Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting can't find Bergers how about accubonds

Thanks to a 24 hr CF member I have a Cooper 6.5x284 on the way, I cannot find any Berger 140 gr Hunting bullets anywhere, what's your thoughts on 140 gr accubonds or is there something better for deer out to 600 yards?

Might try the 140gr Amax if you can find them. Powder Valley had some a few days ago, but is currently out. They DO have 123gr Amaxes. Pays to check their website often...

I've use the 130gr Accubond on a few critters with satisfactory results, but haven't tried the 140s.

John

Will the amax work on deer?

OK I am going to ask at the risk of getting flamed but do you know the difference between a Berger VLD target and hunting bullet? Will the critter?

We were killing critters with Berger VLD's long before the "hunting" version came out.

Well berger makes a hybrid, a target, and a hunting bullet, last year i used a berger hunting bullet on a doe in 243, it ran about 15 yards with a neck shot, I'm not sure what you are wanting to know, but to answer your question a deer will know the difference, a flesh wound vs. penatration to vitals.I am not the one that recommended an Amax that to my understanding is unacceptable for deer hunting.

Sport optics has the 140s in stock, or did last time I was down there. http://www.sportoptics.com/ I do not think they are on the website but call and ask.

What I want to know is do you actually know the difference between the Target, hunting and the hybrid?


I'm going to tell you right know the deer won't know.

this elk didn't....6mm 105 gr VLD 735 yds...took a rib going in and left a golf ball size hole going out..

it didn't go a far as your deer with a neck shot...berger target vld

We've killed several deer and antelope with the 130 gr AB's out to 700 yards, It's an excellent bullet for distances your speakin of. My 260 AI punches tiny groups with them and the wound channels are amazing, and they penetrate too!! Unlike an AMAX!!

If your going to use so called target bullets, use the Bergers!!

I shoot them at deer, elk and antelope as does my hunting pard. 6mm, 6.5 mm and 7 mm. All target Bergers or JLK target bullets. All of them penetrate completely....you are selling yourself short if you drink the target vs hunting koolaid....... but do what you have too........

Everybody knows a 6mm wont kill an elk.

I've only used the thinner jacketed hunting versions, even before they were labeled the hunting version. They work magnificently. I have not tried the thicker jacketed target versions yet. Not a Berger, but SMKs have NOT impressed me on critters...

John

startrek,

Are you right out of the '60's? Here are some bullets from now. They have given me the best accuracy, the highest velocity and are the most destructive of any other bullet I have tried.

http://www.gsgroup.co.za/hvtech.html

http://gscustom.co.za/

the hybrid changed the secant/ogive...the hunting bullet has a "marginally" (emphasized greatly for marketing) thicker jacket than the target.............marketing at its finest baby!!!!!! because the hunting community wouldn't accept critters being killed by a target bullet...............doh!

Apparently it does not pay to ask a simple question on this forum, I have used Barnes and Bergers for hunting but they are difficult to find right now, hence the question. And yes i was born in the 60's and have probably killed more deer than most folks. I will not have an argument or justify my questions on this site or any other, when a person ask a simple question and gets a lecture from EH76 on bullet construction and is asked to give the molecular and physical description of a bullet why bother, and yes EH76 the deer will know, if not then why don't you use a Hornady, Speer or Nosler Ballistic Tip, after all the deer won't know. I will let you continue one with this one I'm done here. By the way I'm calling BS on complete peneatration with all your Bergers on Elk.

Startrek,

I believe if I were a new guy to this forum, I would have the same reaction to the way you were treated that you did. Can't say that I blame you...

That being said, I hope you'll stick around anyway. There is a lot of good info here, and unfortunately, this is not the only forum where folks seem to dog-pile on the new guys. Not sure why that is...

FWIW, I only pointed you to the Amaxes because they are available, and plenty of folks have had outstanding results with them. I'm in the same boat as you. Love the Hunting VLDs, but can't seem to find them anywhere, the result being I have about 700 140gr Amaxes on the shelf and more on order.

Stick around. There are plenty of good folks here, including those on this thread. They're just grumpy because it's not hunting season.

John

EH,

The hunting version actually has a thinner jacket than the target versions. What is now the hunting version used to be the only VLD Berger made. When they discovered how good they worked on critters, they marketed them as the VLD Hunting version. Because the thin jacketed "hunting" version was sometimes coming unglued in flight when launched from fast twist barrels, they thickened up the jackets a bit to prevent that from happening and called them the various target versions. Now there is another hunting version out ( what they are calling it escapes me at the moment) in some calibers with a more secant ogive to be more tolerant of seating depth.

John

Yep--and the differences between all of them are more in subtle changes in shape more than vast differences in jacket thickness.

It's been interesting to watch how many hunters went from saying they'd NEVER use Berger VLD target bullets on big game, then started using the exact same bullet when the boxes they came in turned from yellow to orange, and said "Hunting VLD" on the side.

I also like the way some people go on about bullets "designed for hunting" versus target bullets. Yeah, there are some bullets designed for performance on game, but I've also seen many so-called hunting bullets that sucked on game--because the companies that made them just guessed how they'd work, instead of actually trying them out before putting them on the market.

Some "target" bullets have turned out to actually work better than those suck hunting bullets--and just because they weren't "designed" as hunting bullets doesn't change that.

startrek,

The question, "Are you right out of the '60's?" was in fun because you chose the name "startrek".

If you think this is bad, you should check a few optics sites. They all seem to have people with sort of ax to grind all the time. Even on our own optics forum some get a little testy and don't seem handle the idea that someone might like a brand other than their favorite.

Kinda like a baseball bat. Wasn't designed as a club, but works pretty darn good as one.

John