Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting 156 Berger in 6.5PRC

8 twist 24” barrel on the seekins....hunt and shoot anywhere from 2500-8000 feet elevation....got a wild hair to play with these Berger’s this spring. Do you think I would have any issues stabilizing them? 2950 ish FPS attainable?

I'll be trying that bullet in my new 6.5 Swede build, wont be as fast as yours, but hopeful it's accurate in 7.5 twist and 28 inches, may be a good killer of deer, coyotes and pigs out to 700 or so.

Punched your particulars into Berger’s online stability program and it shows an SG of 1.59 @ 2500ft w/ a vel of 2900fps, which I think you’ll find more attainable.

I’m running them out of my 6.5 PRC at 2954 with R26 with an 8 twist. I’m at 1100’ elevation.

Berger is now offering the 156 in their 6.5 Creedmoor ammo at 2680 fps muzzle velocity.

https://www.targetsportsusa.com/ber...-eol-elite-hunter-65-31070-p-110348.aspx

SD

Dang, that's smoking, maybe I can get a bughole 2900 in my Swede with RL-26, Retumbo and 28 inches of barrel.

Interesting! Not a bad price either.

That is a great target bullet, a lousy hunting bullet. They need about 2000 fps to expand, not the 1800 fps that Berger guessed at. Not getting any expansion beyond 600 yards at 2850 launch velocity. A case of too much of a good thing I think.

Thanks Dennis, you just saved me from ordering a box!

I need expansion on deer and pigs to 700 yards with the 6.5 Swede, I may try a box of the 142gr ABLR's too.

What have you seen Dennis?

Interested as well....

Interested in this also. Just bought some and have also started to pin drill tips and cleaning them of media and burrs.

I have 6.5 GAP custom Mountain Rifle Titanium action, the barrel is 1 in 8 twist 24" Bartlein 2B. I use 156 Berger's from Copper Creek Ammo. They are supposed to be going 2930 fps, my LabRadar has them going at 2850 fps. The rifle is fairly new (less than 100 rounds down the tube), barrel isn't fully broken in. I killed two bull elk last year, both bang flops. The Wyoming bull was standing broadside at 250 yards, high shoulder shot and a complete pass thru. The Colorado bull was full out running at about 150 yards, sort of parallel to me when he decided running up a hill was the wrong move. Just as he turned towards me I shot free hand and the bullet hit the bull above the shoulder at the base of the neck, about 3/4 head on, dropped him right there. The 156 Berger rode the spine down to where it meets the pelvis, the bullet traveled 3+ feet and at a close shot distance impact, I'm sold. They shoot great.

I have a 6.5 PRC GAP Extreme Hunter coming next week, I'm going to be shooting some 156 Berger's from Copper Creek, I'll let you know how they shoot.

I plugged the numbers into the Hornady Ballistic Calculator (2850 fps, 156 grain bullet and 6500 ft. elevation) and the bullet is going at 2031 fps at 800 yards.

I haven't checked on this thread lately, sorry.

My hunting buddy bought a new rifle, a Proof Research Glacier Ti in 6.5 PRC. It came sighted in and ready to go. Evolved Ballistics 'found a load' for it and contracted with anther guy to load his ammo. He initially got 100 rounds- all loaded with 156 EOLs. I went with him on the maiden outing. Labradar said it was 2850ish. First 3 shot group at 200 yards was about 1/2" so it can shoot. Fast forward to deer season.

His daughters shot 3 coues deer (well one was a smallish muley that looked like a coues) at 495-550 yards. All were what you would expect; they quickly expired and didn't go anywhere. I believe all the shots were videoed through his phone on a 95mm Swarovski.

He shot a buck at 900+ and made a nice hit. Deer stood around and eventually wandered off- we never found it. Hit looked solid. Repeat performance on one at 800+.

Last month we went to Mexico. Because of gun permit issues several had to use his Proof rifle. My buddy borrowed it and made a perfect hit at 750 yards. Deer bucked, kicked his hind legs and went down. After all the back-slapping was over he headed to get it. About halfway there it stood up, shook itself off and ran into the next canyon- never found. Reviewing the footage showed what looked like a perfect hit.

Then my buddy who owns the rifle shot a deer at 800 and it ran off- reviewing the video showed a great hit. He shot another buck and missed the wind. He spined it and knocked it down. It sat on his haunches and he shot again. This time right through the chest. Took over an hour to hike to the buck. It was STILL alive and thrashing. Post-mortem showed that the bullets had penciled right through and hit only one lung and clipped the other.

Not sure what the exact velocity is that they quit expanding but it is much higher than Berger advertised. I talked to Bryan Litz about it at SHOT briefly. He said that had NO feedback on that bullet and quite interested. He felt the launch velocity was more than adequate to make the bullet expand. I mentioned that several told me you needed to open the tips up. He didn't like that at all. He was in the same camp with me on expecting a bullet to perform as delivered, not modified.

The whole idea with the EOL bullets for for extreme long range shooting. We have a lot of good 6.5 bullets for shooting out to 1000 yards. I am going to stick with my 143 ELD-X as they expand at 1000 from my 6.5-284 and penetrate well also. I am getting under .5 MOA out to 815 yards with the 143- why change?

The 156s are not the bullet for long range hunting - at least out of a 6.5PRC. Maybe a 6.5-300 Wby would work better.

Thanks Dennis...

Damn... sure doesn’t sound like a typical Berger.

I’ve got some to do some LR testing this spring. Hopefully I can get some in a couple handfuls of big boars and see WTF.

Sounds eerily similar to the 210's.

Thanks for the update Dennis, sounding more like I may be using the 147 ELD's in my new 6.5 Swede build for deer, pigs and coyotes out to 700 here at the farm.

I am running 156s at 3025 via R26 in a 8 twist at 5000ft of elevation

That’s great velocity. What’s your load and barrel length. I’m getting around 2850 with 55.5 on a 22”.

I’m running the 156’s out of a 26” barrel in a 26 nosler at 3270 FPS. Not a lot of kills yet with this set up. But 5 white tails at close ranges and all have slammed the ground like a brick so far. Ranges have only been from 150-435 so not really long range

Wish my 26N liked 156’s

I've got a 23.5" Proof Research carbon barrel on my 6.5 PRC that will launch a 156 EOL at 2,990 ft/sec with 57gr RE26. Accuracy was well under .5moa at 400yds. However, the load was a bit warm. 56.3gr RE26 lost about 100 ft/sec but also shot tight groups.

The 156 eol out of my seekins has shown good promise for accuracy and velocity both with rl-26. .6-.7 in groups and pushing 2990 without any pressure signs. Is a 6.5 prc with 24 in tube.

My 6.5 PRC, G.A.P. with 24" 1 x 8 twist, does not like the 156 gr, Burgers with R-26, i'm with Dennis, i will stick with the 143-eld-x, for hunting,147-m for LR steel, Rio7

I've been shooting the 215g 308 hybrid for years and had great performance on game. I took an antelope buck at 550 yards dorectly behind the front shoulder and had a large exit instant kill. It's the target model and says not to use it for game but it's been great so far. It concerns me a bit as to how it will do at longer ranges after reading about the 156.

I drew a very good bull elk tag this year and hope to get a good one while I can still walk a bit. I used to run the 208 amax but they were too explosive under 300 yards.

Bb

Getting 2800 fps out of a 23" barreled 6.5-284 and using H1000. Put the hurt on a whitetail buck last fall. The 195 EOL I used a bit almost seemed too soft for me. I'll try this one a few more times before I form an opinion but since majority of my stuff is under 500 may be fine.

Had a hunter use Amax bullets on elk hunt a few years ago. Not a good bullet for that. Took 30 hours to finally catch up with his bull
First bullet exploded on impact with shoulder. Zero penetration.

If you find a good performer, stick with it.
Of you can push the 156 to 3000 fps it will work fine. Some day you have to do the tips out. I prefer my bullets ready to shoot out of box.

😀

Here's a 600 yard gel block test of the156 EOL from a PRC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mfRY8Ah9vA

tests with a Creedmoor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNYwocw5tM0

Those results don't look positive at all.