Berger 7mm 190-Grain Long-Range Hybrid Target Bullet Load Data and Terminal-Ballistics Reports

[CONatureBoy]

If anyone has load data or terminal-ballistics information for Berger's 190-grain 7mm target bullet (part #28485), I'd love to hear it. I'm considering loading this bullet into a 7mm Rem Mag and a 280 AI for hunting elk and nilgai. I'd love to hear how it's performed for others!

 

[Dmagna]

Why not use the 195? The 190 doesn't have much to help it expand. The close the tip on the LR hybrid targets.

 

[lancetkenyon]

Probably because the 190 LR Hyb is available almost everywhere, when almost no other 7mm Berger is.

Open the tip up, and I am sure they will work just as well as the .257 135 LR Hyb, 6.5mm 144 LR Hyb, 6.5mm 153.5 LR Hyb, .308 208 LR Hyb, and any of the pointed Sierras like the 6mm 110 SMK, .257" 131 Blackjack, 6.5mm 142 & 150 SMK, 7mm 183 SMK, .308 210 SMK, etc.

 

[CONatureBoy]

Three reasons:

1. availability
2. twist rate (pre-existing rifles with 1:9.5 and 1:9 twist rates)
3. I'm actually looking for a little more penetration than one usually gets from a Berger hunting bullet.

Nilgais' heart/lung region is mostly between the front legs, so you're commonly making a "low shoulder shot" at Nilgai. I'd like a bullet that might punch through bone a little more than your average Berger, while still opening like a Berger after that.

 

[Dmagna]

Three reasons:

1. availability
2. twist rate (pre-existing rifles with 1:9.5 and 1:9 twist rates)
3. I'm actually looking for a little more penetration than one usually gets from a Berger hunting bullet.

Nilgai's heart/lung region is mostly between the front legs, so you're commonly making a "low shoulder shot" at Nilgai. I'd like a bullet that might punch through bone a little more than your average Berger, while still opening like a Berger after that.

The hybrids blow up just like every cup and core bullet. Sounds like you need a bonded bullet meant for hunting, what is your shooting distance. I have easily killed critters out to 500 yards with a accubond or a swift scirocco 2.

 

[CONatureBoy]

QuickLoad predicts IMR 7828, Reloder 22 or 25, Ramshot Magnum, and Vihtavuori 565 powders for a 7mm Rem Mag with a 26" barrel havinga a SAAMI chamber will all produce muzzle velocities around 2,950 fps. QuickLoad predicts the 280 AI will perform about the same with Reloder 26.

The thread at https://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=788386 illustrates the point about shooting Nilgai. Some of the guiding services post advice like this (from https://allseasonsguideservice.com/nilgai-hunts-in-south-texas/):

I recently read a post by a hunter claiming to have killed several Nilgai with a 210-grain 30-caliber VLD hunting bullet. I'll personally be hunting nilgai with a 230-grain bullet, but I'm loading for a friend who wants to carry a 7mm Rem Mag. I plan to load (for him) 175-grain GameKings (and I've read empirical tests that conclude GameKings hang together like Nosler Partitions) and the 190-grain hybrid-target Berger.

I've seen a gel-block test comparing 180-grain 7mm Berger hunting and target bullets, where you can see a couple of inches of additional penetration, and a little less explosiveness, from the target bullet than the hunting bullet. That suggests to me the (180- or 190-grain) target bullets might be great on tougher animals. But I'd love to have some real-world evidence. . . .

 

[lancetkenyon]

180 Hyb and 184 F open Hyb work over a bull elk like Mike Tyson used to work over Buster Douglas.

 

[CONatureBoy]

180 Hyb and 184 F open Hyb work over a bull elk like Mike Tyson used to work over Buster Douglas.

Now you're talkin'! Thanks.

 

[CONatureBoy]

Probably because the 190 LR Hyb is available almost everywhere, when almost no other 7mm Berger is.

Open the tip up, and I am sure they will work just as well as the .257 135 LR Hyb, 6.5mm 144 LR Hyb, 6.5mm 153.5 LR Hyb, .308 208 LR Hyb, and any of the pointed Sierras like the 6mm 110 SMK, .257" 131 Blackjack, 6.5mm 142 & 150 SMK, 7mm 183 SMK, .308 210 SMK, etc.

Out of curiosity, at least: what sort of tool would I use to open up a tip?

Thanks again.

 

[CONatureBoy]

The hybrids blow up just like every cup and core bullet. Sounds like you need a bonded bullet meant for hunting, what is your shooting distance. I have easily killed critters out to 500 yards with a accubond or a swift scirocco 2.

Nilgai shots on guided hunts seem usually to be a 100-250 yards.

 

[lancetkenyon]

Out of curiosity, at least: what sort of tool would I use to open up a tip?

Thanks again.

Anywhere between a #72-#60 wire bit and small drill. Easy.

 

[Dmagna]

180 Hyb and 184 F open Hyb work over a bull elk like Mike Tyson used to work over Buster Douglas.

Tyson was KO'd by buster, so….

 

[lancetkenyon]

Tyson was KO'd by buster, so….

I stand corrected!
Let's try Marvis Frazier

 

[CONatureBoy]

Anywhere between a #72-#60 wire bit and small drill. Easy.

Thank you again!