Did I get bad factory ammo???

[widgetman101]

With the weekend being cold and miserable out I decided to clean my ammo/gun parts cabinet. While doing so I was consolidating ammo boxes and noticed the following. I had a few separate boxes of Berger 300 grain .338 Lapua ammo that I had purchased. I've been using it up as it's been a bit inconsistent and had shot from 2 different boxes on different days. When I went to put the ammo in one box I noticed two rounds were sitting way higher. See pic below:



Here is a pic of them side by side, you can really see the difference. Again, both are supposed to be 300 grain rounds, it doesn't look like the bullet is fully seated. When I originally shot from the one box I thought it was odd I couldn't get them to fit in my mag and had to single load them while my Hornady fit's fine. Granted when I was using this ammo originally I only had one box of Berger and one box of Hornady to compare then ended up buying another box of Berger then saw the difference:

[DukeConnor]

which one shoots better ? Some guns like the bullet into the lands

[85MikeTPI]

which one shoots better ? Some guns like the bullet into the lands

and seating a bullet deeper can increase the pressure/velocity.

Could just be a change in spec over the years. It looks like the top one has a more generous tempering on
the brass also..

[widgetman101]

which one shoots better ? Some guns like the bullet into the lands

To be honest I don't know, I didn't realize the difference until I went to put a couple half shot boxes into 1 box and saw the sizing was different. When I first got a box of their ammo it wouldn't load into the mag, I noticed it was longer than the Hornady rounds. I shot some of it and grabbed another box at the Sportsman Store since it was all they had at the time. I do know the Hornady rounds shoot amazing but I may email Berger to see if their spec changed. I'm thinking the bottom Berger rounds will load into my mag which makes me think the top ones are out of spec.

[MARINE DIVISION TWO]

Even if weight of both rounds can be verified the same with ACCURATE Measuring scale,the rounds that are seated deeper will have increased velocity .I personally would not trust a 22 lr ammo appearing as your 338 Lampua shown in pics .I value my face a lot more then trusting the appeared rounds . JMO

[Xringshooter]

Hornady #10 shows Maximum COL of 3.681" Measure the 2 Bergers and see what the difference is. It's possible that when being loaded something went wrong and the machine just didn't seat some deep enough.

[widgetman101]

Hornady #10 shows Maximum COL of 3.681" Measure the 2 Bergers and see what the difference is. It's possible that when being loaded something went wrong and the machine just didn't seat some deep enough.

I'll have to find my calipers to measure, I did email Berger and so far this was their response:

"Is one box of ammo loaded with the 300 grain BERGER OTM bullet. And the other loaded with the 300 grain LAPUA SCENAR bullet? Please send pics of boxes and loaded rounds. Thanks"!

Thankfully I saved the other box and that doesn't appear to be the issue in different ammo types, I'm interested to see what they have to say.



Update: Heard back from them "Check the long one to see if it moves easily in the neck. It looks like it is 'set out" some. Nominal COAL of that cartridge, bullet combination was 3.794 inches ."

Guess I'll measure after work to confirm.

[Delkal]

While doing so I was consolidating ammo boxes and noticed the following.

The "consolidating" part is what has me wondering. Could you have mixed up some different bullets from another box? While I never bought (or afforded) Berger ammo I can only guess it is top rate (or should be for the price!).

OAL measurements are basically worthless. Different bullet tapers can give a large difference in seating. While you are measuring the OAL check the diameter of the bullet 1/4 and 1/2 inch from the tip. If they are identical they might be the same bullet. If they are different you messed up. You can also pull a couple bullets to compare them but for this ammo is way too expensive to waste.

For now I would separate all and shoot the different lengths separately for now. Then if you ever buy a new box check them all before you shoot them.

[widgetman101]

The "consolidating" part is what has me wondering. Could you have mixed up some different bullets from another box? While I never bought (or afforded) Berger ammo I can only guess it is top rate (or should be for the price!).

OAL measurements are basically worthless. Different bullet tapers can give a large difference in seating. While you are measuring the OAL check the diameter of the bullet 1/4 and 1/2 inch from the tip. If they are identical they might be the same bullet. If they are different you messed up. You can also pull a couple bullets to compare them but for this ammo is way too expensive to waste.

For now I would separate all and shoot the different lengths separately for now. Then if you ever buy a new box check them all before you shoot them.

I've never bought anything but Berger or Hornady rounds for my 338 and the Hornady rounds are red tipped so no way to mix up. I did check with the Sportsmans warehouse and they only sell the OTM version - https://www.sportsmans.com/shooting-...ABerger&text=#

This was the response I got back after measuring the overall length from Berger:

"The COAL of this ammunition , part # 65-811110, should be 3.79 in nominal COAL. So they are an "over length' round that will not fit in most common magazines so it has to be loaded in a " single shot" mode. The ones that are .010 shorter MAY be overpressure due to the shorter COAL so I suggest that you do not shoot them as is. This ammunition is not produced any longer because it is over magazine length due to orders from our parent company NAMMO."

Needless to say at $120/box for 20 rounds I'm not happy about the situation. Currently checking to see if they have any ammo guarantees for quality.