Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Berger VLD 168 Gr 7mag

Sorry if this has already been beaten to death. I got a chance to sneak out to the range this afternoon (wind finally quit blowing). I had some HSM Trophy Gold 168 gr VLD hunting ammo in 7mag, and it shot .65 out of my Tikka 695. I was really pleased with the groups I got and I'm not that great of a shot.

Question: Does anyone know how they perform on deer/elk sized game and/or hogs? Not necessarily the 7mag version, but the Berger hunting VLD's in general? Thanks in advance.

I shot the 180's out of my 7 RUM and harvested a cow elk and a mulie or 2 with them. No tracking was required to say the least.
Extremely accurate and was very impressed.
My 300 Win mag and 220 Swift shoots them very well.

Burns will prob chime in, but I think that is the bullet all the movie stars use for hunting in the 7 Mag. Well, Burns likes the 180 also.

Seems to kill from 75-950 yards.

That can be good or bad I think, huh? I try not to rely on the opinions of those guys, but I can be hard headed.

Wouldn't want anyone who actually used them.

Lets see, you now like to dial, you gave up on the Summit for Leupolds, your shooting a 7mm Mag and when you ask about VLDs you are not interested in my opinion. That is pretty funny right there.

Now don't get mad and call me a troll again, I am just poking a little fun.

Am I here right on schedule

JG, like 'em or not, these guys are showing us wannabe's what these bullets and equiptment can do at range...short or long. If I didn't see some of these kills with Bergers, it'd take me years to formulate an opinion thru actual experience with them.




Plus, I'd have to stop using Noslers.



And that aint gonna happen.

No offense Burns, but I don't consider you a movie star, who is paid to promote a particular product. You need to take that as a compliment, as it's meant as one. I'm very interested in your opinion on this particular bullet BTW.

For the record, I've never called you a troll, ever. You must have me confused with someone else, seriously.

Two bull elk killed with them--they worked surprisingly well.

I've seen the .284 diameter 168 VLD's used to take quite a few big bull elk, mule deer bucks and antelope shot from .280's 7MMRM and a few with the 7MM Dakota. It seemed to kill stuff very dead. Most of my personal trigger pulling experiences with Bergers Hunting VLD's have been with 130gr and 140gr in 6.5 diameter. Those bullets kill stuff pretty dead as well....

If they shoot well, I say rock on!

Some people are pleased with their performance, others are very unhappy with it.

Given the relatively small number of Berger users compared to bullets like the Nosler Partition, it seems to me there is a significantly higher percentage of unhappy VLD users than there are users of other bullets.

Me, I'll stick with North Fork SS and TTSX in my 7mm RM. I'd go back to Grand Slams, which worked flawlessly for 20+ years, before I'd use a VLD.

Granted, if you are shooting at extreme ranges (over 600 yards for me), the VLD might be a better choice.

JGRaider - on mule deer, the .257" 115 gr Berger VLD is very effective. I've used the VLD's on three, at 175, 230 and 400 yards. Quick kills, good accuracy.

I was confused and you are right. My bad.

I was really just poking a little fun but the troll comment was a mistake.

Burns aint too bad a guy. I met him at the SCI convention, and bs'ed with him at length. Even bought a stock from him.

Now, if I could just get him to follow thru on what he promised me, and get back to me on it...we'd be good to go.

Now there is a WAG posing as statistical inference.

I went back to the range today to check the HSM advertised velocity of 3076fps against my real world chrono'ed velocity in my Tikka 695. The 10 shot string averaged 3021fps, and with 2-3 shot groups and 1-4 shot group I'm getting right at .5/.75MOA. I sure hope this kills stuff dead 'cause it shoots absolutely lights out in that rifle.

Well there ya go then. Good, accurate bullets at 3,000 fps ought to work real well.

Best of luck on your hunt!

�G�, yes. �WA�, not so much.

The Partitions have been around a lot longer than Bergers. They are certainly in far wider use than the Bergers among my friends, people I meet at the range and people I have met in the field and they are certainly more readily available.

Federal has 31 loads that use a partition. Neither Federal, Remington, or Winchester load any Bergers.

Cheaper Than Dirt lists 321 loads for the .30-06. Several show Partitions, none show Bergers.

Most hunters are not handloaders and simple availability dictates what most of them use. The stores I frequent usually have multiple Federal Partition offerings on the shelves while any HSM ammo (the only standard production manufacturer using Berger bullets) is a relatively rare find.

But, to your point, no, I don�t have any independently verifiable statistical data that shows the number of Partition users is equal or greater than VLD users. That said, I�d gladly take the bet that the number of Partition users is much greater than the number of VLD users simply based on availability, reputation, etc.

If the percentage of unhappy users was equal for the two bullets, one would expect to find a lot more unhappy Partition users. In my experience, however, unhappy Partition users are pretty rare at best. It isn�t hard, however, to find disappointed VLD users.

The more I use bergers, the more I like them. But that is only four years. Killed four elk, a number of deer, a goat and a lion with them.

[quote=Coyote_Hunter. It isn�t hard, however, to find disappointed VLD users. [/quote]


I want to hear from 6 of them before I take that as fact.

Hey JG, That's awesome that your gun shoots the HSM Bergers! As I'm sure you'e heard Bergers can be finicky about seating depth and jump to the lands. Those HSM loads are seated pretty deep, but it must be perfect for the throat of your rifle. Me and my bunch run the 168s in 2 280ai's and a 7 rem mag. Weve been VERY HAPPY on stuff that I know is important to you.....BIG sandhill mulies, big aoudad, oryx, even a little old coues deer!