I should of read more. My bad
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Need Testers for New Berger 6mm 87 gr VLD Hunting
- Thread starter Eric Stecker
- Start date
Help Support Long Range Hunting Forum
I figured I'd post how my test with the 87gr bergers was going so far for anyone interested.
I had an accurate load in my 243 win with the 85gr Sierra HPBT gameking bullet and so I tried the 87 berger with it and had a winner. With deer season and now the flu I haven't yet had a chance to shoot them at paper past 100yds, but will soon. They have done well on deer and my 10" steel gong out to 500yds.
87gr Berger VLD test results to date
Testing done in Kansas, 1200ft elevation
Rifle
Custom 243 Win
20" #5 Montana barrel, cryoaccurized
Laminate thumbhole stock bedded & floated
Leupold VXIII 4.5-14x40
Load data
Winchester case
Winchester Lg rifle primer
44gr IMR 4831
87gr Berger VLD
1st group was .52" 3 shots in 1 hole and one that opened the group. The flier was probably my fault.
Further groups have shown the first test to be accurate, continuing to stay very close to 1/2" at 100yds
Whitetail performance My 243 with the 87gr berger was used by 3 other hunters during our deer season. They had all shot this rifle at targets and prairie dogs and were comfortable with it.
All entrance wounds on deer were caliber size, and none of the bullets exited.
Jamie shot her buck with my rifle and this bullet. She hit the deer at the last rib at 120yds and it was broadside. The bullet did massive internal damage, even throwing shrapnel into the inner thighs of the deer. It was poor shot placement but the internal damage was so severe the buck only went 20ft. A less destructive bullet may have resulted in a lost deer or long blood trail.
Beth shot her deer with my rifle. It was a small doe at 74 yards, the bullet dropped the doe in it's tracks and did massive damage to the lungs and spine. It didn't hurt the back straps, must have just been a little shrapnel that hit the spine. The results were the same as the deer she shot with the 95gr VLD last year.
Another neighbor used my rifle to take a huge bodied old buck at 226yds. The bullet hit the buck through the heart broadside and he only went 20ft before collapsing. Internal damage was massive, the heart was destroyed and the lungs took major damage.
For any hunter who may want to take multiple deer from one stand location this bullet is ideal. The tiny entrance wound and lack of an exit wound make for very little external bleeding to contaminate your area with scent. I plan to use it for antlerless season myself when I don't have to fight the girls for my rifle.
I shot a coyote with the 87gr Berger at 230yds. He ran 140yds after the shot before going down. The entrance wound was caliber size and the exit wound only slightly larger. It was a small coyote, probably less than a year old. Pelt damage was minimal, but I was a little disappointed with how far he traveled. I've had similar results from the 95gr berger in the past at ranges over 175yds with the lower velocity from my short barrel. I can't fault the bullet for this, they are designed for big game not varmints and their delayed expansion works great on animals with a deeper chest cavity to expend energy in. I hope to have a new project done before 2-5 to test this bullet in, a 1 in 9 twist 24" 6mm Remington and hope the increased velocity will improve expansion on coyotes.
Overall I am happy with the bullets so far, they shoot accurately and perform as advertised on their intended size game.
If anyone from Berger reads this, thanks for the opportunity to test these bullets. I will post further results as I get them
I had an accurate load in my 243 win with the 85gr Sierra HPBT gameking bullet and so I tried the 87 berger with it and had a winner. With deer season and now the flu I haven't yet had a chance to shoot them at paper past 100yds, but will soon. They have done well on deer and my 10" steel gong out to 500yds.
87gr Berger VLD test results to date
Testing done in Kansas, 1200ft elevation
Rifle
Custom 243 Win
20" #5 Montana barrel, cryoaccurized
Laminate thumbhole stock bedded & floated
Leupold VXIII 4.5-14x40
Load data
Winchester case
Winchester Lg rifle primer
44gr IMR 4831
87gr Berger VLD
1st group was .52" 3 shots in 1 hole and one that opened the group. The flier was probably my fault.
Further groups have shown the first test to be accurate, continuing to stay very close to 1/2" at 100yds
Whitetail performance My 243 with the 87gr berger was used by 3 other hunters during our deer season. They had all shot this rifle at targets and prairie dogs and were comfortable with it.
All entrance wounds on deer were caliber size, and none of the bullets exited.
Jamie shot her buck with my rifle and this bullet. She hit the deer at the last rib at 120yds and it was broadside. The bullet did massive internal damage, even throwing shrapnel into the inner thighs of the deer. It was poor shot placement but the internal damage was so severe the buck only went 20ft. A less destructive bullet may have resulted in a lost deer or long blood trail.
Beth shot her deer with my rifle. It was a small doe at 74 yards, the bullet dropped the doe in it's tracks and did massive damage to the lungs and spine. It didn't hurt the back straps, must have just been a little shrapnel that hit the spine. The results were the same as the deer she shot with the 95gr VLD last year.
Another neighbor used my rifle to take a huge bodied old buck at 226yds. The bullet hit the buck through the heart broadside and he only went 20ft before collapsing. Internal damage was massive, the heart was destroyed and the lungs took major damage.
For any hunter who may want to take multiple deer from one stand location this bullet is ideal. The tiny entrance wound and lack of an exit wound make for very little external bleeding to contaminate your area with scent. I plan to use it for antlerless season myself when I don't have to fight the girls for my rifle.
I shot a coyote with the 87gr Berger at 230yds. He ran 140yds after the shot before going down. The entrance wound was caliber size and the exit wound only slightly larger. It was a small coyote, probably less than a year old. Pelt damage was minimal, but I was a little disappointed with how far he traveled. I've had similar results from the 95gr berger in the past at ranges over 175yds with the lower velocity from my short barrel. I can't fault the bullet for this, they are designed for big game not varmints and their delayed expansion works great on animals with a deeper chest cavity to expend energy in. I hope to have a new project done before 2-5 to test this bullet in, a 1 in 9 twist 24" 6mm Remington and hope the increased velocity will improve expansion on coyotes.
Overall I am happy with the bullets so far, they shoot accurately and perform as advertised on their intended size game.
If anyone from Berger reads this, thanks for the opportunity to test these bullets. I will post further results as I get them
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trailrider121
Well-Known Member
Mcseal2,
Thanks for the great Berger 87gr bullet report. It nice to read about game reports and how bullets perform .
Thanks for the great Berger 87gr bullet report. It nice to read about game reports and how bullets perform .
Eric Stecker
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2007
- Messages
- 292
Mcseal2,
Thank you for this report. We're you one of the folks that was selected to test the bullets? My reason for asking is that we have not received any feedback yet from any of the testers that were selected. If you were selected please forward your report to Ashlee Shute at [email protected].
I recognize that this is a poor time of year for anyone to be doing bullet testing so we have not put a deadline on this project. We are just eager to learn anything we can about how these bullets work in a variety of different rifles.
Regards,
Eric
Thank you for this report. We're you one of the folks that was selected to test the bullets? My reason for asking is that we have not received any feedback yet from any of the testers that were selected. If you were selected please forward your report to Ashlee Shute at [email protected].
I recognize that this is a poor time of year for anyone to be doing bullet testing so we have not put a deadline on this project. We are just eager to learn anything we can about how these bullets work in a variety of different rifles.
Regards,
Eric
I was also one of those selected to test the new 87 grain bullets(Thank you for the opportunity). I will be headed to the range first thing in the morning for the load development stages and am anxious to see what the results are. The preliminary testing will be done on paper to find a consistent and accurate load. All loads are for a 6mm Remington Parker Hale 1200 Super with a 1 in 10 Twist. Load data starting points were furnished by Walt Berger via the Quick Load Program. The loads for initial testing are as follows:
Winchester Brass, Once fired through the test rifle.
CCI 200 Large Rifle Primers
COAL 2.903
4 @ 43 grs H4350
4 @ 44 grs H4350
4 @ 45 grs H4350
4 @ 45.5 grs H4350
4 @ 46 grs H4350
I will be shooting the rounds over a Chronograph while going through this initial process. I will be sure to document everything so as to be thorough as possible.
Once load development is complete, I will test them terminally. I will be constructing a test module target to track expansion performance. I will also be trying them out on coyotes and other small varmints It will be fun to put this bullet through the paces to see what it is made of. Like other the other Bergers, I am sure that it will be up to the task and exceed my expectations. Happy shooting and I will be sharing my results soon.
My thanks again to Eric and the folks at Berger that allow us to have such an opportunity to help in the testing process. It's nice to have a company so anxious to know and provide what their clients want.
Winchester Brass, Once fired through the test rifle.
CCI 200 Large Rifle Primers
COAL 2.903
4 @ 43 grs H4350
4 @ 44 grs H4350
4 @ 45 grs H4350
4 @ 45.5 grs H4350
4 @ 46 grs H4350
I will be shooting the rounds over a Chronograph while going through this initial process. I will be sure to document everything so as to be thorough as possible.
Once load development is complete, I will test them terminally. I will be constructing a test module target to track expansion performance. I will also be trying them out on coyotes and other small varmints It will be fun to put this bullet through the paces to see what it is made of. Like other the other Bergers, I am sure that it will be up to the task and exceed my expectations. Happy shooting and I will be sharing my results soon.
My thanks again to Eric and the folks at Berger that allow us to have such an opportunity to help in the testing process. It's nice to have a company so anxious to know and provide what their clients want.
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Parker Hale 1200 That brings back memories that have since rusted. My 1st hi power rifle was a PH 1200 in 300 Win Mag. Happy shooting
matt_3479
Well-Known Member
If it's still okay, I would like to test it out as well. I have a Remington with 1:9 1/4 twist that shoots 80 grain pretty good and have been trying to get the 87grain Berger and Vmax to test. I will go to the range often and teat hard if I get an opportunity to try them out
They're done giving bullets out.
Yes, I was one of the testers. I sent my report as posted here to Michelle the same time I posted it. I will send it to Ashlee's e-mail also. I will try to get some accuracy testing done at longer ranges as soon as I get decent conditions and a little time.
I would like to see your accuracy and velocity results, and the barrel length of your rifle posted here if it is alright with you. I have that powder to test also.
I'm done my load work up and fired my first test rounds. The gun is a factory barreled
sako 75 stainless, lone wolf stock, 1:10 twist. The best group it had ever fired was 7/16"
@ 100. With two groups of 5 @ 300 yards it turned in a 1.07 inch or .33 moa. No signs
of instability at all at 100 , 200 or 300 yards. The .412 G1 BC seems dead on in RSI.
2.760 coal .010 off the lands
37.9 grains IMR4064
FGM 210 primer
Sako cases fired 3X's
From what I've seen so far they have another winner.
sako 75 stainless, lone wolf stock, 1:10 twist. The best group it had ever fired was 7/16"
@ 100. With two groups of 5 @ 300 yards it turned in a 1.07 inch or .33 moa. No signs
of instability at all at 100 , 200 or 300 yards. The .412 G1 BC seems dead on in RSI.
2.760 coal .010 off the lands
37.9 grains IMR4064
FGM 210 primer
Sako cases fired 3X's
From what I've seen so far they have another winner.
Okay, back from the range. Preliminary tests are done. May I first start off by saying that it was a tough morning to shoot. The storms finally cleared here in S. Utah late yesterday. Resulting in intense fog this morning. The temps were cold and humidity was high. So groups are not anywhere near as tight as I would have hoped. However, I believe this to be more based upon shooter performance rather than bullet performance. Yep thats right. I was freezing my keester off! Here are the loads I shot, chronograph and the observed results.
All loads were fired with H4350 Powder and CCI 200 Primers with Winchester brass. Test rifle is a Parker Hale 1200 Super, 24" factory original Barrel, 6mm Remington. COAL is 2.903"
Load # 1, 43grains
3067 fps
3062 fps
3049 fps
3080 fps
Average Velocity 3064
ES 31 fps
This load grouped .959"
Load # 2, 44grains
3144 fps
3115 fps
3111 fps
3140 fps
Average Velocity 3127
ES 33 fps
This load grouped .888"
Load # 3, 45grains
3186 fps
3188 fps
3183 fps
3206 fps
Average Velocity 3190
ES 23 fps
This load grouped .741"
Load # 4, 45.5grains
3239 fps
3235 fps
3217 fps
3230 fps
Average Velocity 3230
ES 22 fps
This load grouped 1.399" This Group opened way up. I believe this was due to the cold
and not the particular load. At this point I was very uncomfortable shooting and it shows.
It's unfortunate too because this load was the most consistent as far as velocities and ES.
Load # 5, 46grains
3272 fps
3249 fps
3261 fps
3267 fps
Average Velocity 3262
ES 23 fps
This load grouped .484"
It appears that the 46 grains will be Max load for this rifle. It is one grain over that furnished by quick load. I will most likely use it for the rest of my development and testing.
From here I will also be trying some CCI BR2 primers and some different seating depths to see if I can shrink the group down from .484". I may also consider trying some IMR 4831.
Once I have developed the best group that I can, I will do the terminal performance tests that I mentioned earlier.
Loner, that is a good question, I haven't looked at it with a bore scope. I can tell you that I am a good .030 off the lands where I sit at the present. I don't know if this rifle has an extremely long throat or if it is burnt out. However I do know that it is still shooting well for me. I bought the gun used when I was sixteen. About twelve years ago. When I bought it the original owner said that he had less than a hundred rounds through it. Since I have owned it, I have probably shot around 220 through it. The load data that Walt Berger gave me off of his Load Base program told me to load them to 2.823". So I am .080" Longer than SAMMI and still .030" Short of the lands. What would your guess be? I know a guy in town with a scope. I should go take a look. I just figured that it was a long throat. Didn't seem much different than some of my other factory chambered rifles. Certainly interested to know your thoughts.
