Berger close up on game performance

[Raudy707]

What bad experiences? This bullet has been magical in my 300 wm. I've killed 11 bulls and 4 cows and another dozen + deer, always with one shot. 20 to 768 yards. I guess people get bad lots with every manufacturer these days. Bummer! I was hoping to never switch from these in my 300 wm. I shoot the 170 EOL in my 270 wsm and they have been equally as impressive. I just shoot what works in each rifle. My 280 AI has been kicking butt with 168 Accubond LR bullets. 6 deer, 1 antelope and 1 cow. DRT as folks say.

 

[freddiej]

I am sorry to hear the elk went 100 yards. it sounds like the Elk should have dropped where it was shot. My experience with Berger is that they normally drop where I hit them. I hit a messed up 6X6 at 190-ish and he just kind of dropped where I shot him. the only difference was shot placement. I hit mine just in back of the Jawline and severed the spine. the slug never was recovered. come to think of it, the neck under his head nearly exploded.

 

[new forest]

Sorry everyone yes I meant Berger target bullets I have used the hunting bullets but they do way too much damage and also perform horribly on angled/raking shots in both 270 and 243 so I've stuck to Hornady Interbonds but I have a new 6x47 that shoots the Berger VLD really well and the only thing they say is different is the target bullet has a heavier jacket I was wondering if they still expand though

 

[PBR driver]

This guy took two 156 grain Bergers at 50 yards on Saturday. Liquified lungs and peppered offside rib cage but nothing broke through muscle on offside. He went 10 yards maybe and that was from sliding. Lungs poured out the rib cage holes when I was removing rib meat.
View attachment 155384

Great job, What caliber?
6.5 of some type?

 

[laker]

Great job, What caliber?
6.5 of some type?

6.5-06

 

[Chris V.]

I'm obviously not as skilled as others here on this site and have only shot Big Game occasionally out to 500 yards and far prefer 400 and under. Exactly why I love my stainless Tikka T3 Lite 338 Win Mag for elk. It thumps em! Every bull I've shot in the lungs (to save meat) using 250 Nosler Partitions goes right down! One bull shot at 175 yards jumped 5 feet then took an instant Dirt Nap! With my 338 I see no need for shoulder shots on elk. 210 Partitions work good for deer and elk. I recently tried Federal 200 Trophy Bonded Tips at the range and they shoot sub MOA out of my Tikka all day! Have not shot game with them yet. I've not tried Bergers in that rifle, but suspect if they shot well would get the job done up close at 338 fps. Personally I find it amusing when I see posts of game shot at close range using rifles set up for 1000 yards! I do have a customized 300 RUM and were I a 1000 yard guy... if Bergers shot great, their close range performance wouldn't be a concern.

 

[LeddSlinger]

the only one that took more than one shot was the Elk I shot a bull at about 250-300 yds first and second shot was right behind the front shoulder about a third of the way up he just stood there you could see his legs lock up heard the smack but didn't move third shot hit him in the spine then he went down the guys I hunt with are all residents of Wyoming and have a mayonnaise jar full of ivory's they where laughing their *Rule 4 Violation* off when all was done they said if you would have waited a minute he would have went down.

Never hunted in Wyoming, but in Montana the elk hunting rule of thumb is you keep putting rounds in them until they hit the deck. So in my opinion you did exactly the right thing when shooting that bull

 

[Gater]

Exactly I would rather lose a little meat than The Whole elk. My policy is if What ever I am hunting is standing I'm shooting I have a couple not many but a couple shoot start the high fives a back slapping only to see the elk get back up and are gone makes for a long day chasing and we where on horse back but enough said

 

[Priley]

I'm going to make sure this doesn't start out the wrong way, so lets be clear, I shot an cow elk on Saturday from 200 yards with a berger bullet, she is very dead and died quickly. My family will enjoy the meat!

Now, the details: Im shooting a 7mm Mag with 180 Berger Hybrids at 2990 fps. I've shot 2 cow elk, 1 deer, 1 bear, and 1 antelope with this load but most those were 500+ yard shots. This shot was 200 yards broadside and I put it about 1/3 up and 4" behind the crease, perfect double lung. After the shot she immediately went behind a ridge out of sight and piled up about 100 yards out, furthest I've seen one go with this bullet. What really surprised me was there wasn't even a scratch on the offside ribcage from the bullet, it completely blew up inside the lungs, not sure how she even made it 100 yards. It was very cold and windy so I didn't stick around looing for fragments but I confirmed it liquidated the lungs. The bullet isn't near as explosive at longer range in my experience, but is this pretty normal for shots 300 yards and in?

 

[Priley]

I keep seeing the same results and the same complaints time and time again. Please research how bullets perform before you go into the field to hunt with a rifle. If you want a pass through go bow hunting. Bullets are designed to expend their energy inside an animal destroying lungs and vital organs with shocking power dropping the animal due to internal trauma. Dead is dead but first and foremost you need to understand how bullets work... Berger bullets always perform and are devastating. They just work! Animals cannot go far with their vitals blown apart.

 

[bigngreen]

I've tracked more high shoulder shot bulls into hell holes than I want to, if I see a high shoulder impact and a drop I'll often just put another round through them becaus you have no idea if you maybe shot just over the spine or just under and just shocked it, even a dead on spine hit if it's not forward will just knock out the rear wheels and they drag themselves of.
Berger's will vary from bullet to bullet if they will exit in close, they'll still punch through a hard hit but they shred the core of the animal. I watched a bull take a 170 EOL from a 270 WSM at 150 yards behind the shoulder and the water line and it dropped him hard, the inside, of side was all sliced up and we poured his lungs out, at 8-900 yards same set up blows a 2-3 inch hole clean through them, the do the Berger wobble and tip.
I used to be a two holes anytime guy till I realized the tracking is way more necessary and I get horrific blood trails from them blowing blood out from fragging their lungs. My buddy lung shot a cow yesterday and as she turned you could see the blood blowing out the side of her, the short blood trail was messy to the point you didn't want to walk through it.
I've never shot a deer with a Berger that it stayed in them that I can think of, elk we catch a percentage of closer shots.

 

[Mram10us]

Just helped a buddy skin out a mature mulie today. Just inside 250yds, 300rum, 210vld at 3110. Pencil hole on entry, massive bloodshot all over the opposite rib cage, but stayed in the internal cavity. Perfect explosion imo, with no wasted energy.

 

[D.Camilleri]

My experience with Bergers is in my 338 rum. With 300 gr OTM's I have witnessed nothing but spectacular kills! My first bull killed with a 300 Berger was just under 500 yards,DRT saw 4 legs in the air as I recovered from the recoil, no exit, behind the shoulder. Big mule deer, bedded at 70 yards DRT bullet recovered under hide on off side, deer never moved, his head was still up in the brush. Big mule deer at 585 yards DRT bullet broke both shoulders, recovered under the hide perfect mushroom. Cow elk at 850 yards, bad wind call hit center of ham, blood trail for 50 yards and done. Recovered bullet in ham. Cow elk 550 yards neck shot with exit hole 2 inches. At least another 5 elk with similar results. No complaints.

Year before last I tried some 300 gr accubonds, they penetrate deep, but I don't think they kill as good as a berger. Had to shoot a cow elk 3 times, first shot hit too far back on a bad wind call at 550 yards, shocked the spine and she crawled into the timber. When I got to her in the snow, she got up and took off, after a bit of tracking I hit her again going away at 50 yards, bullet traveled entire length of a backstrap, exited and penetrated into the side of her head, she slowed down and stopped, still standing and I put one through the boiler room through and through and she went down. I think a Berger would have finished the job on the first shot.

Last year I started shooting the Hornaday ELDM 285 mostly because I can get it going close to 3000 fps, the bullet performs just like a Berger so far, two elk and two antelope in 4 shots.

 

[David Lindler]

I have had several close range kills with Berger bullets the results have been fairly close to the same, the only exits I have had were an antelope at 50 yds and deer at 450 yds. The 450 yd deer was probably the worst performance that I have experienced with a Berger bullet. My wife made a great shot, I was behind the glass and saw the typical jump kick associated with a lung shot. I watched the deer run away the exit was clearly visible I thought this was going to be an easy recovery. I tracked that deer a long ways, there were definitely times that I thought that I may not recover it. The deer crashed in the middle of the trail, the track had given no indication that it slowed before crashing at nearly 500 yds from where it was hit. Upon examining the bullet channel it was fairly obvious what had happened, the hit was a little high entering between 2 ribs, little to no expansion occurred until the bullet passed midway through the second lung, a softball sized exit hole was present on the exit side. I probably would have never found that deer without the exit hole but perhaps the deer would have not went as far to f the bullet would have come apart sooner. This is definitely not a knock on Berger, for the most part I have had a far easier time recovering animals after being shot with a Berger than with some other bullets. I used to think that shooting them through the shoulders and wasting a little meat was the best way to a fast recovery now not so much.

Berger's are designed to penetrate 3-6 inches before violently expanding. They usually leave massive exit wounds and large blood trails with the animal is able to run. Tend to destroy more meat but recovery of a properly placed shot is almost guaranteed. Id rather loose a little meat than a whole animal.