Not sure if it’s much interest to you guys but the other day I was bored so did a little testing with my 6.5-06 at close range. I had a couple elk femurs in the freezer that I was saving for the dogs so I pulled them out to do a little bullet testing of 140 grain bergers started at 3100fps and 142 grain lrab started at 2950fps. I wrapped the femur in 3 layers of cardboard and then taped it to a 3 gallon water jug. Then I stacked three jugs together and stepped back to 40 yards

heres the entrance of the 140 grain berger


exit on the femur of the 140 grain berger


completely destroyed first jug and pieces of bullet made it into the second jug


not much of an entrance and exit picture of the joint as the 142 lrab destroyed it


142 lrab didn't do near the damage to the 1st jug as the berger
the 142 lrab went through first jug, dumped shrapnel in second jug, and made it into the third jug with enough energy to put a hole on the far side of the jug but not enough to get all the way through it which was about 3' of water jugs.


slug weighed 63.2 grains

Hope you find my crude test interesting. Id have no problem running either one into an elk

That LRAB looks great-just like you would expect from an AB. I have never been a Berger fan, but it did its job. Interesting results for a close-in test.

Nice test. I used the 142 ABLR on my last elk. Bullet I found after going through the hip and off-side shoulder looked much like the one you're showing in the last pic.

Impressive.

What round was the 142 fired from and what distance?

Very interesting! Thanks for posting.

I'd love to have seen the 143 Eldx in the same test.

I’ll see if I can find enough jugs

That LRAB held up better than I thought it would. Thanks for the info.

Now, if my "begging can be choosing".......any chance of the 129 LRAB going through the same test? If I had some, I'd send 'em to you.
Thanks.

If someone wants to send some I’ll test them. Got a couple more femurs and a couple shoulders blades

This is useful. My 6.5 Creedmoor puts the 142 ABLR into tiny, itty-bitty little groups, and I love the BC on those bullets.

My only worry about taking them on my next elk hunt was how they’d perform at extreme close range. Since my 6.5 CM cannot run nearly as fast as your 6.5-‘06, your test lets me know that they are good to go.

Laker - I was using my 264 WM. Range was only 137 yards. Through the pelvis, insides and through the shoulder blade on the off-side. Found in the meat. Was the second shot on him. First one was nearly perfectly broadside through both shoulders. I think mine weighed around 59-60 grains and looked just like yours. MV verified by Magnetospeed at 2000 ft elevation was 3225.

For whatever reason I had not thought about trying the LRAB. May have to add that to my list. I’d say try 139 Scenar, but enough of those have been shown to work well.

If I get off work at a decent time tomorrow ill try a 143 eld x

Nice test, mimmicks my results shooting deer with both of those bullets and the 129gr ABLR.
I’m in Australia, happy to send some 129gr ABLR bullets for you to test.
I use those in 6.5x47, 260AI and 264WM. Results don’t change much even with the velocity differences.
I have had more 6.5 cals than any other over the years, 6.5x55, 6.5-284 Norma and the above.
PM if you would like to test some 129gr pills.

Cheers.

416 would you like to share your load with the 129 in the 260AI please, I am thinking of giving it a run in mine.

Laker, If you have any 147 Hornady's that would be great to see. Sort of the holy grail for BC, identified as a target bullet, but anecdotal reports of good results on game.

Sorry I don’t have any of them

Laker, What barrel length and powder are you using for 3100 fps for the 6.5-06? That is excellent velocity.

25” barrel 58 grains of RL26. Was actually 3093 average

The nosler looked great as expected. As for the berger, not impressed as usual.

Berger did exactly as designed

If the vitals of the elk have to absorb what that Berger did to the first jug I don’t like the elks odds.

Would have looked like a blender

Its about a worst case scenario for the Bergers and they do even better down around 2500 fps as far as penetrating. That 140 vld is very tough to stop using.

Going to run higher on the RL26 to see if I hit pressure at 58 grains. Chopped my barrel for a suppressor and I may get most of that speed back if I work up the RL26 again. Curious now. Was shooting at 55 grains due to an accuracy node but losing 6.5" of barrel may change that too. Be fun to work on that next.

I know, I'm just not impressed with their design or performance.

Tested the 143 grain eld x tonight started at 2950fps. ELD x penetrated a little less than the berger as the berger had shrapnel make it to second jug

Blew through the bone and into the first jug



Destroyed the 1st jug and never touched the second jug


Biggest chunk of eldx found in first jug. Never did weigh it. Wasn't the greatest performance but would have made an elk real sick real fast

Thank you for the test. I guess it is acting like an SST.

Nice work again laker. I really like seeing stuff like this. Interesting the difference in performance between the 143 ELDX and the 142 LRAB, given they both started out with the same MV @ 2950.

My current load in the AI is 44.7gr of H4350, this is no where near max in my rifle.
I’m running fireformed Rem brass, it’s all I can get locally. I use WLR primers, if interested.

Cheers.

Thanks for the info.

Thanks Laker. Good stuff.

Thanks laker!

How many critters including elk have you shot with VLD's?

Bergers are damn good killing bullets, my favorite big game bullet going....

I'm not guessing or reading a magazine either...

Not many. Some deer and a few antelope. Based on these results I would not shoot an elk with them.

And please can we not get into "did you recover them? If so they did well" argument.

I shot them, the bergers killed them and in my opinion, they suck. Might as well be a Matchking. Terribly destructive and shrapnel everywhere. Not my cup of tea sir.
Accubonds, Partitions Barnes LRX or TTSX and some hornadies. for me.

Yeah - Berger's are not for impacts much above 2900 or so but neither are most bullets if you don't want destruction...

You are correct sir.

Its all personal choice. If you want a bullet to dump all its energy into an animal then the bergers are perfect. If you like an exit wound then pick a different bullet. Neither idea is incorrect .

I get Berger exits half the time....

Ive only killed a handful of animals with them. Some exit some don't. Actually had a coyote hold a 180 berger that was started at 2950fps at about 75 yards

I dusted a big ole bull last year on both sides with a 168 .284 VLD quartering to at about 2600 impact...

Great test Laker. That 142 looks darned good. Bet it’s an Elk whomping machine. Thanks for posting it.

Thanks for posting!

If you really want to test the 129 ABLR, I could send you a few. Also have some 123 Scenars and 130 RDF's, if either of those interest you.

great test laker! man I love water jug penetration/expansion tests. I have a few vids on youtube,i believe under my same screen name, of me doing like tests with my 260 rem testing the 125 partition,130 accubond and the 120 ballistic tip. in my performance tests i'll take a partition or accubond please.
thanks,
Big Ed

Same feeling but I do think it is a very good design just not for me, I don't like the mess.

The LRAB test dispelled my concerns of them being too fragile. I like that they are almost like a Berger on entry then an Accubond on exit. The 129 worked well on a couple of deer last year so will stick with them.

Thanks Laker. There are so many new bullets around I can't keep up with them all.

I'm curious to see what the results would be if you sealed/closed off the tip of the VLD. From reading a lot of posts here, that seems to be where/how the VLDs aren't as effective.

I’ll give that a try and report back

Interesting info - thanks for taking the time to share!!

Heres the test of a berger with plugged tip. I pushed the bullet into a 2x4 to plug the tip.


bullet went through the bone and blew apart the first jug.

Went through the first jug and into the second jug. There was no shrapnel in the first jug that I could find. I think it was more bone fragments that destroyed the jug


Bullet made it to the second jug. Went and weighed the two pieces that I could find and they weighed 59 grains together.

I’m thinking that 140 Berger would be fantastic on deer and elk when launched at 2750ish.

I think they have performed fantastic started at 3100fps even at 40 yards

Now if you can only find them instock

Is the Berger move causing the current backorders? Just curious as I am getting low and would love to get inventory back in.

That would be my guess. And the creedmoor craze

laker -

Thanks for the write-up. I do a lot of water jug testing but have not had a chance to do the LRAB. Just worked up a .150g LRAB for Daughter #1's .270 at 2910fps and am interested in the 142 for my 6.6-06AI and 150 or 168 for my 7mm RM.

The 3100fps for the 140 Berger and 2950fps for the LRAB was also of interest - why the difference?

FWIW, my 24" barreled 6.5-06AI loads are as follows:
3161fps - 130g Sciroccoo II / IMR7878SSC
3012fps - 168g A-MAX / H100V
3075fps - 140g BT / H100V

Thanks again for the write-up!

Drilling through the bone and exploding inside the rib cage is the way a Berger is supposed to work.

And it is devastating.

Not your bullet if you want an in and out wound, though

That’s just where accuracy was at with RL26. I’ve since switched to a mild load of h4350 under a 140vld because the wife likes the mild recoil. I’m putting a 6.5 saum together now

I find the idea of a 6.5 SAUM appealing. Maybe you can give us a good write-up of it once it's put together.