Mxracer532
Well-Known Member
I honestly dont know the details as I only know the guide not the hunter but they must have been 185's.
Berger bullet performance
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I honestly dont know the details as I only know the guide not the hunter but they must have been 185's.
MX, perhaps the report of what transpired has been skewed a bit. Per Berger's website there are no 180 grain bullets offered. Also without knowing the twist and whether factory ammo for the 300 Win was used, explaining the bullet tumbling and 7 shots to kill an elk appears difficult. As others previously posted, just not enough info. Bears are tough and can cover a lot of ground quickly, unfortunate it was unrecovered. I'm sure this won't be the last negative report on Berger bullets, but they are rare.
land308
Well-Known Member
My brother in law shot his antelope a few weeks ago with my 260 remington using 140 berger vld hunting. 1st shot was just behind the shoulder mid chest at 325 yards. The antelope just soaked it up and stood there. I expected to see the wobblies but they never came so after 3-4 min I told him to shoot it again. 2nd shot hit same height but back at the diaphragm. It went down hard that time, but did not expire quickly. when we got too it the 1 st shot had about a dime sized exit and very little damage internally. 2 shot had a fist sized exit with bowel hanging out but the bowel was not damaged and we pulled it back through and did not have any mess in the cavity. Both shots appear to have gone clear through to the off side before expanding. Muzzle velocity was 2725. I wont use the 140's out of my 260 again. They have been absolutely devastating out of my buddies 264 win mag at every distance we have tried,but i have been disappointed thus far with them out of my 260.
I going to give the 123 amax a try. Maybe a little more speed will help with some quicker kills. Everything I have shot with my 243 win (105 amax) has went down hard. Including multiple antelope and deer from 90 to 610 yards.
I going to give the 123 amax a try. Maybe a little more speed will help with some quicker kills. Everything I have shot with my 243 win (105 amax) has went down hard. Including multiple antelope and deer from 90 to 610 yards.
Unofficial Gun Addict (UGA)
Well-Known Member
This story just smacks of oddities that don't align well at least in my mind. I can see a shot at those ranges catching a twig and causing major deflection so that it slams sideways into the elk, but all the other follow-ups not having the desired result. Crazy. Were they using Vld hunting or target rounds? I've never had 1 Berger VLD hunting bullet not drop what I've shot dead in its tracks... Granted... This is my first season using them so perhaps I've just been lucky, but yotes and deer both have fallen and not made 1 inch from where they were hit. I've never seen anything perform as well as the Bergers in the last 35 years I've been hunting and until I have some crazy snafu like the op discussed... I won't be using anything else for deer or elk unless I run out and am unable to find more. For bear... I would however, likely go with a Nosler partition for deeper penetration... But I would think that a well-placed VLD should have done the trick.
Mxracer532
Well-Known Member
Skewed? Not from this guy. I trusted him with my life in the back country and trust his word 100%. Like i stated earlier they must have been 185's. I know he said 180 something. Yes they were hand loads.Trust me Bergers is all I shoot out of my rifles and all that I load in my buddies Creedmoor and brothers .260. So when I say im a HUGE Berger fan I mean it. Thats why im stumped on what happened with both the Elk and the Bear.
My .243 and 95gn VLD's have accounted for ALOT of coyotes and multiple Muley bucks, longest being 520yards through the heart and he didnt take but 3 steps and his offside shoulder was absolutely destroyed. Now I have had a couple weird things tho, I have shot coyotes at 100 yards quartered to me with no exit hole. 3136fps!!!!
My sister this yr shot a muley on the walk at 175 yards and it hunched up and continued to walk, before we could get in position for another shot it had traveled over 150 yards and into no hunting. NOT A DROP OF BLOOD. Gut shot maybe?? I dont know.
That same night she shot another buck at 180 yards and it dropped like a rock then tried to get up and her and my other sister both missed and next thing they knew it was up and running. 2 small quarter size spots of blood where it was on the ground. (My guess is just grazed the neck enough it stunned it and when it came to was off and gone) So I have had a couple weird happenings but it worked great also on my spring bear. 287 yards if I remember right and hit him at the back of vitals then 2nd shot quartered to dropped him like a sack of taters.
johnhhernan
Well-Known Member
So, am I reading this right MX has 2 sisters that shot 2 Mule deer and they walked away?=not enough practice
Who cares what Berger Bullets are doing after I read that.
My 16 Y/O son shot his 300RUM with 210 berger hunter classics at a black bear at 548 yds it didn't move but 15 feet and didn't even take another breath.= lots of practice.
Last year he shot a black tail at 385 yds with a .308 it never moved, it dropped and bled out in seconds.
I just cringe when i hear people shooting at good game and wounding it.
My policy is and my son knows it, you only get one chance to shoot an animal per year, I'm not going to let him shoot at 2-3 deer a year until he gets one.
It sounds like your sisters need practice with shot placement.
Who cares what Berger Bullets are doing after I read that.
My 16 Y/O son shot his 300RUM with 210 berger hunter classics at a black bear at 548 yds it didn't move but 15 feet and didn't even take another breath.= lots of practice.
Last year he shot a black tail at 385 yds with a .308 it never moved, it dropped and bled out in seconds.
I just cringe when i hear people shooting at good game and wounding it.
My policy is and my son knows it, you only get one chance to shoot an animal per year, I'm not going to let him shoot at 2-3 deer a year until he gets one.
It sounds like your sisters need practice with shot placement.
dkhunt14
Well-Known Member
I don't think it takes a lot to kill a bear if the shot is right. I know of at least 5 bears killed with a 243 and a 85HPBT, My gunsmith shot one at around 500 Yards with a 6 IMP and that bullet. All of these were one shot kills and none of them moved. Sounds to me like they used 140 VLD Target in that 6.5. Yellow box instead of Orange. Matt
Unofficial Gun Addict (UGA)
Well-Known Member
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Broz
Well-Known Member
My Black Bear with a 210 VLD from a 300 win. if interested there are entrance and exit pics.
http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f88/my-2011-black-bear-my-300-wm-73292/
http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f88/my-2011-black-bear-my-300-wm-73292/
Mxracer532
Well-Known Member
If ur son misses he is done??? ********! You say that on the Internet of course but everyone on the internet is the perfect hunter and shot.
im not denying she could practice more, BUT did u notice she killed her deer last yr and this yr at 520 and 450 with the same gun and bullet?? I think it was more of a rushing issue cause when the is calm she kills em. She was shooting 8in round balloons at over 500 the day before.
Im pretty **** sure an X military sniper that shoots as much as he does knows the difference between a yellow (target) bullet and an a orange (hunting box.)
MudRunner2005
Well-Known Member
If this is the case, then why are you posting anti-Berger bullet posts on an open forum?
Not trying to sound like a dick, just saying that if you didn't witness it first-hand, and you weren't there, and you know absolutely nothing other than some story someone MIGHT have fudged the numbers a little (7 rounds into an elk sounds extremely exaggerated, unless it was a zombie elk and it took 7 rounds to hit the CNS), than it seems a little strange to me how you can call this conclusive evidence of the bullets failing?
Team Roper
Well-Known Member
I had multiple Berger Bullet failures last year. Failure yardages from 60 yds to 587 yds All on whitetails and hogs. Between myself, my wife, my kids and grandkids all of the animals we shot failed to get away, failed to need to be tracked and failed to live another day.
MudRunner2005
Well-Known Member
That's the kind of failure I can handle. My 2 deer I shot this past Jan were both failures by your standards. The first one failed to run beyond 15 yards, and the 2nd one failed to ever take another step or move again.
Mxracer532
Well-Known Member
first things first this IS NOT AN ANTI BERGER THREAD!!!!
I was simply asking if anyone had experienced any!!! Im not saying the deal with my sister was a failure (hence why I said GUT SHOT??? & think she just nicked it enough to stun it) I myself find it hard to believe that it took 7 rounds. IM FLOORED ACTUALLY! Again why I asked the ? If anyone else had experienced this. Im still going to use the VLD's cause I still love them. Only ? I have ever had MYSELF is why at 150 yards or so I didnt have an exit on that coyote.
