Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Berger hybrid bullets

Anyone used any of these on game yet? How did they perform? I've got some 105 hybrids that I'm going to be loading up and wanted to see what others experiences were with them before I zap a critter.

Nobody huh?

What will you be running them into? Speed, distance... details?

........Haven`t tried the hybrids yet.

But from what I understand, and just like the "hunting" VLDs, the new Berger hybrids which are classified as "hunting" bullets, will still operate the same way internally as the VLDs.

The only difference between the "hunting" VLD vs the new "hunting" hybrid, is the new ogive design of the hybrid offers the same or better accuracys without having to do alot of bullet jump distance experimentations.

The hybrid is a more tolerant bullet when using various bullet jump lengths.

There is a 5:44 Q&A video on the Berger site which explains the hybrid.

Tech at Berger said Hybrid bullets are not classified as hunting bullets, unless they are labeled "hunting" and have the thinner jackets.

Big Squeeze is dead, so he wouldn't know that.

I'd like to see some hunting Hybrids but they are labeled as Target bullets!

With them being labeled as target bullets, do they fear they will pencil through on game due to the thicker jackets?

I guess they do behave differently, I don't know their process but you would think they could make both Hunting and target hybrids easily once they have the dies made!

............I see that the trash/garbage monkey just couldn`t resist,,,again!

No chitt there monkey! Hunting bullets are labeled "hunting" and target bullets are labeled "target".......You are such an informative genius!

The hybbrids are supposed to be made with the thicker jacket of the target line. My understandig is that the target vld's behave similarly to the hunting ones, but with less expansion. I though that maybe because the hybrid bullets had a slightly different profile that they would behave different. I figured somebody would have gotten curious and shot a critter with one. I hunt deer and pigs mostly using the current hunting VLD's and wanted to give these a try.

Hybrids are just a profile, not sure why they couldn't just switch to the thinner jacket material and run them into the die!

Berger announced that they will be coming out with a hybrid hunting bullet during the SHOT show.

There have been hunters using the heavier target hybrids for big game and getting good results. The 230 gr 30 cal and the 300 gr 338 cal bullets have killed elk, antelope, and deer. LRH had some threads on this.

So far I found one guy that shot an antelope with a 180 target hybrid from a 7mm.


Some shooters are suggesting that after Berger runs their hunting tests that some of the target hybrids may be deemed hunting bullets without any changes.

I had a e-mail conversation with Bryan Litz regarding the hunting vs target VLDs a few years ago.

His comments:

"As far as using them for hunting, I can't tell you how they'll work because we havent' tested them. I can tell you that the thick jackets of the target bullets are only ~0.003" to 0.004" thicker per side than the standard thickness (hunting) jackets. This extra thickness exists up thru the bearing surface, then tapers to the same thickness (same as standard) at the jacket mouth. In other words, the thickness of the jacket in the ogive of the target bullets is very similar to that of the standard hunting jackets. From this information, one may speculate that they will perform similar to the standard hunting jackets on impact, however, not having tested the target bullets for expansion at all, it would not be responsible for us to say how they behave. They were designed as target bullets to overcome problems with extensive and abusive target shooting. If you do any tests along these lines, we're very interested in the results."
(thanks Bryan)

I have heard of guys using the target VLDs with excellent results. Time will tell if the smaller hybrids like the 105 6mm bullet will work on big game.

you gotta give Berger credit as a marketing genius...they produce a half dozen kinds of bullets that are all the same and sell them like they are all different...

What do you mean? Which ones are all the same?

TAG...........

Reports are starting to show up on hybrids being used on big game:

A guy just reported on using the 180 hybrid target bullet on two antelope and a few coyotes on LRH.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f19/180-berger-hybrid-hunt-results-so-far-80995/

Considering that the hunting hybrids just came out a few weeks ago it will be a month or so before we hear of any results on game.

Current hunting hybrid offerings:

243 95 gr BC .427 recommended twist 1 in 10
270 130 gr BC .497 recommended twist 1 in 10
7mm 168 gr BC .604 recommended twist 1 in 10
308 168 gr BC .496 recommended twist 1 in 13
308 185 gr BC .547 recommended twist 1 in 12

No reason to use a target orietnted bullet on big gmae. Game animals are not targets, they are flesh and blood creatures that should be dispatched cleanly and with a minimum of suffering and "experimentation"

Use a proven HUNTING bullet like the TTSX for hunting and save the VLD's and such for punching paper or steel gongs etc.

The super high BC's of VLD's etc don't matter for squat out to 500 yards, which is a VERY long shot that few of us have any business undertaking.

Haven't used the hybrids on game yet, but the hunting VLDs (what used to be the standard target VLD) have worked great for me, and I now pretty much use them more than anything else. They are plenty proven...

John

I'm sorry, but antelope (prolly little slick heads) and coyotes don't count as big game for bullet testing. My neighbors dog has more muscle and a thicker hide.

I take it that you have used a bunch of them and they have failed you miserably?

John