140gr Berger Elite Hunter issue. Anyone experience this?

R

rjletraveler

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140gr Berger elite hunter out of a 6.5prc. Hunting Cow elk but also had an either sex mule deer tag. Shot a doe at 110 yards. Perfectly through the ribs. Dropped like a stone. When I opened her up the entire internal cavity had been scrambled. Bullet came apart and the concussion combined with bullet fragments tore through the diaphragm. Gut material, plant bits and the like had sucked out the exit hole. I found gut material forced into the meat along the spine. Exit wound was the size of a quarter. Has anyone experienced this? Bullet was right behind the shoulders right through the middle. Scared to use these again if they do anything similar. Appreciate any thoughts. thanks
 
Guess I wasn't prepared for a chest cavity shot to to evicerate clear into the guts and make such a nasty mess of my meat. Took a lot of cleaning.
 
Mono's and Bonded bullets save meat.
They also do well on heavier bones.

For pure lung shots you have the most deadly medicine, a thin-jacketed rapidly expanding bullet. Nosler ballistic tip or ABLR may be the
compromise you desire..???
If high BC is a must, maybe the 140-144 Berger Hybrid. The jacket is supposed to be slightly heavier.
 
hmmm. May need to turn the bergers into coyote ammo. Not a lot of concern for thoroughly destroyed internals there. Guess when I imagined massive internal damage I didn't consider it moving beyond the chest cavity. All my previous experience has left the diaphragm intact.
 
rjletraveler said:
hmmm. May need to turn the bergers into coyote ammo. Not a lot of concern for thoroughly destroyed internals there. Guess when I imagined massive internal damage I didn't consider it moving beyond the chest cavity. All my previous experience has left the diaphragm intact.
Click to expand...
I think that might have been a rare occurrence honestly. I would give them another shot and see if it repeats. Mine haven't ruptured the guts before. But have blown the heart and lungs to literal pieces several times.
 
I was truly shocked. There were no lungs to speak of. They had been entirely liquefied. No doubt about the internal shok created by the bullet. Just far more than I think I am looking for. Don't ever want to have that field dressing experience again.
 
rjletraveler said:
I was truly shocked. There were no lungs to speak of. They had been entirely liquefied. No doubt about the internal shok created by the bullet. Just far more than I think I am looking for. Don't ever want to have that field dressing experience again.
Click to expand...
Hahahah oh im sure it was a mess. Stay away from the ELDM line also then. They perform much like a berger. You may be happier with a bonded bullet for sure. Or a mono. They are kill good enough. I just like the violence of the berger/ELDM and process with gutless method on all my animals in the field.
 

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