After not all that much early experience with Bergers, I started deliberately placing them at least 3-4 inches behind the shoulder. NONE of those resulted in more meat damage than a knitting needle--in fact it was usually hard to find the entrance hole. And they killed far more quickly than conventional "mushrooming" bullets--because they expanded violently INSIDE the chest cavity.
You (and others) still evidently refuse to understand that Bergers work VERY well--as long as they're not used like conventional bullets. Why anybody would use them LIKE conventional bullets, by shooting them into shoulders at shorter ranges, is beyond me. But I will admit that, as noted, it took me a few animals to understand that difference.
If you want to shoot big game in the shoulder at close ranges with high-velocity bullets, then there are better bullets. I've used plenty of those bullets--but fail to grasp why so many Berger critics keep bitching about how they act differently than, say, Nosler Partitions or Barnes TSXs, when all of this has been described in detail a number of times by various people.
I have not been shy around here in proclaiming my preference for staying off the shoulder, whether that be humerus or scapula, at any distance or impact speed. I 10x over prefer to hit behind it if I can. I seem to accidentally hit it coming or going plenty though and the times that I have totally missed it with bergers haven’t repeatedly produced those results you mention.
Besides, people like Burns and others who have good luck with Barnes proclaim they consistently exit, often times even when a shoulder bone is hit.
I have bitched about their performance (obviously) but have never been under the illusion that they don’t act differently than partitions, TSXs or the like….that absolutely has been explained here ad nauseam as well as on berger’s site. I just have not seen the results others report, and I am not alone in that.
Too bad about your moose hunt. I was sincerely hoping you’d get one yesterday. I know you waited a while for that opportunity.
