Disappointed with the Berger 156 grain EOL

[WildRose]

Mike I have loaded and shot partitions for years , but if you can find some old win fail safes you might have found the bullet you just described. It is a shame they don't make them any more ,then there would be one more controversy of bullet design and terminal performance.

Great bullet at close range but they had horrible BC's and really were not fit for much beyond about 300yds.

 

[WildRose]

These steers were moved to a large parcel of land in the Snowy mountains, hadn't seen a human for years and to use my terminology had become ferrule or to keep you happy become very wild.
I'm not a Texan with a herd of long horns but have owned and run beef and dairy properties and have castrated quite a few during those times.

"Feral", a domesticated animal returned to the wild.

"Ferrule", a metal insert to improve strength and stability.

 

[Chuksnipr]

Just had the same experience with Berger. I took a coyote with a 22-250 at 190 yards using the VLD Hunting 55 grain. Perfect shot on the dog, hit right behind the shoulder. Dog was quartering away so projectile should have went straight out the brisket or hit the opposite shoulder. Projectile hit and came out by guts on opposite side. Dog ran almost 300 yards, luckily we had snow or it would have never been recovered. Worst part about this, part of the jacket was found right at the impact site!! Never have I seen this before and although they shoot dimes I don't think I will be using them for hunting anymore. Should also mention load used was 38 grains of H380 and these run 3520fps out of my Rem so no where's near pushing them too fast imo.

Don't think that was a hunting bullet. I believe the vld hunting bullet start at .243 caliber.

 

[Hard rock]

Don't think that was a hunting bullet. I believe the vld hunting bullet start at .243 caliber.

Berger makes nice hunting bullets, just have to be careful witch one you buy

Tommyjohn53 you stated you wanted a bullet that will give you a good exit . I have read all 16 pages of this forum , and so for you've been told that the Bergers were designed too do what your disappointed in . If you want a bullet that is designed too fragment and exit the Hammer bullet is what you may be looking for . The Hammer bullet from my experience does the same thing everytime, it enters ,opens , sheds 40 percent of weight as the petals break off , traveling through with the shank as the shank exits . The shank also deforms being a softer copper than Barnes and creates a massive wound channel. Velocity recommended and range 1800 too 4000 plus point blank too 1800 fps , shoulder shots welcome . The most popular bullet in the 6.5 cal is there 124 gr Hammer Hunter ,in the prc you will get 3300 plus fps with a 26 in barrel. The 124 gr is equivalent too a 140 gr plus in cup and core and as long . This post is straight too the point of your post , good luck on your bullet choice , no matter what it may be .

 

[FEENIX]

Tommyjohn53 you stated you wanted a bullet that will give you a good exit . I have read all 16 pages of this forum , and so for you've been told that the Bergers were designed too do what your disappointed in . If you want a bullet that is designed too fragment and exit the Hammer bullet is what you may be looking for . The Hammer bullet from my experience does the same thing everytime, it enters ,opens , sheds 40 percent of weight as the petals break off , traveling through with the shank as the shank exits . The shank also deforms being a softer copper than Barnes and creates a massive wound channel. Velocity recommended and range 1800 too 4000 plus point blank too 1800 fps , shoulder shots welcome . The most popular bullet in the 6.5 cal is there 124 gr Hammer Hunter ,in the prc you will get 3300 plus fps with a 26 in barrel. The 124 gr is equivalent too a 140 gr plus in cup and core and as long . This post is straight too the point of your post , good luck on your bullet choice , no matter what it may be .

From OP's post #12 ...

Did you switch to different bullets and if so what kind? I just ordered some 121 grain Hammer Hunter bullets

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Maybe among dedicated Berger Shooters but not the hunting public at large.

Correct - I was referring to bullets in the Berger line.

 

[Hard rock]

From OP's post #12 ...

From OP's post #12 ...

The 121 gr will work but is what I use in my 6.5-284s 1-9 twist recommended the 124 gr is what I shoot in my 1-8 twist 6.5 prcs . The 124 gr is there most popular 6.5 bullet recommended twist 1-8 or faster ,on the 121 gr 1-9 or faster . That being said I'm also shooting the 123 gr absolute 1-8 or faster . The 123 gr takes a little more load development because of less parabolic drag , you can usually get 150 fps more vel than the 124gr . Call Hammer and exchange too the 124 gr if you have a 1-8 twist.

 

[Bang4theBuck]

I hit him right behind the shoulders and it blew both lungs up and he was full of blood inside of him. The thing that bothers me though is that I hit no bones and that bullet was moving at 2860 fps so I fully expected a good exit wound with plenty of blood to be able to track him

I dont have time to read the 16 pages of replies, but I felt compelled to respond as potentially many others have. It sounds to like the bullet performed exactly as advertised. Berger hunting bullets are not designed to pass through. They are designed to dump their energy violently just a few inches inside of the animal. This is exactly what this bullet did. If you are concerned about the animal traveling 50 yards, versus dropping in its tracks, you should place your shot higher in the shoulder and let the violent expansion shut down the central nervous system.

 

[Hard rock]

I dont have time to read the 16 pages of replies, but I felt compelled to respond as potentially many others have. It sounds to like the bullet performed exactly as advertised. Berger hunting bullets are not designed to pass through. They are designed to dump their energy violently just a few inches inside of the animal. This is exactly what this bullet did. If you are concerned about the animal traveling 50 yards, versus dropping in its tracks, you should place your shot higher in the shoulder and let the violent expansion shut down the central nervous system.

But he said he wanted a good exit

 

[coop2564]

Here is a problem with todays trends, Many people setup for long range shooting and use long range bullets designed to perform at long range, but 90% of shots at game are really 250yds or closer and the bullets just fragment at that close range. I have started setting up my hunting rifles for 700 and closer with standard hunting bullets like accubonds, Nosler partitions, gold dots, mono's etc. As I have found 90% of my shots will need these type bullets much more than LR type of bullets. It might not be the trend. But its the logical thing to do for my hunting. In most my guns it will still cover 700 yds where a LR bullet might get me to 900 or maybe 1000yds. But longest kill I have is 577 yds. I've been hunting big game for 36 years, if I use a fragmenting LR bullet I'm just handicapping myself and risking wounding game or not be able to find it due to lack of blood. People who live out west or hunt mostly in west can shoot on avg much farther than my avg shot would be. I have a rifle dedicated for that 7RM with 168 bergers. But I haven't had opportunity to use it in that roll for last 4 yrs, all my other guns are now setup with Mono's or bonded bullets for 700 and closer shots. Just my 2 cents of logic.

 

[QuietTexan]

Lol. How did this get derailed to talking about castrated cows?

He said a bullet was coated in ********, I'm just discussing the production process involved in manufacturing that particular coating.

Maybe it'll help my ES/SD some?

 

[Hard rock]

He said a bullet was coated in ********, I'm just discussing the production process involved in manufacturing that particular coating.

Maybe it'll help my ES/SD some?

He said a bullet was coated in ********, I'm just discussing the production process involved in manufacturing that particular coating.

Maybe it'll help my ES/SD some?

More like a train wreck than a derailment

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I've taken many varmints out to 1,000yds but when it comes to biggame my kills have all been made at less than 500yds. My guess would be that the vast majority of critters are killed at less than half that range.

Every single bullet type that I've used has worked well providing that the shot placement was good. All the arguments for and against certain bullets is great fodder for the internet but the truth of the matter is that shot placement is 95% of the equation and bullet style is merely the other 5%. Use whatever bullet shoots well (within reason) and make that first shot count!

 

[Raudy707]

There may be no way to steer it back on track at this point. Well with 16 pages I think the balls are in the OP's court now. I'm sure he realized he took a gelding Arabian out to do a stud plow horses job. Pretty simple fix.