For those of us who compete, hunt and handload, here’s some news of interest: new offerings in best-quality bullets and brass are available now and later in 2025, all bearing the names of Berger, Lapua and Vihtavuori. For the non-handloader, all three are combined in factory loaded competition and hunting ammo that we can expect to equal the best handloads.
For decades now, Berger has been a top-tier bullet choice among competition shooters who load their own. When Capstone Precision Group acquired the bullet company from Walt Berger, Capstone was already the sole importer for high quality Lapua brass and ammunition, and for excellent Vihtavuori smokeless powders. It comes as no surprise then, that Capstone has combined all three resources to manufacture premier Berger ammunition featuring Berger bullets, Lapua cases and Vihtavouri powder. The combination is a win for competitors who don’t handload, and for hunters who need a quality bullet to perform at long range.
Berger bullets earned a reputation for accuracy in the development of its J4 jacket, held to an exceptionally tight tolerance of .0003 inch of total indicated runout (TIR). I hope I’m not giving away a trade secret here, but when I toured the Berger facility soon after Capstone acquired Berger, I discovered that those J4 jackets are made with virgin copper, not recycled copper, which perhaps may account for some of that incredible three ten thousandths tolerance. It may also be at least partly responsible for the reliable expansion of Berger’s hunting bullets. Regardless, Berger bullets have been second to none for competition for a long time now.
Long-Range 7 mm Re-Dabbled
Long-range competition shooters have long been bullet and cartridge dabblers, and there was a time when they dabbled with the 7 mm bullet. It never really caught on, however, because 7 mm bullets weren’t really being manufactured to compete with the .30 calibers (or the 6.5 mms in Europe). That was then and this is now, and dabbling with the 7 mm bullet is revived in the 6.8 Western and 277 Fury. New for 2025, Berger has unveiled its .277-inch 6.8 mm/.270 caliber 150-grain Hybrid Target bullet. The bullet features Berger’s “jump tolerant” hybrid ogive and a high ballistic coefficient (BC) of .580 G1/.297 G7, and is optimized for a 1:9-inch twist rate. Those dabbling at the range with the precision of the .270 Winchester, .270 WSM, 27 Nosler, and .270 Weatherby Magnum cartridges may want to take note of the new Hybrid Target bullet, as well.
New MaxRange Target Bullets From Lapua
Side-by-side with Berger’s new 7 mm comes a new 6.5 mm competition offering from Lapua called the MaxRange Target bullet. While certainly applicable to games like Fullbore and Long-Range—and even Mid-Range—competitions, Lapua designed MaxRange Target bullets to excel beyond 1,000 yards. This is a 144-grain 6.5 mm bullet that Doppler radar tests assigned a G1/G7 BC of .670/.335, so it should perform well in serious precision cartridges like 6.5 mm Creedmoor, 6.5 PRC, 6.5x47 Lapua and 6.5-284 Winchester. Here is a new candidate bullet for shooters of the 6.5x55 Swedish cartridge and rifles in Vintage Military Rifle competition; even though the bullet is intended to perform way out there, it should do just as well at 200-yard VMR distance. Capstone says a .30 caliber version is in the works, so we may eventually see MaxRange Target bullets in other competition calibers, as well.
New 217-grain .30 Caliber Elite Hunter
One last new bullet to mention is a hunting bullet, Berger’s .30 Caliber 217-grain Elite Hunter. Obviously, this is a heavyweight suitable for larger game such as elk and its ilk, as it brings lots of energy for terminal performance. The combination of its hybrid tangent and secant ogive profile and increased sectional density result in a G1 BC of .695, which is significantly high for a heavy .30 caliber. That hybrid ogive minimizes sensitivity to seating depth in the case, making it applicable to a broad range of .30-caliber cartridges, and reduces wind drift compared to traditional 220-grain spitzer bullets. It’s a Berger bullet so, yes, we can be confident it’s accurate, too.
Top-Tier Berger Target Ammunition
That Berger name and reputation now applies to loaded precision ammunition. Specifically, Capstone has combined Berger bullets with Lapua brass and Vihtavuori powders to create truly top-tier Berger Target ammunition. For competition, Berger offers new-for-2025 ammunition in its Berger Target line in .300 Norma Magnum 245-grain Long Range Hybrid Target (LRHT), and .338 Norma Magnum 300-grain Hybrid OTM Tactical. Berger says these are the same loadings used by, “… our nation’s elite operators,” who necessarily must remain unnamed, as there’s no sense in giving bad guys any free information from which they might benefit.
For High Power Rifle shooters, Berger has two of these top-tier loadings in .223 Remington to suit barrels of 1:9-inch and 1:8-inch twist. Berger’s 73-grain boat tail bullet offering for the slower twist is joined by a second offering loaded with Berger’s 77-grain OTM (Open Tip Match) bullet for the 1:8-inch and faster twists. Both feature Lapua brass and Vihtavuori N140 powder. We’ll take a closer look at these loads later in 2025, and it’s a good bet we’ll continue to see other Berger Target offerings coming out in the future.
New Berger Hunter Ammunition
That same Berger, Lapua and Vihtavuori DNA goes into new offerings in the Hunter Ammunition line, as well. This year, Berger Hunter Ammunition adds four options in high-BC hybrid-ogive big game bullets among two .30 calibers, the .30-06 Springfield and .300 WSM. The .30-06 loadings are topped with 168-grain or 185-grain bullets, and the .300 WSM with 185-grain and a heavyweight 205-grain bullet. The hybrid-ogive bullets are not sensitive to how far off the rifling lands they start (again, they are “jump tolerant”), so they will shoot with precision without concern for magazine length restrictions.
“For skilled hunters demanding an ethical harvest, Berger ammo provides two to three inches of penetration before producing extreme hydrostatic shock and a massive wound cavity through the vitals,” Berger says. “Its energy is delivered where most effective—inside the animal.” These new .30 caliber offerings should be available by Summer 2025, allowing plenty of time to get zeroes before the Fall hunting season opens.
New Precision Lapua Brass
For those who handload at competition’s cutting edge, Capstone is importing Lapua brass in 7 mm PRC and 6 mm Dasher. For those aforementioned 7 mm dabblers shooting .284-inch bullets, quality 7 mm PRC cases have been in rather short supply. By third quarter this year, Lapua brass in 7 mm PRC should be available to help alleviate that shortage.
We’re hearing more about 6 mm Dasher as it continues to gain popularity in PRS, Mid-Range and Long-Range competition and crosses over into extended-range varminting. Lapua 6 mm Dasher brass should be coming across the pond with Lapua’s 7 mm PRC cases later this year.
Lapua brass enjoys a reputation for longevity among handloaders, which helps to compensate for its expense—an expense that’s reflected in its consistent quality, an especially important factor when launching smaller bullets from smaller cases with the expectation of extreme precision downrange. Both these new Lapua cases will be welcomed by the fraternity (and sorority) of precision shooters.
Learn more about Berger, Lapua and Vihtavuori.
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