Blaser R8 .243 win 95 gr. Berger VLD hunting bullet

[charles416mag]

Have any of you reloaded with the 95 gr VLD hunting bullet for .243 win? I didn’t realize till after I purchased them that minimum twist rate to stabilize these bullets is 1:9. Blaser R8 .243 win standard barrel has a twist rate of 1:10. Just curious of your experience of accuracy of these loads if you have tried loading them. Thanks!

[Vaughan]

I did, both hunting and target variants, quite some time ago. I don't have the Quickload files (or the bbl) any longer so not sure what the load was.I'll see if I can find a paper copy, I might have been writing things down at that time.... I shot a couple of roe deer with it and a few Black grouse. Blew stuff up too much so I stopped. Also used 88gr flatbase Bergers (I think they were). Both were a bit finicky but both shot well eventually.

[charles416mag]

Thanks Vaughan! I actually ended up returning the Berger’s. After speaking to someone from Berger we determined given, altitude, temp, and twist rate that the bullets would not stabilize. I ended up getting a bunch of hornady 90 gr. ELDX and nosler 95 gr BT. So will give them a try. Thanks!

[Vaughan]

'Probably a good choice. From memory the 88gr Bergers were the most accurate bullet I ever shot through that bbl but for my winter bird hunting they were just too exposive. I've shot the 95gr BTs in my 6mmBR and they shoot really well.

[Lead Slinger]

I made that mistake with the 95s too. Never shot them. However the 87 gr VLDs shoot very well out of my R8 as well as Rem700. Their not for anyone interested in keeping pelts.