Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats 168 Berger from a 280 Ackley

Has anyone tried these high BC bullets to hunt with? I know there are "light for caliber" bullets. Would these be considered "too heavy"?

ST,
There is quit a bit of info on using Berger VLD's for hunting on the Berger site. Apparently they work pretty well. Those 168's launched at 2900 to 3000 out of a 280 AI would have to be bad medicine. Some of the guys here on the fire have probably tried them and have a report. Maybe someone will chime in. I have a box but I cannot get past the 150 Noslers in mine as they shoot real good. They don't have that .643 BC but I can get the 150's as close to the lands as needed and the Bergers are real long making it possible you will have problems getting them in the magazine if you seat the bullet out close.

Dave

Supertrucker,

I shot a deer at 315 yds with the 168 Berger VLD from a 7mm WSM and the deer dropped right there. Its a great bullet.

Savage99,
Were you able to seat the bullets and still fit them in the mag well?

Mine shoots 139gr Hornady SP so well,I don't see a need to change.

Supertrucker,

The magazine in my M70 Classic is about 3.10" long. The COL of my handloaded 168 Bergers in the 7mm WSM is 3.080". A 7mm WSM case is 2.095" long and a 168 gr .284" VLD is 1.452" long.

Thus the bullet is seated .467" deep into the case neck. It looks right.

Had the same thought or maybe the 140 Berger in the 1-10" 280 AI and the 168 in the 1-9" 7RM. Only problem is I have about a gazillion other bullets to try too. Is the Berger a step backwards are is it the last word in wind drift and terminal performance?

I am not sure why I am fascinated by them as I have never shot any game over 500 yards and probably never will, very few over 350 yards.

I have a spot I like to glass where the closest shot is 500 yards.........and there is no way to get closer and still have a shot. It is a river canyon and is very brushy. Never fails to see the buck of a lifetime on the far side sticking his tongue out at me.

+1 You got that right! If a rifle will not shoot this 7mm bullet well, it will not shoot anything well.



I think I read something by a gun writer (John Barnsness or perhaps Ken Waters?) 25 or 30 years ago regarding how well this bullet usually shot -- and how well it performed on game.

I think the article said something about the length of its bearing surface combined with the short length of the ogive that made it generally accurate, and I tried the bullet.

Well, it has always been a great shooter (and now, I think I have tested it in perhaps 20 rifles belonging to me and friends). Performance on game has always been much better than I would expect from a standard cup and core bullet too.

I would like to try the Berger 168 gr VLD bullets too -- they are so streamlined they look like they would fly forever!



John

Here are some statements about the Berger VLD's on deer from John Barsness:

"In that case I would try the VLD's, as on average they kill game faster than any other bullet I've used, even faster than BT's."
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JB

"For longer shooting another good whitetail bullet is the Berger VLD. This is the only bullet I know of which will not expand until it gets around 2 inches inside the animal. All other start expanding immediately when hitting skin, but the VLD gets inside and THEN expands, quite violently. On smaller deer it can make a really big hole on the offside, but on bigger bucks often there is only a pencil-thin entrance wound, and what remains of the bullet splattered against the ribs on the far side. It kills quicker, on average, than any other bullet I've ever used."

The 6.5 140 and the .257 115 worked well in Wyoming last year. Excellent wind resistance and flat trajectory with both.