Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Berger 250 Elite Hunter .338"

I've posed this question before to no avail. Still looking for someone who's injected one of these into a critter. They shoot good out of my .338win's but I need a little more feedback before I pack them on an out of state hunt.

Bloodworks,

I have taken elk with a 264 Win Mag,270 Win, 7mm Rem Mag, 7mm WSM, 308 Win and an 8mm Rem Mag. With Hornady interlocks, interbonds, GMX, Nosler partions, Accubonds, Swift A/frame, Scrocco, Corelocks and plain old factory load that I do not even know what bullet was loaded in.

The short answer is put the bullet in the right place and you will need to worry about how much freezer wrap you have.

8mmwapiti

Still looking for experience with this pill.

Dude, they weigh 250 grains, They will flatten an elk. I have only shot a coyote with them myself. I think Azshooter has used them. Maybe PM him.

The only better long range elk bullet out there is the 300 grain Berger and I know a guy that has flattened a long of stuff with it.

I push them at 3050 in my 340 Wby.

This particular bullet has been hard to find any info on. As much as I like 250 Scenars and Hornady's they've been nothing less than armor piercing in my experience. The Scenars have cut holes in my plates and shown zero expansion on pigs and deer. The 300's are a touch slow out of a Win mag but the 250's are on the money but I never had a critter in the hairs to test out the Bergers this past season while I was toting this rifle.

Like I said, I know a guy who has whacked some stuff with his 338 Edge running the 300 grain Bergers. My 340 has a 12 twist so I am relegated to the 250s myself. The 300s expand.

Did you ask on longrangehunting.com?

Granted my examples are few but all the same I have shot two bulls with the Berger 250 grain 338. One was 40 yards and quartering away. Hit him between the last two ribs and the bullet exited the sternum between the front legs. He looked like a wrecking ball hit him as he was flung over on top of his shoulders. The exit hole was about 2 inches in diameter. The heart was destroyed. Incidentally this bull was a 6 point scoring right at 320.
The second bull was a medium 5 point shot at 150 yards. I hit him lower than I planned. About 3 inches above the sternum behind the right shoulder and he immediately hit the ground. He was still thrashing around so I shot him in the neck. I still don't understand how this bull was immobilized so quickly with hardly any vitals being hit. The heart had several small punctures but they weren't bleeding profusely. I was above him when I shot and the bullet went through part of the sternum on the way out. The exit was about an inch in diameter
I have only seen one elk( other than these 2) hit the ground at the shot and he was hit through the shoulder and into the neck.
I have been taught that knock down power was a figment of people's imagination but these two examples really have me wondering. Is the 338 that much better? Is the Berger something special? Is the combo magical ? I don't have a clue but these two have me wondering for sure. I've got another tag for this fall so with luck I'll have one more to report on.

YMMV, Fred

I've read you cab anneal the tip of the bullet if you think it's not opening? Possibly try that.