Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles No use for Berger VLD's

My younger brother with his B&C ram he killed last fall with my .260 with one shot at 350 yards. We thought it was a good idea to try for both shoulders, as he was laying on top of a steep point that dropped off into a very rough and nasty canyon. At impact, the ram rolled over on it's side and never moved. The bullet crushed both shoulders and left a good sized exit. There was no wind and the ram had no idea we were there. Perfect conditions to execute a pinpoint shot. I can't imagine that ram dying any quicker or better, regardless of what rifle/bullet combination was used.

Killing with Bergers, the 26's are the new 28's and 30's!

I prefer a tougher bullet, especially for elk. Here in Oregon it's thick timber, and most of the bulls are found there. Shots over 300 yds are not common, like some of the barren landscape I have seen on some of the pictures in this thread, at least those long range boys got the scope right..... Made in Oregon.

Germany....

I think the fact that Mule Deer, Dober, John Burns, and Scenarshooter all think Berger makes a good hunting bullet is very telling.

It seems to be only those with limited experience think otherwise, and are basing their opinions off of one or two critters shot under suspect circumstances.

I've never killed a critter with a Berger, but I plan to try some in the future.

And me, too.

I once shot a coyote@ 50 yards with a 300 Win and 180 Grn partition and lost it. I found 3 inches of leg bone,lots of blood and hair.I'm sure it died.Pretty sure it wasn't bullet failure,just a little far forward for good vitals. Would I abandon partitions based on that episode not hardly.I think one has to look at bullets success with the masses and look at the big picture.

Great Pics!

Super NICE Ram!

Congrats.

Nice borrego and uffda what a whitey!

Dober

No kidding! I'd like to hear what bullet he used on them.

210 grain Berger Hunting VLD out of a .300 Win Mag on the ram, and a 115 grain Berger Hunting VLD out of a 25-06 on the whitetail, both taken this fall.
Sheep was taken at 570 yards.

I scanned through here, hopoing not to double post..

FOr those that want tougher, use the berger target version, not hte hunting ones... I've used target only after looking at the destruction of the hunting versions and the folks at Berger told me same, but that most folks are after bang flops for whatever reason hence the redesign.

Target has never failed me, 308 WIn , 185 Target VLD....

This is a 230 Hybrid from a 300 RUM. Response is from another forum

Pop, this is from a friend of mine that I 100% trust. Just wanted to state it is not from me. Also this is the 230 Target Hybrid, not the OTM but I believe the jackets are the same thickness.

Jeff

"30 cal. 230 grain berger hybrid target before and after. 6x6 elk shot at 648 yards. The bullet hit the bottom of the spine and was found just under the hide in the offside hind quarter. The elk was facing down hill and quartered at me. It dropped in its tracks. so did the cow i shot at 90 yards and the deer at 110 the year before. They aren't recommended for hunting by berger but they work well for me!"






This is more like it

Yep, just wait.

A bunch of people are going to ignore the fact that Berger actually makes a bullet recommended for hunting, and one that is not.

They'll load up a bunch of the target bullets and be back on the campfire next fall complaining about all of the "bullet failures" and how their animal ran off, never to be recovered, following a "perfect" shot.

This is more like it[/quote]

That's what I'd be looking for. Is that TYPICAL IYE (in your experience)?

From every report I got this far (over 50 animals) yes.

That is not typical in my experience. I need to go out and find what remained of the bullet that killed my oryx. All that was recovered was the boat tail. Not that I am complaining. The thump of the animal hitting the ground was almost as gruesome as the bullet kerthump. I am running them a mite faster and it was from much closer range.

I would feel comfortable shooting the 230gr OTM at about any animal near or far.

If you transfer all the energy in a bullet to your intended target it a good round! The perfect round will transfer all the energy and then fall to the ground. I have ZERO issues with Berger. JMO

I do find it interesting that there is a correlation. Those that are happy with VLDs are also inclined to hunt with smaller rounds.

Interesting.

The problem seems obvious from johns photos.

He is shooting old deer with brittle bones. You can tell by all of the calcium loss caused by enormous antler growth. VLD's only work on old deer. That also explains why fixed power works better than variable. When you get older our eyes don't work as good as when we were younger.