Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Berger bullets for hunting??

There have been enough reports of unsatisfactory experiences with Berger bullets that I won't use them for big game.
don't use them for targets, either, as the B.C. values don't match my hunting loads.

Any bullet will provide unsat results on occasion. SIL shot an antelope with a TTSX and partially disemboweled it. Although shot broadside, there was a 10" open wound on the far side, running from the ribs back. We don't know if a broken petal caused that or what, but it was a very dead antelope very quickly. We've used TTSX and LRX from .257 Roberts/100g TTSX to .300 WM//175g LRX for antelope, deer and elk and, other than that one antelope, have had nothing but positive results. Straight-down DRTs run right around 50% and no animal has gone more than a few steps after being hit with one.

AccuBond, AccuBond LR, Scirocco II, A-Frame and the no longer available North Fork bullets have all served us very well. SIL shot an antelope with a 30-06 and a 168g A-MAX at about 75 yards. Shredded a strap and a ham. Thin skinned bullets have their proponents - and they can have them. My own opinion is that the new Federal terminal Ascent bullets are, from a design standpoint, about as good as it gets. Worked up loads for my .280 Rem and 7mm RM and hope to use them for elk this fall. If they perform anything like the North Fork bullets, with which they share common design features of a mono rear and bonded front core, they should work very well, near and far.

I hate Leupold and Berger! Useless for hunting, won't kill anything with those bullets or a rifle scoped with Leupold! Also can throw in the 6.5 Creed into this group.

I'm gonna try the new 156 EOL in my 26 Nosler. Loaded to min jump, the COAL is 3.62", just barely fits in the Rem 700 box mag. Although the 26 Nos is a std. length 3.4" round, the longer full mag 700 box is handy.

I got load data from Berger, cut it back a bit, but it was way too hot with ejector marks, flat primers, shiny case heads and hard bolt opening. But, they shot very small groups. So, I've cut the loads back even farther and will try again. I think they'll be running around 2,950 or so now.

Should be interesting.

DF

At this point, I'd almost be willing to fund some Folgers Coffee commercial action regarding this whole Berger bullets thing:

"We've secretly replaced this Barnes shooter's ammunition with some loaded with Berger Match Grade Hunting bullets and rezero'd his rifle. Let's watch, and see how he responds."

"Hot DAMN! That bull took a nose dive!! Barnes bullets, boys!!!"

"Sir, actually, we replaced your Barnes bullets with Berger Match Grade Hunting bullets and re-zeroed your rifle. If you'd been shooting Barnes, the wind drift would have taken your shot right out of the kill zone and into his guts, and the bullet drop at that range would have had you skimming his belly with your preferred Barnes bullet. You should have learned to account for drop and drift by now, but we knew you wouldn't."

"No schitt?? You switched my ammo? What the fuuck??? You been fuucking with my gun?? You son of a bitch!!!"

"There you have it, folks. Another happy Berger Match Grade Hunting bullets user."

Haha 🤣🤣

And there you have it. On a limited basis, I've taken a mule deer, pronghorn, and a couple whitetails with them, without issue. But, I still manage to use other bullets. Not a slave to any particular brand, as long as they shoot well.

Hahahahaha 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

I like Berger hunting bullets, generally speaking. Ya gotta know their strengths and their limitations, like anything else.

They're super accurate and have good B.C. values. They're expansive and kill quickly.

Just don't run'em at warp speed and they'll work as intended.

They're not the only bullets I use, but I do use them. Latest is the 156 EOL in the 26 Nos as posted earlier. I'm having to back off Berger load data. They use QL and don't publish until they pressure test. I got this data over the phone. Tech was really nice, loads were really hot, at least in my rifle.

They say, start below max and work up. I did and am working down....

DF

The trifecta.

80yds first shot facing that went deep enough to break the spine behind front shoulders.

Second shot hit the bull in the shoulder broadside as he pivoted from hindquarters dropping and dropped him.



270yds bull died within 15 yds.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/8804/ozRVSN.jpg

500 yds. Bull made maybe 5yds total but that kid was pretty fast on the trigger and hit him perfectly 3 times before he could find the dirt.

Most boltgunners would not have had time for a second shot.

Kid whacked himself a nice one.

Trying to guess how it scored. I'd go with high 300's, pushing 400...

How close did I get?

DF

It's a good picture that shows off the strong bottom of that bulls rack.

3rds and 5ths are weak and at 4 1/2 he didn't have a lot of mass.

Still a great bull and he grossed just above 340".

Never once have I read they didn’t kill quickly, what I experienced and what many apparently,have is there is significant meat loss as compared to other bullets in certain shot scenarios. Pretty simple stuff.

MM

Sure looks like more than that, althaough I do see your point.

I've shot some nice ones, seen some shot in the high 300 range, one over 400, and that one looked almost like those.

Kid did a great job nailing him.

Thanks,

DF

A decent 176” buck, bout 430, no time to dial like usual, but enough time to kill him cause I knew how my rifle shot. 6.5/06 ai, 140 Berger... leupold scope too!! 😂😂😂 I don’t hunt or shoot much, but stuff seems to work. Haha

As a handloader who loads to hunt, can anyone tell me why I'd reach for a box of Bergers? Let's just say I am loading for my 6.5 PRC getting ready to hunt Elk and Mule Deer in Colorado. The hunting will be done in areas where there is dark timber and in open areas where a shot of 400 yards may present itself.

On the shelf at Sportsman's Warehouse are 140 grain bullets in Nosler AB @ 68cents/bullet, Nosler BT @38 Nosler Partition80, Sierra BTSP @35, Hornady SST@ 1 and Berger Elite Hunter @45.

Why do I go for the Berger?

If they shoot well for you and you can put your bullets in the kill zone on either animal then you have a winner, just about like all of the others you mentioned Paul. I think we all get pretty wound up what works for others. I'd think if you keep your bullets at the heavier end of the spectrum, where velocity won't be screaming on a close up timber scenario you'll be good to go. I didn't think I'd like how those sorta bullets worked but after using the 139 and 220 Scenar's a bit last year I gotta say I am a fan of them, but again, neither of the bullets were started at screaming speeds but the BC on them held onto FPS well and they were accurate. This year I am trying the 150 Berger in my 270 Winchester and the 212 ELD in my 30-06. So far, both them are really shooting well. Sometimes you just have to kick the tires a little and see what works for you. If you don't have confidence in your set up then just about everything else is pointless.

Nice buck buddy!

You buy something you are confident in. For me bergers are not it. Again.... for ME and only me.

In your scenario bullet choice should be pretty far down the list for a successful hunt....

I don't think Berger is the one I'd reach for when working up a load for an area I'd never hunted and terrain I had never seen. There are better choices for "all-around hunting". I was drawn to Bergers because the areas I nearly exclusively hunted for many years typically produced long shots, as in 450+ was the norm. I vary the country I hunt more now, and use a wider assortment of firearms now. That isn't to say that VLD-type bullets don't work well under all conditions, both near and far, because I have used them with perfect success in all of those cases. I just think they are a fairly specific solution to a varied set of hunting situations. For example: open canyons and unknown winds and rather long shots are PERFECT conditions to wisely use Bergers; while dark timber and spooky, bumped animals and fleeting shots are NOT PERFECT conditions for using Bergers. If you don't know yet which you're likely to see, pick a readily opening yet sleek bullet that will maintain some weight if you have to take a steeply quartering shot or none at all. All that said, I've never had any "failures" when using Bergers, and they are so damned accurate that I have been utterly confident in my ability to put them where they needed to go to kill quickly. I still am.