Projectile: Berger 6.5mm 130 AR Hybrid

[kmon]

[LRRPF52]

It's already in a factory load from Precision Firearms. Haven't used it yet.

[m796rider]

Per Berger:

Gentlemen,
The new Berger 6.5mm 130 AR hybrid bullet (pt#26195) Is designed to be loaded to magazine length in AR style magazines for the 6.5 Grendel, .264 LBC, .260 Remington ( AR-10 ) etc. These are a tactical design bullet that we have found through our testing can be used for hunting AND target. This bullet, unlike some of our target hybrid bullets, has a SAMMI SPEC NOSE LENGTH and not the over SAAMI length nose like the 6.5 140 grain target hybrid. Minimum twist rate is 1-10". Reccomended twist rate for optimal performance is 1-8.9" or faster. G1 BC is .564 , G7 BC is .290 based on velocity averages from 1500 to 3000 fps.

Anyone have load data using 8208 or CFE223...? Sounds like this bullet is shorter than the standard 130gr .264 Hybrid/Tactical for AR15 mag length considerations.

ETA: EuroOptic has a nice PDF page from Litz's book: http://www.eurooptic.com/PDF/Berger-AR-hybrid.pdf

[BluntForceTrauma]

Excellent news. Is it on their website yet? Not seeing it. Got a link?

Now we just need a hybrid nose in a 90, 95, or 100-grainer! I know that Berger offered a 6.5mm 100 a while back. I thought it was cool, but they discontinued it. My technical issue with the lighter weight bullets is that they put blunt noses on them and limit their BC. Hornady does this with their 6.5mm 95 VMax. I don't understand why.

Give the 6.5mm world the same hybrid nose of the new 130 but reduce the shank for 90 grains and let's see what a combination of high velocity AND high BC gets us from the 65G.

[m796rider]

Here is a rough approximation of sizes. Berger AR 130 on top, Hornady 123gr SST on bottom. You can see the nose of the Berger is right in line with the nose size of the Hornady bullet, so the Berger sits just a tad deeper into the case but allows for AR15 mag-compatible COAL.

[LRRPF52]

Nice comparison. Notice how the shank transitions to the ogive, and how the boat tail is substantially longer.

[Kikn]

Looks like it has considerably less bearing surface.

Wouldn't that mean you can stuff a bit more powder in and get similar speeds as the 123/12x gr. pills?

[LRRPF52]

If you take into account the lack of bearing where the SST has the cannelure, the bearing surfaces are pretty similar. The mass will resist inertia more, which builds pressure faster of course. The overall shaping of the bullet certainly seems to be geared towards AR's as mentioned, which is very nice for manufacturers and hand-loaders.

Notice that PF already has this factory load.

[Kikn]

You are right. I didn't take the cannelure into account. It will be nice to have that heavy of a bullet with a high BC for hunting. I am curious how it will perform on larger game.

[BluntForceTrauma]

If one wanted a 130gr for the 65G, that bullet is about damn perfect.

Cartridge OAL length of 2.26" is 57.4mm. Grendel case of 1.520 is 38.6mm.

57.4 - 38.6 = 18.8mm of bullet nose exposure, or 0.740".

If the nose on the new 130 Berger is 0.738" then it fits perfectly within 0.740".

Ding! Ding! Ding! Gentlemen, we have a WINNER! (Did somebody mention that BC?!?)

[BluntForceTrauma]

Playing around with the numbers, I am digging this bullet more and more.

If the 6.5 Grendel neck is one caliber, or 0.256", and this bullet's bearing surface or shank is 0.342, it is only extending into the 65G case 2.2mm (discounting the boat tail, which would exist no matter the shank length). Powder intrusion is absolutely minimized for such a high BC bullet.

And if one has a magazine that allows loading to 2.30 vs. 2.26 (the difference of which is almost exactly 1mm), then one can seat the 6.5 130 Berger Tactical a little further out and have even less case intrusion.

I am satisfied that this is THE state-of-the-art HPBT, in this weight, for the 65G.

Berger is to be highly credited for popularizing the hybrid ogive AND for designing a bullet perfectly suited to the 65G. Grendel shooters are to be credited for choosing an efficient cartridge that allows such beautiful ogives in a compact package.

[cory]

Has anyone found these for sell anywhere?

[kmon]

Have 500 of them in a bucket from Berger that I got from a custom reloader here in the Dallas area. When I talked with Berger about those bullets they said you could order directly from them.

Berger also said use the same data for this bullet as for the 130gr VLD. Other things have gotten in the way and have not tried them yet.

Sent a contact us from Grendeldata.com that will provide some of these bullets to do pressure testing if they want to. Will see what that response is and post up my results when I get around to trying them. Was waiting on a bolt gun build to try them but might have to go ahead with some in the gas gun.

[bwaites]

They aren't listed on the Berger site.

[sneaky one]

Yes BFT , I agree on a few points on this pill. Yet a quick tweak on the frontal, can change the entire idea on these. Been there, done it all .

It's too heavy for speeds in the Grr, at 130. It's too hard to tweak this one.?? I wished that they made a 110 unit. hmmm...