berger terminal ballistics past 700 yds?

[älg]

I wonder what is your experience of Berger VLD´s behaviour on game in long shots, say past 600 or 700 yds???

do they expand well? penetrate?

Thanks.

PS.- please refer to your caliber and cartridge also.

 

[tjonh2001]

i shot a doe this year at just under 900 yards. i shot here bhind the shoulder. the doe turned and ran 15 yards and fell dead. i dont know that i have seen a better blood trail from an entrace hole. i liked the performance except that the bullet doesnt exit. i shot deer this year from 200 out to the 889 yards none exited.

 

[goodgrouper]

I wonder what is your experience of Berger VLD´s behaviour on game in long shots, say past 600 or 700 yds???

do they expand well? penetrate?

Thanks.

PS.- please refer to your caliber and cartridge also.

Berger VLD's penetrate more with less impact velocity. In other words, the farther out you shoot, the more penetration you will see. They are probably the most lethal game bullets I have seen for long range.

 

[dmgreene]

tjon what caliber, weight and velocity are you shooting?

 

[älg]

Thanks for the replies.

GG, I reckon the expansion is less ( as usual) at longer ranges.....will there be expansion at all??

John, did you recover the bullets?

 

[James Jones]

I shot a small doe this year at 944yds with a 140gr Berger VLD launched out of a 260 Rem at almost 2900fps.
Damage was massive deer diden't go far at all , maybe 20-25yds and the bullet or part of the bullet exited through the off side shoulder blade leaving around a 1.5" hole.

I'm very pleased with their performance

 

[tjonh2001]

this year i was using my SSG built 7mm wsm with 168 bergers at 3075fps. they did the job on the does and i shot my buck at 525 i hit him in the front sholder and he walked 30 feet and fell over. both the buck and the doe way out there had holes through there rib cage that i could almost fit my fist through. i like them for long range hunting i just wish that i would have gotten them to penitrate through the body... there is no way to retreive the bullet it completely shrapnals thats what make the j4 jacket so good.

 

[Buffalobob]

Tjohn

The Berger 168 is probably a great bullet but if you want exit holes go to higher sectional density such as the 180 Berger.
------------------------------------------------
Alg

The 115 Berger in 6mm caliber is simply phenomenal when it comes to penetration and exit holes at longrange. Deliberately as a "trick" shot I shot a single bullet through a 200# boar and then on through the heavy bone structure of a 200# sow standing behind him with a good exit hole on her. You would not want to use that bullet if you were herd shooting because you might kill three or four animals with one shot and not have enough tags for all of the dead animals. I have 7 kills at and beyond 600 yards with the bullet and it is just terrific with 2-4 inch exit holes.

Sectional density is much more important than most people realize. I always get about the size exit holes James J mentions at those ranges on those size animals. This is what makes the Wildcat heavy for caliber bullets so great with the Allen magnums on heavy boned animals.


My expierence with the Sierra Match Kings is some what mystifying. The bullet consistently kills but sometimes it blows up and just knocks the fool out of the animals and sometimes it penetrates through the animal. It is hard to predict bullet performance with the SMK but animal performance is consistently dead.

 

[tjonh2001]

bob
dont know if you know nathan from ssg, but he didnt have a very good experiance with 180 bergers in his 7mmwsm this year. thats why i will be shooting 168 again this year for long shots they put the animals down. i wouldnt say anything bad about these bullets i like bergers thats why im upset that i cant get them to shoot in my 6x47lapua.

 

[Buffalobob]

Tjohn

I do not remember him posting anything about the 180 performance. I am a big 7mm fan and try to keep track of that kind of thing. Of course if things go wrong and a bullet does not perform sometimes it is not mentioned being as some other people get upset and bad mouth the poster. The SMK performance seems erratic to me but the animals fall over so that is good and I keep letting my son shoot them.

I agree with the situation that if a particular rifle does not shoot a particular bullet well then you should find what it wants to shoot and go with that. I personally never intended to hunt with Bergers. They were just bought as barrel break in bullets and outperformed the bullets I wanted to use.

 

[gamehauler]

I am by no means an expert on bullets or ballistics
But I have been doing a ton of reading on the Bergers.
They are not supposed to have a exit wound.
That is the key behind them.
They just explode inside the animal turning everything into jello
Hench, dead critter (NOW) from all the hemmoraging.
Lost blood pressure to brain = Dead
You have an animal on the ground in less than 50yrds,
You are upset because the is no exit wound for tracking
Right now I think the Berger 168 is the BEST bullet on the market.
Mike

Pretty bold statement from a newbie, I know

 

[dmgreene]

I shot a small doe this year at 944yds with a 140gr Berger VLD launched out of a 260 Rem at almost 2900fps.
Damage was massive deer diden't go far at all , maybe 20-25yds and the bullet or part of the bullet exited through the off side shoulder blade leaving around a 1.5" hole.

I'm very pleased with their performance

James what BC are you coming up with in actual shooting conditions with the 140's? I have been playing with the 130's this week and I'm having to plug in a little lower BC than advertised to make my drops work out.

Thanks David

 

[goodgrouper]

Thanks for the replies.

GG, I reckon the expansion is less ( as usual) at longer ranges.....will there be expansion at all??

John, did you recover the bullets?

Yes, there is awesome expansion at long range with these bullets. I shot an antelope a few years back at 1030 yards and it looked like a bomb went off inside. Shredded lung, heart, and bone everywhere. I found several bits of the bullet but the main part exited.

 

[tjonh2001]

i havent need a blood trail yet but being that i am shooting at those ranges. i dont shoot unless i feel very comfortable with the shot. i have been fortunite to make good hits i am wondering if anyone has hit a little to far back, like the liver. will it still kill the animal in under 100 yards. i hunt in crp and hill country they could make it a 100 yards,without an exit wound, it might be hard to find the animal. hope i will never hae to deal with that situation. two years ago i was shooting 160 accubonds they penitrate, i hit my buck high shoulder and the bullet still exited at 490yards. i still think that the berger is harder hitting. i guess what im trying to say is that i wish that someone combined the expolsion of the berger with the penitration of the accubond. until that happens i feel that the berger is the bullet for me... i have also heard that about smk they are a great paper round.