Disappointed with the Berger 156 grain EOL

Tommyjohn53 said:

I hit him right behind the shoulders and it blew both lungs up and he was full of blood inside of him. The thing that bothers me though is that I hit no bones and that bullet was moving at 2860 fps so I fully expected a good exit wound with plenty of blood to be able to track him

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I assumed that`s what you were looking for. I don`t mind no exit with a berger, because usually the animal wont go far after being hit, if the shot was good. That being said I usually get an exit wound, Berger 115, 215, 300. I shoot 156 EOL in my PRC as well, but have no terminal performance reports on them yet, as I never got a chance to hunt with it last year. I hear good things about Hammer bullets, and I have shot 30 cal Nosler Accubonds with pass through on a few elk, but am strictly shooting Bergers now. Performance has been spot on for me. my .02

If you "need" exit wounds Berger's are probably not the ticket in the whitetail woods. Plenty of mono or bonded bullets that will pass through.

I get more exit wounds with Berger's at long ranges and lower impact velocity. Less bullet upset and more retained weight. But I don't need an exit, it's usually easy to see where they die in open country out west.

Tommyjohn53 said:

Did you switch to different bullets and if so what kind? I just ordered some 121 grain Hammer Hunter bullets

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I put it in the safe and shot deer with the .338 on the other side of the fields for the rest of the year. I am working on a 7 Rem mag for next season

I think you have touched on the brand and the issue that generates some of the highest number of threads and some of the most varied opinions.

There are plenty of folks that love them and there are plenty that hate them because of the reasons you have come up.

We will always be searching for the perfect bullet for ourselves because there are so many choices. However, because there are two separate camps for performance (dump 100% of the energy vs always penetrate), there will never be a single perfect bullet.

I love Berger for target, but I hunt with other bullets.

Before Hammers I shot 180 gr Nosler Accubond bullets and always had complete pass through.
I have heard of folks getting an Accubond caught in the off side of an elk or Mule deer but I haven't been as lucky but I had the animals on the ground either at the shot or within 20 yards.I have killed elk and deer with the 180 gr Hornady Interlock and never lost one,SST also.
Hammers are new to me and this year I will be using them exclusively and expect instant death or close to it.
I have been hunting with folks that use them and all they shot died right on the spot.
The thing I like most is developing a load is easy with Hammers.
Accubonds for factory bullets or Hammer Hunter bullets

Over the last 10 years my father, myself, and my son have killed 19 or so Coues bucks, 4 Elk, and several Antelope at ranges from 290-1092 yards with various Bergers VLDs, Hybrid Target, EOLs etc. and they have all been recovered and the majority have been bang-flops and a few ran a short distance then expired. In the last 3 years I have used the Berger 156 EOL from my 6.5 PRC which has killed 4 Coues bucks and 18 head of African plains game ranging from springbok to Eland from about 80 yards to 743 yards with most in the 300-743 yard region. Never lost a single animal. I think a handful had exits. It seems like the Hybrid Targets give exits more often. I think the jackets on the target bullets are slightly heavier.

I think if you want to be more sure on getting an exit wound I'd switch to a bonded bullet, a partition, or a mono and call it a day. If I was hunting where shots were going to tend to be 0-300, which is a lot of whitetail hunting areas, I'd pick a bonded bullet like an Accubond or Swift Sirocco. I've used both in the past with great results.

Day in and day out, it's hard to beat a plain-jane Accubond. I've used them in most cartridges at one time or another. Easy to find a good load for, generally easy to acquire, priced reasonable and (for me) perform very predictably.

I shot two bull moose with a 250gr Accubond. One had an exit wound, and the other didn't but they both died quickly. I have also taken many whitetails with the 160 Accubond fired from a 7WSM. Terminal performance was always good and I never lost an animal.

TommyJohn,
The Bergers seem to be ALL expansion or none! On our little body Texas deer, Im a fan of the body cavity exploding but I am surprised you didn't exit with 156gr. I prefer that over the pencil hole I have got several times. Berger seems to be most finicky in the 6.5 as the 30 & 338's seem to be more consistent. I've seen the 338, 300gr hybrids flatten tons of deer from 30-1760yds. They always expand and exit but its a lot of weight to push on through. The 215gr hybrids have rave reviews

So in conclusion if you are using a 6.5 and hunting at standard ranges below 400yds then I would use a cup&core or accubond type bullet. The Hammers will work great but may be pricy for what your doing. If you take that 6.5 for something bigger like Elk then I would absolutely stoke it with some Hammers!


James,

I run the 156gr bergers in 2 of my rifles and it's the deadliest bullet I've ever shot. Haven't had an animal take a step yet - small whitetail does 90 yards to 250 yards, 200lb+ whitetails, 250lb boars, coyotes. I'm running them 3,125-3,175 fps though, that's my immediate reaction of the difference between our 2 experiences.

I switched from the Nosler Accubond because it wasn't doing enough damage to the critters I was shooting and just zipping through. I would get an exit with the Accubonds and a blood trail, but it seemed like the energy in the body cavity left a lot to be desired.

I have a 6.5 SAUM that I'm running the 140gr elite hunters in, about the same speeds - 3,160 fps. They have proven to be very deadly as well. You may want to try those?

For what it's worth, I'm aiming right in the middle of the shoulder of all of these animals - not behind the crease of the front leg. If you put a berger bullet up the leg, in the middle of the body (assuming a broadside angle) it should bang flop them almost everytime.

Tommyjohn53 said:

I shot a buck at 130 yards with my 6.5 PRC using Berger 156 grains EOL. I hit him right behind the shoulder. The buck ran about 50 yards with no blood. There was no exit wound. My Son and Grandsons have shot whitetail and axis with no exit wounds. Kind of disappointed with this bullet. My loads were going about 2860 fps and no exit wounds on that buck I shot. Looking for some advice as to what would be a good bullet to use that would have good exit wounds, thanks in advance

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I'd gladly take those useless PS bullets out of your hands; just let me know.

Always ended up with more pass throughs with the 140 vld hunting compared to the 156 berger on everything from coyotes to elk. Neither had a problem killing though. If you are looking for consistent exits you are shooting the wrong bullets

Tommyjohn53 said:

I hit him right behind the shoulders and it blew both lungs up and he was full of blood inside of him. The thing that bothers me though is that I hit no bones and that bullet was moving at 2860 fps so I fully expected a good exit wound with plenty of blood to be able to track him

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They are NOT designed as a standard bullet to have an exit wound to be effective (1:15 mark).

Tommyjohn53 said:

I shot a buck at 130 yards with my 6.5 PRC using Berger 156 grains EOL. I hit him right behind the shoulder. The buck ran about 50 yards with no blood. There was no exit wound. My Son and Grandsons have shot whitetail and axis with no exit wounds. Kind of disappointed with this bullet. My loads were going about 2860 fps and no exit wounds on that buck I shot. Looking for some advice as to what would be a good bullet to use that would have good exit wounds, thanks in advance

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Not that the end result would be any different at longer ranges with the 156 but if your shots are under say 400+ yards, stick with a bonded or partition style bullet. There proven over decades of kills and outstanding bullet performance. I like Berger's and have had great results using them. Not everyone's experience is the same. Given your poor experience, try the traditional hunting bullets. At those ranges, VLD type bullets are no advantage

Tommyjohn53 said:

I shot a buck at 130 yards with my 6.5 PRC using Berger 156 grains EOL. I hit him right behind the shoulder. The buck ran about 50 yards with no blood. There was no exit wound. My Son and Grandsons have shot whitetail and axis with no exit wounds. Kind of disappointed with this bullet. My loads were going about 2860 fps and no exit wounds on that buck I shot. Looking for some advice as to what would be a good bullet to use that would have good exit wounds, thanks in advance

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They are not to produce exit wounds or blood trail for the most part. I too hated them for that reason but still shoot the things