215 Berger Target for hunting

215 Hybrid @ 3100fps MV. My son-in-law shot his first ever big game, a nice bull @ 432 yards. The bull dropped at the shot. Broke both shoulders and smashed a vertebrae before stopping under the offside hide.





What case/cartridge?
 
I have used 215s out of my 300WM with very good accuracy. Black bear I shot with them was DRT, though I admit to some meat loss from shock. I am using 76 grains of H1000/ F215M or 74 grains of RL26/ CCI 250s with a COAL of 3.625 and getting about 2850 fps out of a 25" barrel. Applied Ballistics ammo (now Berger) has a very similar load for sale that has received good write up on this forum.
 
I have not found this to be the case. At least 75% of the animals I have shot or watched being shot ran with Berger 180s. The 215 I would say 75% of the animals I have shot have dropped instantly. The number of animals I have killed with each is roughly the same. In any case I have never found any bullet, including Berger, that was seating depth insensitive as many claim. As much as .005 change in seating depth can half or double group size. This is with over 50 loads developed.
The last animal I had not drop to the shot was wth Hornady 162 sst, (and archery) I gave the sst more than a fair chance too. As far as group size vs seating depth that I've seen with my rifle, was tiny, so much so that I realized (I) could easily account for a much greater variation. I tried 5 different seating depths several times on different days before I just accepted that it's just a damned accurate load and should run with it.
 
He's referring to the .284 Winchester cartridge vs. the 7mm STW. He's saying the .284 Win is nowhere comparable to the 7mm STW in performance, by comparing a tricycle to a Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle...

haha. As I said, it was disconnected, meaning there was not enough information, in that statement, to figure out what he was talking about. As .284 and 7mm bullets are one and the same, I thought he was somehow referring to the STW using the .284 bullet, and had absolutely no idea what the tricycle and ninja thing was. I will say that the comparison is a bit lopsided.
 
I don't shoot a a 30cal but 7mm, but what I've found with the 180gr hybrid has been right in line with the 215gr. Terminal performance is impressive to say the least, from what I've seen they don't care 2 cents wheather their .010 or .100 off the lands. I've also tried the classic hunter in several calibers with pretty much the same results across the board.
What 7mm cartridge are you shooting ?
I have had good luck with the Berger 168 gr. VLD in my 7mm Rem mag. What powder ? Thanks . Not trying to change thread to 7mm. Sorry !
 
haha. As I said, it was disconnected, meaning there was not enough information, in that statement, to figure out what he was talking about. As .284 and 7mm bullets are one and the same, I thought he was somehow referring to the STW using the .284 bullet, and had absolutely no idea what the tricycle and ninja thing was. I will say that the comparison is a bit lopsided.
That is a quote that is in my signature, it was not posted as a quote in this thread. It's from MANY MANY years ago, I don't even remember what thread it was in, or the context, but obviously someone else in the thread was trying to compare the 2...And that was his response, pointing out that you can't even compare the 2 cartridges.
 
I have not found this to be the case. At least 75% of the animals I have shot or watched being shot ran with Berger 180s. The 215 I would say 75% of the animals I have shot have dropped instantly. The number of animals I have killed with each is roughly the same. In any case I have never found any bullet, including Berger, that was seating depth insensitive as many claim. As much as .005 change in seating depth can half or double group size. This is with over 50 loads developed.
True story! I fine tune to .005" with the 215's. It can make a pretty big difference in the shape of the group.
 
We were talking abt the 215 Berger for hunting, hence the title of the thread being how is the 215 Berger for hunting. However, I shoot a 300 wm and use VV N570 powder. My rifle was chambered with a match reamer and has a lot of freebore. I have tried several brands of brass and primers to get both accuracy and velocity. I actually didn't have much pressure at all at 3100 but was gettin some ejector marks and this was when the temps were cold. So I figured if I Shot any at all in the summer, I had better drop the powder charge a little bit. I never tried H1000 with this Rolf ebay have had great success with it in previous 300 wm rifles. I also picked up some RL 26 and had intentions of testing it but I was so pleased with the performance I already have I didn't even try it. Whatever brass I tried, I could pretty much fill with powder and compress the bullet and never had any real signs of pressure. As already stated, Broz has done lots of testing on this bullet and I talked with him multiple times during my build and load development. He is a wealth of knowledge. Hope this helps
 
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