Bergers on deer?????

[hoytaddict]

That's the mind set I had too until I shot this deer. I'd put up a pic of the entrance with the hide off but I'm not sure how it would go over with the crowd. The entrance hole from a 7mm VLD 140 grain traveling 3500fps was the size of my fist. It seems like the bullet detonated on impact. I was gonna give the Nosler BT's a try but they only rate those for 3200fps and under. So I just picked up a box of 160 grain accubonds. Only slow powder I have on hand is IMR 7828, so I'm gonna try and work up a load with that first.

 

[elktaxi1]

i like the 145 lrx at 3750fps. we killed a elk with one at 1030yds this yr and a couple of wt does from 80yds and 754yd and they shoot real tight 1/4 in moa at 300yds. cant wait for the 168s to come in march or april.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Deer Berger isn't that bad, especially thbe older tough ones.

Bergers on Deer or Deer on Berger or Deer Berger........

 

[Greyfox]

I have shot about a dozen deer using my 6.5x284 with 140 Hunting VLD's . At 2965 FPS from 200 yards out to 1000. I get 1" entrance, 2-3" exit hole. I have not beenable to recover a VLD. Most went down in there tracks. A couple fell within 20 yards. I agree with prior posts that they seem to perform best in heavy for caliber weights in the 3000 MV range. Know a few shooters that had blow up similar to yours when pushing them at 3200-3400FPS.

 

[hoytaddict]

I deffinately found out they're really fragile. If I do shoot them anymore, I'm gonna have to dial them back below Mach II!!!!

 

[Derek M.]

I have shot about a dozen deer using my 6.5x284 with 140 Hunting VLD's . At 2965 FPS from 200 yards out to 1000. I get 1" entrance, 2-3" exit hole. I have not beenable to recover a VLD. Most went down in there tracks. A couple fell within 20 yards. I agree with prior posts that they seem to perform best in heavy for caliber weights in the 3000 MV range. Know a few shooters that had blow up similar to yours when pushing them at 3200-3400FPS.

What is your load and bbl length? I have a 24" Bartlein. I didn't build it for long long range though, but if it turns out to be a shooter, I'd take a deer out as far as I could.

 

[Greyfox]

What is your load and bbl length? I have a 24" Bartlein. I didn't build it for long long range though, but if it turns out to be a shooter, I'd take a deer out as far as I could.

I have a 26" 1:8 twist. My load is 140 VLD's, Lapua brass, 59 gr. Retumbo, Fed215. This load is very accurate , vel. 2965FPS in my Cooper, I get 2980 in my 24" Savage with the same load. Both rifels have the bullets seated .075" out of the lands.

 

[Derek M.]

I have a 26" 1:8 twist. My load is 140 VLD's, Lapua brass, 59 gr. Retumbo, Fed215. This load is very accurate , vel. 2965FPS in my Cooper, I get 2980 in my 24" Savage with the same load. Both rifels have the bullets seated .075" out of the lands.

Thank you. That is the powder & charge that the guys at BOTW/Gunwerks used. I did not know what primer. When the time comes, I plan on trying this load first. If I don't succeed to my satisfaction, I will try H1000. If that doesn't suit me, I'm going to the bench standards and use H4831SC and H4350, which is what I think Gunwerks fellas are using now.

 

[Greyfox]

Thank you. That is the powder & charge that the guys at BOTW/Gunwerks used. I did not know what primer. When the time comes, I plan on trying this load first. If I don't succeed to my satisfaction, I will try H1000. If that doesn't suit me, I'm going to the bench standards and use H4831SC and H4350, which is what I think Gunwerks fellas are using now.

I have also had very good results with 53gr of H4831sc with a fed match primer. Watch the pressure. I seat this as well at .075. It develops high pressure at .010 out of the lands. Very accurate but generates about 60-100FPS lower velocities than Retumbo.

 

[Dano1]

Hoytaddict,

I'm currently working on a longrange load for my 7STW and it also has a 1-9" Twist bbl as well. I have decided to load the 180g Barger VLDs as well. I just seemed right to try to shoot the heaviest bullets available. I plan on hunting Muleys and Elk with mine and 1000 shots are certainly possible where I hunt. Retained energy at longer distances trump a Lazer Beam trajectory any day in my book.

That being said, I have taken Deer and Elk with Berger Bullets, however, my shots have all been over the 300yd mark, using a 168g VLD out of a .30-06 AI at 3100FPS. I took a Cow Elk at 365yds and my father used my rifle to take a Cow Elk at 525yds. They performed perfectly, with only one pass though. My Cow was dead on her feet but going down hill to the wrong part of the country and I hit her a second time and took off the top of her heart and the bullet passed completely trough. She fell where I hit her.

Interestingly enough, as I'm loading the 180g Bergers for my 7STW, I've had to turn my rifle into a single shot and load them out to the lands and this makes the COAL too long for the magazine. I decided to install a single shot follower to keep it from binding.



I've included this photo showing how long these have to be in my rifle. So far they will group under an inch at 100yds, but I'm working on improving velocity while retaining accuracy. I also need to put a new stock on this rifle and after that, I'll resume load development. No need to waste ammo if the loads need to change.

( For comparison purposes only, Left to right cartridges are 7STW (180g Berger VLD), .30-06 AI (168g Berger VLD), 6.5-06 AI (129g Hornady SST), .243 AI (100g Sierra Gameking), and .243 Win (75g Sierra HP)

Hope this helps,

Dan

 

[hoytaddict]

Thanks for the input Dan. I am shooting a single shot in my 7mm stw. I'm probably going to have to send by barrel back to Match Grade Machine and have my throat lengthened to be able to get full case capacity with the larger bullets. My throat is fairly short, so the 180's (maybe even the 160 accubonds I just picked up) will have to be seated deep and I really don't want a compressed load.

 

[Dano1]

That's definately a legitamate concern. I'm thinking that my throat may be too long, but there is still enough bullet in the neck to have proper purchase on the bullet and keep them in place. The bigest problem that I'm facing with COAL length is that if i have to remove a loaded round I'm being forced to pull the bolt as the action isn't long enough to let the cartridge flip out. It's more annoying than any thing.

I'm guessing that you'd be right in lengthing the throat. You are loosing a bit of case capacity and therefore velocity. Not a bad Idea at all.

I'm going to look at the 180g Berger Hybrids as well, I've heard that they are easier to load for and with the higher BC it couldn't hurt to try. I was interested in the 180g sierra Matchkings but they recommend a 1-8" twist bbl.

The 160g Accubonds may be a good compromise for what you are trying to accomplish... they'd probablly work quite well. I have a couple boxes of 162g Hornady A-maxes, Thinking of trying them just to see.

What Powders are you looking at??? I'm working with retumbo and US869 for the heavys....I've heard H1000 is good as well as RL-25. I used IMR 7828 for a generic 165g Spitzer load and it shot under an inch as well, I don't have any more though.....

Later,

Dan

 

[hoytaddict]

The loads I've been shooting and tweaking is a 140 grain Berger VLD with 80 grains of IMR 7828 loaded to 3.002 to the ogive. Averaging at just over 3500 fps out the muzzle with a 28" barrel

 

[hoytaddict]

And that's rem brass, fed 215 mag primers, and touching the lands