Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Berger Bullets?

I could care less if a bullet exits either, as long as it’s chest cavity is full of raspberry gelato...

That they can do.

Especially if you drive light for caliber Bergers fast.

I'm thinking heavier Bergers, not as fast.

I have 156 EOL's headed my way to try in my Creed, Swede, 6.5-284 and 26 Nos. Those heavy Bergers at 2,700-2,750 or so out of the Creed should be interesting. Berger data shows 2,800, but that looks a bit ambitious to me with Horn max at 2,650 or so. The Nos can push them 3,100, which may not be needed. This Berger data, not yet published, is given out over the phone. They admit it's QL generated, not pressure tested. QL data isn't the gospel, just a ball park. So, I'll not push that envelope.

I've run these loads thru the Hornady Ballistic calculator and with these very high B.C. bullets, the extra velocity doesn't make as much difference as I would have thought. And, I'm a hunter, not a LR target shooter, but is nice to be able to take a long shot when the opportunity presents. And, being prepared is a Loony thing. I can twist the Creed to 500 or so just as easily as the 26 Nos, and burn half the powder. And, we don't have a lot of wind like some areas, so those bullets don't need to be moving at 3,100 fps for what I'm doing.

My current thinking on the subject. As a Loony, current thinking is always subject to change...

It doesn't take a lot to entertain a Loony....

DF

One fine day the 24cf will turn on Berger boolits just like Leupold! 😂. HAPPY TRAILS

Well, even Leupold still has some fans...

DF

I’m still an unapologetic Leupold fan, fragile bullets.....not so much! Years ago, we called them varmint bullets.....today, they’re “hunting” (?) bullets! memtb

What that is there is a prime example of a logical fallacy. It's similar to me asking how a woman like you could ever understand what it means to do things only a man can do.

I chuckle at what sometimes passes for logic around here.

What I don't get is why anyone anywhere would get even slightly emotional over bullet choice. I had a less than desirable experience with this bullet when it came to meat damage, very dead deer though. Others have had good luck and are happy with their choice. Great!! Arguing for the sake of arguing has always seemed less than logical to me.

MM

I agree that there is often little point to intellectual debate in reality, and I also agree that you should make the choices in gear that best serve your ends as you see them.

What I have noted every time I have seen one of these "Berger bullets for hunting" threads is a bunch of guys who have never used them and won't show up and talk about how crappy they are. Funny enough, the paradigm nearly always involves Berger vs Barnes. I think that's a false paradigm. I've used Bergers a lot more than Barnes bullets, but in my experience, their performance has been identical at the ranges they have been used. Both put holes through animals' vitals, and both killed quickly and cleanly.

There are several reasons why I don't get on the Barnes bandwagon, and one of those is that for Barnes guys, it's often like a religion. I don't see it like that. They are just bullets. There doesn't need to be a huge belief system with complex and ambiguous ethical guidelines just to pick a bullet to kill things with. THEY ALL WORK.

A Sierra Game King or a Nosler Ballistic Tip is as frangible a bullet as I want. I'm also a Leupold fan.

They are great on deer, antelope, and black bear. They are not reliable elk bullets. I have had terrible luck with them reliably penetrating on elk from my 338 LM. I will take a bullet of stout construction for elk everytime.

Bounced off, eh? Figures.

No exit?

No kill?

Bullet?

Details, details, details....Aren't you demanding?

I always like "did not drop to my satisfaction" example of one.

RangeI is a good source of info.. I haven't tried them on elk.. Maybe this fall.. Ok on deer, fair on antelope..

My fav is DRT but bullet didn't look like the ad pictures.

Just need to say I am not baggin on anyone in this thread, just making an observation.

I've got nothing of substance to add, so I figure I may as well post a pic of last year's WY mule deer, taken at 378 yards via 140 berger.
Broke the front onside shoulder, destroyed the lungs and he took a 100 yard death run before piling up. I never found a trace of the bullet, and the offside shoulder had zero indication of damage. This pic shows the onside shoulder, and as some others have said, you'd have to part the hair to see the entrance hole. After skinning his shoulder didn't look near this pretty. Please take my word for that.


A week later this rag bull's shoulder stopped another 140 berger from the same rifle at 335 yards. Luckiy he stood still just long enough for me to put one more bullet in him, this time tight behind the shoulder. He then staggered a few yards and fell. That bullet didn't exit either, nor did I find a trace of it.



Take from this what you will.

I pretty much always get an exit on deer from the 140gr VLD launched at 3300fps or the 130gr VLD @ 2750, both 6.5mm.

Ribs on elk always get an exit and it's maybe 50/50 exits on an onside shoulder blade.

I always prefer the terminal results of the Berger that hits some bone on the way in and I purposely target the shoulder.

I think you might have a rough barrel or carbon build up in the throat that is damaging jackets.

This bull took a 130gr VLD straight on (at 80 yds) and the bullet broke his spine far enough back to drop his hind end and keep his front legs solid.

RTD hit him again as he turned and broke both shoulders.

You're making me ponder that possibility more and more.

Thanks

Mule Deer, John Burns, et al - I have used the 30 caliber 168 grain VLD, the .338 caliber 300 grain Berger VLD and 285 grain ELD-M on several different elk. Do they kill them? Sure. With that said, they don't penetrate terribly well. I shot a cow with the 300 grain Berger at roughly 350 yards. Hit her in the shoulder and it didn't penetrate to her vitals. I shot a big bull in the spine as it grazed below me with the 168 grain Bergers. Shooting from above onto his spine, it took out a roughly 6" section of the spine and failed to penetrate further. I shot a wounded cow as it ran away, straight up the poop chute with the 285 grain ELD-M at about 200 yards. It penetrated 4-6". There are better bullets out there for elk. I love a bullet that expands violently on deer, antelope, and bear. They just haven't worked as well for me on elk. As always, and as per usual, YMMV.