Lets see your berger kills!
- Thread starter matt_3479
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Nice shooting
Oh boy or shall I say girl. Confidence comes in many sizes, shapes and languages. Boomgun)
406precision
Well-Known Member
Yeah shoulda put a language warning on that one sorry !
A Train
Well-Known Member
I did the double take and replayed it about had beer come out my nose. LOL
luke
Well-Known Member
My wife shot a doe this year that was our first experience with bergers. The shot was short only about 100 or so yards but the damage inside was great. And to top it all off my 2 sons and my neighbors young boy did most of the gutting. It was all 3 of their first time to get inside and do the dirty part of hunting.
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COBrad
Well-Known Member
Great video 406... Sounds like something my wife would say after such an event! Rock on girl!
Forgot how to post pictures.
Just got back from Elk Hunting this week. After shooting my first animal with a Berger (Spike) I was shocked. Second worst on game bullet performance I have ever experienced. First were Speer Grand Slams. Was it this situation? I hope it was, but it will take a few more animals to find out.
I realize the Berger bullet is intended for longer ranges/lower velocity, but I have killed elk with other bullets at similar impact velocity. The other bullets performed as I would expect. The best I have ever seen was a Lost River, but they are not available anymore.
I personally don't worry about deer size or smaller because I think any expanding bullet will easily kill a deer. I'm not done shooting Bergers at all, but for me the Berger needs some serious improvement. Or maybe it just needs lower impact velocity.
Is the needed on game performance available with a target bullet? I don't know and to date I have not experienced it is. (Many years of shooting 168 Match Kings at all kinds of barrier media and they just flat suck for consistent or predictable on target performance.)
Here is mine.
190VLD Hunting @3360 muzzle velocity.
100yds Spike Elk 4 quarters (Bone in) neck meat, Back Straps, Tenderloin, misc. scraps for jerkey = 220lbs weighed meat.
#1 - Broadside shot back of lungs = Huge hole +3" about 3" deep with nothing penetrating past the on side lung. Waited for about 3 minutes for it to fall, and then it started to take off again.
#2 - Quartering away and it was going up a steep bank. Kind of a tree strand angle. In at last rib and hit spine = Monster surface hole 5" spine blown apart with no penetration past spine.
#3 - Under the chin = Huge hole with no penetration.
Just got back from Elk Hunting this week. After shooting my first animal with a Berger (Spike) I was shocked. Second worst on game bullet performance I have ever experienced. First were Speer Grand Slams. Was it this situation? I hope it was, but it will take a few more animals to find out.
I realize the Berger bullet is intended for longer ranges/lower velocity, but I have killed elk with other bullets at similar impact velocity. The other bullets performed as I would expect. The best I have ever seen was a Lost River, but they are not available anymore.
I personally don't worry about deer size or smaller because I think any expanding bullet will easily kill a deer. I'm not done shooting Bergers at all, but for me the Berger needs some serious improvement. Or maybe it just needs lower impact velocity.
Is the needed on game performance available with a target bullet? I don't know and to date I have not experienced it is. (Many years of shooting 168 Match Kings at all kinds of barrier media and they just flat suck for consistent or predictable on target performance.)
Here is mine.
190VLD Hunting @3360 muzzle velocity.
100yds Spike Elk 4 quarters (Bone in) neck meat, Back Straps, Tenderloin, misc. scraps for jerkey = 220lbs weighed meat.
#1 - Broadside shot back of lungs = Huge hole +3" about 3" deep with nothing penetrating past the on side lung. Waited for about 3 minutes for it to fall, and then it started to take off again.
#2 - Quartering away and it was going up a steep bank. Kind of a tree strand angle. In at last rib and hit spine = Monster surface hole 5" spine blown apart with no penetration past spine.
#3 - Under the chin = Huge hole with no penetration.
MontanaRifleman
Well-Known Member
Judging by your MV it sounds like you are using a 300 RUM or larger 30 cal cartridge. Bergers are very frangible bullets and as such they will have a lower velocity ceiling of performance. Impact velocities of over 3000 fps have the potential for high explosive and low penetration performance, especially with the thinner J4 hunting jackets. I have a 300 RUM and I would not consider shooting anything smaller than the 215 hybrid (which has a thicker jacket) out of it and lean toward the 230. Rule of thumb for frangible bullets is go with the heaviest practical for cal for lower velocity greater mass on target. If you use those 190 hunting VLDs again at that velocity, expect the same results.
one crazy kid
Well-Known Member
Put the rifle together back like in Mid June 2013.
Dialed in round testing, shot two matches, Fired about 300 rounds prior to hunting, then to the mountains for elk November 2013.
Results single round fired - 7MMRM 180 Berger VLD hunting.
Confirmed kill 524 yards hit in bread basket, animal went 40-70 yards to fall to ground - DOA.
This is hiking in the field shot off pack.
Dialed in round testing, shot two matches, Fired about 300 rounds prior to hunting, then to the mountains for elk November 2013.
Results single round fired - 7MMRM 180 Berger VLD hunting.
Confirmed kill 524 yards hit in bread basket, animal went 40-70 yards to fall to ground - DOA.
This is hiking in the field shot off pack.
RTK
Well-Known Member
Here's my first berger kill the year
300wm, 215's, MV 2865
27.5" spread, 177 5/8 gross
The shot was at 580 yards quartering to me. I hit a tad back of where I wanted. No exit wound, one lung and liver destroyed, unfortunately it nicked the gut too but NO meat loose at all.
I only found a tiny piece of the back cup of the bullet with lead in it.
300wm, 215's, MV 2865
27.5" spread, 177 5/8 gross
The shot was at 580 yards quartering to me. I hit a tad back of where I wanted. No exit wound, one lung and liver destroyed, unfortunately it nicked the gut too but NO meat loose at all.
I only found a tiny piece of the back cup of the bullet with lead in it.
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NoFences
Well-Known Member
Ruger M-77 30-06. 168 gr. VLD 49.5 gr. Varget. Less than 150 yards. Entered behind front shoulder, fragmented, and lodged under the skin on the far shoulder. Obliterated the lungs and took out part of the back bone. Dropped like a rock and expired quickly. I recovered the bullet and some of the fragments, but I have not weighed it yet to see what the retention was . I'll try VLD's again.
