading the 200gr ELDX but I couldn't get enough velocity.

 

[Yellowknife]

I got the 200 ELD-X over 2600 with both RL-17 and H4831. 4831 required compression, but RL-17 got there with several grains less powder and no drama. Brass life has been good and the 200 ELD-X/RL-17 load is currently my go to for everything. Used it twice this year at around around 150 yds both times, and damage was what you would expect from a 30-06 with plenty of penetration.

It does kick noticeably harder than the 180’s though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[wind gypsy]

Yep, the 20x has a shorter bearing surface than the 215. I’d think it would be perfect for a ‘06. Seems to be the go to bullet for 308s in f class. The one thing I’d check into is if it has a notably smaller meplat diameter than the 215 it might not open as reliably.

 

[Tumbleweed]

I have not seen very much info on them, but I have been considering trying them as well. I already have a box of the 215's so I thought I'd try it out. If that 200.20x bullet also has a small bearing surface, which it looks like it does, it may be the perfect bullet for what I am looking for. I tried loading the 200gr ELDX but I couldn't get enough velocity.

I would think that the 200.20x would be just about a perfect bullet for the .30-06 sized case. Unless you're running a much faster than normal twist rate in the '06 the 215's will NOT be stabilized and you'll be giving up a lot of b/c even if they group well.
I found that the 200.20x has a very short bearing surface (great for speed). While I did not hunt with them I did use the standard 200 grain hybrids a few years ago and they killed awesome, just as good or better than any other Berger I've hunted with.

Jesse