Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Accubond or Berger VLD

Agreed.



This I disagree with and contend that bullets can - and often do - fail to perform as desired yet still result with a kill.

What we disagree with is the definition of 'fail'. Yours appears to be based entirely on whether an animal dies. Mine is based on overall performance, of which reliably producing a dead animal is the most important but not the only criteria.

In particular, I'm not interested in bullets that essentially go 'poof' after contact. What I want s a bullet that reliably destroys vital function and can do so from any angle I'm willing to take - or need to take to stop a wounded or potentially wounded animal including a THS if that is all that is presented. For me that means bullets that provide reliable but controlled and limited expansion with high weight retention and deep penetration. Speer Grand Slam, North Fork SS, Swift A-Frame and Barnes TTSX have never failed me or those I hunt with, from antelope to elk. (Which is very different from saying I have never failed in placement.) Bullets that go 'poof' by design need not apply.

Agreed with John on this one. For us the heavy for caliber Bergers have always delivered. If I hunted heavy cover and had shots less than 150 yards typically, I might use a woodleigh or something like that I guess. But I don't and will keep using Bergers, Scenars and experimenting with the new Hornady ELD line for something do in the spring/summer.

I loaded Berger for a 264 Win mag. I shot quite a few pigs, bullets went off like grenades inside. I hit one 200 lb sow I had trapped, shot her in the shoulder at 60 yds. She went down, but was back up eating corn in a few minutes. It left a big flesh wound in that shoulder. I Don't have a dog in this fight either. I think the bigger the Berger the better, this was a 140. They are accurate, for damn sure. Maybe that was a bad bullet. That was the only one I shoulder shot. I gave the rest away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNlcGpUD5zw

It was merely a flesh wound? Tough pig for sure.

Excellent information, John.

So far I've killed three black bears using my 9.3 x 62. The first was one wounded by a young, inexperienced hunter. I finished it using a 286 Hornady at an MV of 2400 fps. It was a hard angling-away shot that entered just behind the rib cage on the right side and made exit at the back of the neck. Bullet or fragments were never found. The thick fold of hide and fur hid the damage at the exit until it was pulled off in skinning. Several vertebrae were taken out before exit.

The second bear was taken with a 286 Nosler Partition at an MV of 2600+ fps as it was facing me from 68 yards in tall grass. Bullet entered center chest. Bear went 20 yards, fell or rolled down an escarpment, was dead at the bottom. Bullet remains fell out from the right flank on skinning, retaining 211 grains. A six-foot bear.

Third bear was shot at 85 yards on Oct. 1st, 2015. This time I used the 250 AccuBond leaving the muzzle at 2700 +. Bear went 20 yards leaving a massive blood trail that the proverbial blind man could follow. Shooting from a tree stand, impact was high in rib cage, took out one rib, pulverized the heart and two more ribs on exit. Bear was below me and quartering away. Bullet never retrieved, nor any fragments thereof. Another healthy 6-foot bear.

Thought someone might be interested.

Bob

www.bigbores.ca

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