Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Berger VLD's

I saw my cousin use these a few days ago on yotes. Talking about 600 yard head shots! Anyways he told me he uses them on deer effectively. anyone ever used them on deer?

I have used the Berger .264"/130 gr VLD on antelope. For me they hit harder than conventional cup and core bullets. If you search the Campfire for posts you will find a bunch over the last couple of years.

jim

This is a close friend that took this Hill Country Texas W.T. with a Berger VLD. He swears by them. He says it drops them like a felled tree. The shot took his G3 off but he recovered it for the taxidermist.

I wish they made them for the 35.

Haven`t used them on deer as of yet, but have used the 30 cal 168 hunting VLDs on big hogs. I have no need to track the hogs anymore. 1/2 are DRT, the others within 15 yards.

Because of their explosive shocking effect and massive wound channels into the vitals, the VLDs are absolutely devasting. Using them, I have never seen hogs go down so quickly.

Looking forward to using the 190s or the 210s on my next big elk hunt.

Here is a great article on long range hunting w/ the VLD:

http://www.longrangehunting.com/articles/berger-barnes-bullet-performance-1.php

I intend to do so through my 257 AI and my 30'06.

As Mauserkid said, I wish they made 'em bigger than 30 cal. I'd love to have 'em for my 338'06!

I asked them about the .338 cal when I was requesting some load data and they informed me that they had a line of .338 cal VLD's due out for the fall of '09. I cannot wait!

I wanted to try them in .270, anyone have any experience in this caliber?

War Eagle is correct, I spoke to a nice young lady many moons ago stating that the 338s were in the beginning stages of design...

BERGER,, We need 358s next, and I would be happy to test them for you....
Thank you...

Rifle geeks never fail to amaze me....

6 months ago, cup and cores were grossly inadequate for anything except varmints, and we needed a TSX above 30 caliber and 180 grains, at over 3000 FPS to kill Elk.

Now we've gone the other way and cup and cores are too stout to kill well, what we really need is a pretty flimsy, highly explosive "Match" bullet with a high BC to drop game now.

Pretty soon, Speer Hot-Cors are going to be the greatest bullet ever invented at the pace we're going around here.

I have tested these extensively on hogs because unfortunately we get a lot of shot opportunities on hogs around here. I compared them to the Accubonds, Ballistic tips, and Sciroccos. I do realize every hog was not the same size and ever shot was not in the exact same location and at the same range. Anyways, the Bergers were the best at DRT's(Dead Right There). I shot 175 in a 300wsm and 140 in a 270wby. I have switched to the Bergers exclusively in these two rifles for deer. Very good penetration and lots of damage. FYI the Sciroccos were great too just a litt more $$.

So the cost of shooting the "in" bullet has gone from what... $40/50 w/ the TSXs, down to $40/100 with the VLDs, and you're predicting yet another drop to about $20/100!

That is awesome... whats to complain about ?

Of course... all copper hasn't ever been in my price range, and I haven't gotten a hold of the VLDs yet... still burning through my Speer, Hornady, and Sierra CNCs.

Does that make me a "trend setter"?

[quote=DanAdair]Now we've gone the other way and cup and cores are too stout to kill well, what we really need is a pretty flimsy, highly explosive "Match" bullet with a high BC to drop game now.

quote]....................Call the Berger (hunting) VLDs what you wish. It really doesn`t matter if they are flimsy or not. Results is what matters. Their DRT effectiveness on hogs, are better than any bullet I`ve ever used on large hogs. I have also talked with a few hunters who have used them on elk and I have read many accounts as well, where the DRT effectiveness by the VLDs, are simply outstanding.

Other than from a Berger hunting VLD, I have yet to see, hear of, or read an account of, where any Barnes bullet, Nosler bullet, Hornady bullet, Sierra bullet, Speer bullet or any bullet, has successfully taken bull elk out to 900+ yards with a DRT 1 shot kill.

Along with their great BCs, their proven concept is to penetrate hide and thick bone, followed by a few more inches of penetration then explosion, with further penetration and wider explosion into the vitals with enormous shock value and disruption. It is simply another way to get the job done. An extremely effective way I will add. The wound channel produced by the VLDs will result in much reduced tracking, as my own experience has shown. They are also very effective at the shorter ranges (within 100 yards) at much higher velocities.

A bullet doesn`t need to completely penetrate an animal to effectively drop the game. My experience with animal anatomy shows that the vitals are in the center. Other than broadside shots, my big hogs killed (DRT)with the VLDs, have quartered towards me and have quartered away from me with the same devastating results.

I`m looking forward to using either the 190 or the 210 VLD on my next elk hunt.

I use them in my .257 wby and like them.

I wonder how they would work on an alaskan moose, lets say in a 175 grain with a 30-06.

Well, as much credibility and praise as Mule Deer gets on this board, he said the VLD's have the fastest DRT rating of any bullet he's ever seen.

That's a pretty good endorsement. He's killed a few critters in his travels.

Yipper; here it is!

Now to build my 338 Edge or RUM...

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f17/berger-338-a-39834/

I'm planning to try out the 115 gr 257s in my 257 AI sometime soon. Right now with the economy the way it is and my bullet supply as plentiful as it is I'm having a hard time justifying $35 for a box of bullets, but it'll have to happen sooner rather than later.

Loaded up some 117 gr RN Interlocks last night w/ IMR4831... other end of the spectrum yeah, but certain death for deer at Michigan ranges!

Amen.

I don't necessarily think that this is what Dan was saying, though.

I think he was commenting on the irony of how the "fads" seem to swing so radically. I didn't hear him criticizing the VLD... but he may have been...

I'm really looking forward to trying out the VLD. The fact that you can get match grade accuracy AND radical expasion at ANY range appeals to me, even though I highly doubt I'll ever whack anything at the ranges some guys are going to.

That is fine for them, I just enjoy the stalk too much to go there. I will, at the same time, practice enough that I can make just about whatever shot is offered...

................Yep! Me too but on elk.......Since a VLD from 7mm mag can down a bull elk with a 1 shot DRT killing effect at 900+ yards, then my normal elk hunting distances out to a max of 450-500 yards will be a piece of cake with my 300 WSM. I like to stalk a little too, but dislike too much tracking after the shot. The VLD will cure that!

I�d say DanAdair called it pretty fairly � the VLDs ARE lightly constructed match bullets and even Berger boasts about how explosive they are. And yes, they do have high BC�s.

All of which can be an advantage at very long distances where velocities are relatively low. My concern, however, having only taken one big game at 350 yards and all the others at 300 or under, is what happens at high velocities when things go south and the nice broadside or quartering shot suddenly becomes a ham shot? This is exactly what happened to me at 80 yards or so two years ago when a muley buck stepped forward and turned just as the trigger broke. The North Fork I was using hit the right ham low, penetrated well and was recovered from up against the sternum. The result was a DRT. A Berger VLD is not designed for that kind of penetration, which is why I won�t use them except for targets.

But use them I will, in a 6.5mm-06AI I�m building. And I might even use them on smaller big game, antelope in particular. Elk? Thanks, I�ll pass. North Fork, TTSX/MRX, Trophy Bonded and similar will continue to be my first choice for the bigger stuff.