Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Anybody using the Berger 155gr VLD Hunting bullets?

In particular in an '06? Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Dan

I use that bullet in my Rem Mountain rifle in 30-06 and everything I have shot with it was a bang flop.
I shoot VLDs in my .257 Roberts,.243 and yes even my .270 win.

Neil

Love them in the .308. Scenars are easier to get to shoot well, but I love what the VLDs do to critters.

John

I have used the 155's in a 300 Win mag and 140's in 264Win mags. We have feeder pens to protect feeders from the cows. There are trap gates in the feeder pens, so we get dozens of pigs to test bullets on. If you shoot a deer or pig in the heart lung area it isn't going but a few steps, but if you hit shoulder bone the animal will run off. I shot several pigs in the pens that got up after shoulder shots, went back to eating corn. It left a big flesh wound. So in my opinion a hunter best make a good shot or be a good tracker. I like a partition, accubond, or a ballistic tip. They will blow right through a 200lb pig. This is all just my opinion.

hanco: Thanks for the research. Very odd bullet performance. They sound great for fawns and coyotes,and groundhogs. I don't understand the appeal.

My opinion, too. They may be fine if you are shooting extreme distances, but I will take a Nolser Partition, Ab, or a Hornady Interlock for any reasonable range.

Must have been luck for me, dozens and dozens of times on large, mature elk, mule deer and black bears.

I'd love to see a pig take a shoulder hit from a .264 magnum and 140gr VLD, bounce back up and start feeding again....

I don't have anywhere near the experience/data as Pat, but I haven't seen a Berger VLD "bounce off" a deer or pig either. My hunting camp partner has killed several large hogs with 168's in 308 Win. cartridges I handloaded. They've penetrated with quartering on presentation, and they've also blown out large sections of spine at the neck/shoulder area from a quartering away presentation with the shooter in a elevated position. "Easier" angles have been no problem either.

When several of us field-tested Berger VLD's on big game in New Zealand in 2007, we not only killed a pile of animals with no failures to penetrate shoulders.

One of the "problems" we had at first was always hitting feral goats (which have the reputation of being among the toughest big game on earth) anywhere except a shoulder or in the spine, and they all dropped so quickly the guides were very impressed. But we also wanted to see how quickly they killed on rib/lung shots, and finally my wife got a shot at a big billy completely broadside across a draw. She hit it behind the shoulder, and the billy dropped right there, rolling down the steep slope dead.

The bullets tested were 115 .25's at around 3000 fps (the one Eileen used on the billy), 140 6.5's at 3000, 168 .30's at 2900, and 185 .30's at 2800 and 3100, and ranges varied from 18 yards to over 550. All penetrated shoulders and went on into the chest, whether the animal was a feral goat or sheep, fallow deer or mature red deer stag.

Eventually I decided to see IF one could be forced to blow up on a shoulder, so started shooting dead goats from a few feet away, right in the shoulder joint. All the bullets penetrated on into the chest.
Those animals were autopsied to find out exactly what happened, along with the big billy Eileen killed and several others. Eventually, however, we quit slicing goats open, because the bullet performance was so consistent, and unlike the fallow and red deer they weren't being butchered for meat.

I would be skeptical too. I've had my quickest kills on pigs with VLDs in .257, .264, and .308 bullets.

John

Oh man I knew this would get the masses stirred up......

Well, it stirred me up! I am going to invest in some VLDs for my 257 IMP before I go hunting this season.
I would like to shoot an elk with my improved !

Ken

Hondo and Pat, do they tend to perform better on animals than the Scenars?

Reckon it's the fact they are frangible bullets and create enough collateral upset to dispatch the animal swiftly. People like what works.

Similar to what John Barsness has written about, my friend and I have found delayed frangibility. They've gone in a way before letting go.

The stuff I have shot with them has been limited to white tails, pigs and coyotes. On those critters, the VLDs have done more internal damage than the Scenars have for me and the critters have made fewer tracks. I believe the VLDs are a little softer but have never had one fail to penetrate through the vitals and they do massive damage inside.

John

Let us know how you make out. I couldn't find an accurate load for my .257 AI using the 115 VLDs. Thanks!

I've always thought that scenars are a little harder jackets. I've never had a failure with either. I've never hit anything poorly either. As been stated before, placement is always the most important element.

All I can say is I hit her square in her shoulders. She went down. I shot a couple more in a feeder pen down below me. I looked back at the first feeder pen. She was up eating corn like nothing had happened. I shot her again in the heart. She ran into the fence and fell over. It left a huge flesh wound where the first shot hit. I have hit a dozen or so in the heart-lungs that did not go all the way through. They didnt go twenty steps before they were down. Maybe it was a bad bullet?

You can keep them. I'd never trust them.

Ultimately, terminal performance is not a 100% given in ballistics.

I agree, if you hit them in the heart or lungs they are dead on their feet. It's like a grenade went off inside. They are the most accurate bullet I have tried. I'm going to deer lease weekend after next. If we catch pigs I will use Bergers on them. I still some 300 Win mags loaded with 150's. I will try more shoulder shots just for the hell if it.

hanco,

As I recall, Berger recommends a muzzle velocity of no more than 3200 fps with their hunting bullets. Dunno what velocity your .300 is getting but suspect it's more than that.

There's no reason to push them even that fast, as one of the other advantages of using Bergers is their very high ballistic coefficients. I've seen a bunch of animals shot with 185 VLD's from a couple of .300 Winchester Magnums at muzzle velocity around 3100 fps, from well under 100 yards to over 500 yards, and there was no problem with penetrating shoulders close up or expansion far out.

All bullets work best within a certain velocity range. Monolithics work best at higher muzzle velocities (I've used them up to 4300 fps) but may not expand much or at all at lower impact velocities where Bergers expand nicely. (Aside from construction, the other reason Bergers expand well at long range is they retain more velocity due to higher BC's.) It's still important to select the right bullet for the cartrdge/velocity.

so you are saying they would be perfect in the 308 Win for Big Game?

The bullet that hit the sow was a 264 Win mag 140 VLD hunting bullet. It was loaded with 55 grains IMR 4350. At 60 yards it was around 2900 fps. The pigs I've shot with the 300 were heart-lung shots. I will try a few shoulder shots. We catch a dozen pigs almost every time we go. I would think the heavier VLD's would penetrate better. I load the 150 grain VLD's in the 300 at 3150 fps.

bea175,

Yeah, the 155 Berger would be far better matched with a .308 Winchester than a .300 magnum. The 168's also very good in the .308--and .30-06.

The 6.5 130 VLD is the Hammer on shoulder shots outta a Creedmoor on southern whitetails.

Has anyone tried the .243 87 gr VLD on deer?

Since we are so close to the answer for 300 win mag and a buddy is having one built... and doesn't want mono bullets likely...( 168ttsx if he would was my suggestion- shooting basically deer only) then I run 185 bergers in my 308 and moving to the 200ish hybrids... what would a normal person run in a 300 win mag? 185 or the 200 whatevers, to prevent old ballistic tip type damages?

Rost
215 hybrids and the 300win mag are a deadly combo!

There it is, couldn't recall if they were 200, 210 or 215s.... think the 200s were used at the F class nationals in 308 recently...

I will pencil in 215 then...