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Berger close range impact

reloaderlen

reloaderlen

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2011
Messages
213
Location
Mississippi
I have been shooting Berger bullets for
Some time now . I have never had one fail me ,although most of my shots have been in the 300 to 650 yard range . That changed yesterday on a Whitetail meat hunt when I shot a doe at 40 yards . Shooting a 270 wsm
Berger 130 gr Hunter Classic
Muzzle velocity of 3250 my ballistic program will not give me 40 yard results but at 75 it's still moving at 3102 FPS. I have heard horrible stories
Of the Berger bullets blowing up on impact with no pass through. I know this is just a whitetail deer and not a Moose but come on 3102 at 40 yards .
I've had bullets thrown from lesser velocity and destroyed everything.
Here are the results of the Berger Bullet I'm sticking with them .
 

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I shot a tiny buck this past year with my 338 Norma ,300 grain VLD at 300 yards and the bullet disintegrated and didn't pass through. IT was a quartering away shot that took out several ribs but missed all heavier leg bones.

Terminal result, dropped it in its tracks with a hole through the chest cavity you could put your arm through. No blood on the ground. Sure, I'm disappointed it didn't go through but you can't argue with a dead on impact result.
 
The doe was broad side 40 yards
I was in a elevated box stand 16 feet off the ground. The bullet preform perfectly. Doe was DRT
No flop , no run couple of kicks that was it. Over before I put my rifle at rest . Lungs totally destroyed
The insides just sloshing in the lung cavity . Very little meat damaged on the entrance The existing shoulder
Wasted. Perfect Performance in my opinion.
 
My brother was using my 7WSM last season whitetail hunting and was using a 168 VLD. (yes, overgunned for whitetail but he was curious about the mini-mag) Shot a decent buck at 52 yards and the results were pretty devastating. Bullet performed exactly as it should. It went through the shoulder and left an exit through the off side shoulder the size of your fist. Deer ran on pure adrenaline maybe 10 yards.
Too much meat damage for my preference though. I would have rather he taken a neck shot, which is where the VLDs really shine at close range and don't ruin as much meat.
 
My sample of close shots using Bergers is limited to three deer.

Rem 700 300RUM rifle:
One dropped at the shot. This was a good mature buck shot at 82 yards. Bullet exited with only a moderate exit hole. Buck was shot in the rib cage. It's back was broken without the spine actually being hit (bullet impact and exit was 1/2 way up the body). Gun was a 300 RUM, 210 VLD-H bullet at 3150 FPS muzzle velocity (impact velocity est. ~3026 fps).

T/C Encore 30-338WM handgun:
This deer ran maybe 70 yards leaving behind a massive blood trail. The deer was a mature doe, shot in the rib cage at 60 yards. Bullet exited, leaving two exits, one about the size of a golf ball, the other 2/3rds that size.

T/C Encore 30-06AI handgun:
Using a 30-06AI from an Encore handgun 15" bbl, I shot a young buck at 41 yards. This deer dropped at the shot, dragged itself ~10 feet, then expired. Bullet was a Berger 168 VLD-H with a MV of 2650 FPS, with est impact velocity of 2586 fps. Shot was quartering hard towards me, bullet impact behind nearside shoulder. This bullet came apart with no exit. I found bullet shrapnel all the way back to the back end of the deer while cleaning it.
 
reloaderlen said:
I have been shooting Berger bullets for
Some time now . I have never had one fail me ,although most of my shots have been in the 300 to 650 yard range . That changed yesterday on a Whitetail meat hunt when I shot a doe at 40 yards . Shooting a 270 wsm
Berger 130 gr Hunter Classic
Muzzle velocity of 3250 my ballistic program will not give me 40 yard results but at 75 it's still moving at 3102 FPS. I have heard horrible stories
Of the Berger bullets blowing up on impact with no pass through. I know this is just a whitetail deer and not a Moose but come on 3102 at 40 yards .
I've had bullets thrown from lesser velocity and destroyed everything.
Here are the results of the Berger Bullet I'm sticking with them .
Click to expand...
I have killed or been on hunts and witnessed well over 30 animals killed with bergers, from doe pronghorn up to bull elk, and have never seen what I would consider a bullet failure. Even in the very few instances where the bullet did not exit, the animal never went more than about 20 yards. Ranges were from 120ish yards out to 925 yards. I like em.
 
Rick Richard said:
How can you make (fabricate) an argument against "dead is dead" no matter if you get a pass through or not? I can't.
Click to expand...
That is sort of my thought. Out of the 30+ animals taken, 4 elk did not have exits with the Bergers, and even those did not travel far. I don't mind if there isn't an exit if I never have to track the animal.
 
WOW I came here to post my experience from my hunt this weekend and have a different impression. I was shooting the Accubonds before and had excellent results but wanted to try the berger's, I'm shooting the VLD 130's in a 270wsm.

Whitetail buck normal entrance, exit was dime size. Shot (125 yards) slightly quartering away through the lungs, entrance between the ribs exit hit part of 1 rib. Buck ran about 75 yards then hit the ground. Very little blood where I shot him. Inspected the internals when cleaning and appeared the bullet didn't start expanding till the very end. Very little damage internal.

Trophy Axis don't know because I lost it (120 yards) dropped, hit the ground hard where I shot him(assumed DRT) then 5 min later he gets up and takes off. Found little blood with tissue and that's it.

Axis Doe (150 yards) lung shot, dropped right there kicked twice then got up and ran another 100 yards. Internal looks like it expanded little after half way through.

I'm going back to my accubonds unless someone can convince me otherwise on what happened.
 
bplumcrazy said:
I'm going back to my accubonds unless someone can convince me otherwise on what happened.
Click to expand...
Tip wasn't clear/open. I've posted this elsewhere but in reloading the VLDs I've found nearly 20% per box have had tips that were partially or severely closed. Plugged tips lead to results like yours. I use a small drill bit and check each one by hand and clear the tips as needed. Never had a failure this way. That said, I'm a huge fan of the accubonds and would never try to talk you out of using them either. ;-)
 
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