M70 Guy. I would not call your experiences failures. Rather they are what I would expect given the bullets you picked.
Berger bullets will not reliably hold together, period. Pick a premium hunting bullet...there are many. Speer bullets are not premium hunting bullets just as Sierra's are not.
The Hornady "dangerous game" softs are a fundamentally poor design. Their solids are good.
I don't think the bullets performed in an unusual manner...they were just poor choices.
The Hornady are called Dangerous Game Expanding, the caliber (.450 NE) is only used at close range, the rifle was regulated for them and they even put a picture of a buffalo on the box. I'm going to go out on a limb and say they thought someone might shoot a buffalo with one. Its like they thought it was a good idea. I won't be using them again.
The Bergers? They called them hunting bullets, I never. No mention was made of coyotes or prairiedogs, and the range was exactly a quarter mile. I reckon I used it exactly the way they promoted it. Never noticed a "do not use inside 1/2 mile" disclaimer either.
