Not happy with 156 EOL

[GSP814]

I banged flopped two bull elk this year with the 156 EOL Berger, one in Wyoming and one in Colorado. 6.5 GAP at 2850 fps, Long Range Rifle Inc. rifle (from Len). Barrel isn't fully broken in. Wyoming 5x5 was at 250 yards quartering away, standing, hit high on right shoulder, complete pass thru. The Colorado elk was flat out running up a hill and he sort of turned down hill and I hit him head on at 150 yards above the right shoulder and low in the neck. The bullet traveled to where the spine meets the pelvis, about 3 feet, it was a dramatic DRT kill, I'm sold on the 156's!

 

[Dmagna]

I banged flopped two bull elk this year with the 156 EOL Berger, one in Wyoming and one in Colorado. 6.5 GAP at 2850 fps, Long Range Rifle Inc. rifle (from Len). Barrel isn't fully broken in. Wyoming 5x5 was at 250 yards quartering away, standing, hit high on right shoulder, complete pass thru. The Colorado elk was flat out running up a hill and he sort of turned down hill and I hit him head on at 150 yards above the right shoulder and low in the neck. The bullet traveled to where the spine meets the pelvis, about 3 feet, it was a dramatic DRT kill, I'm sold on the 156's!

Maybe it was just a fluke. I will try again

 

[Radhimself]

Lungers are not shots that drop anything in it's tracks. Bullets designed to penetrate don't do a whole lot of damage on their way thru but a blind man can usually track one down. A good broadside shot in the bread basket doesn't require the Nosler Partition but will always give you the blood to follow everytime the animal takes a breath. If you want to do a whole lot of internal damage feed it a Berger hunting style bullet and you can have a basket full of jello when you dress it out.

The most Jello ive ever seen in an animals chest cavity was from a 110TSX @ 3400fps outa my 270wsm, shot was 175ish and didnt hit a single bone, dead center heart shot..., When cheat was opened, everything drained out like tomato bisque soup... it was unreal how hard that lil bullet hit, like Lightning

 

[vancewalker007]

I've been hunting with an outfitter for 20 years. For our week in the woods, 15 hunters, we'll get 30 to 45 deer. Every year there is at least one deer where all the guys will say "how did that deer run that far with damage like that". When they brought them back to the lodge to butcher there was no blood left to drip out. All of these animals are all different. If you could stage the same exact shot, bullet placement, caliber on 12 different animals, the likelihood of seeing 12 different reactions is very probably. Conversely we see a lot of animals where there is a pencil sized entry and a pencil sized exit and the animal drops on the spot. Open it up and you wonder why. We see the best results for that week with Barnes TSX, Nosler ABLR and Partitions, one guy has been using Hammers effectively in a good ole .308 (we never have to look for his downed deer), none of these are used in magnum calibers. I think those super-duper velocities changes things on the animal, not always for the better. Just my 2-cents.

And what are the typical honest shot distances these animals are taken? If it's less then 500 yards then tougher bullets should be the choice of the day. Bullets like Bergers, Hornady ELDs, tend to be better choices when the typical ranges move out to 400-700ish or farther like they do one our Coues deer hunts. Those softer bullets will kill at higher velocities ie. closer ranges but care should be taken with shot placement.

 

[25WSM]

257wby makes the best lung soup I've ever seen. Thanks for the info on the 156. I haven't used them yet. Been happy with the 147eldm so far. I only hunt deer so can't say how the 147 would do on elk.
Shep

 

[codyadams]

Maybe it was just a fluke. I will try again

Hopefully. If it does happen again however, I would definitely switch back to the 140's. And when you rebarrel, go with a 7.5 or 7 twist, especially at sea level, it will still send the 140's just fine, and I would bet it would make the 156's more consistent for you. I only say that with confidence because I have either taken or been present for 16 animals being taken with them so far this season, all with much better results, and while I'm also using an 8 twist in my main gun, my animals were taken from 6500 up to 10,000+ elevation, and dramatically increase s.g.

Also, the fact that all 11 pronghorn we shot, from 150 to over 600, quartering shots, shoulder hits, didn't matter, all exited. We didn't see lack of exits until we got to big boddied mule deer at extended ranges. Depending on the size of your whitetail, they may only be slightly larger than our antelope. 150 yard shot, if there was massive internal damage, or a lot of bone hit, I could see the possibility of a lack of exit, especially if it was a bigger deer. However, a 150 yard shot, no exit, little internal damage, with a marginally stable bullet? I would really be leaning towards bullet tumbling after impact.

 

[John 264]

Not very happy with the performance, had a good hit in a whitetail. Didn't seem to be a ton of internal damage. Took out one lung , good shot placement. Ran 200 yards, then piled up. Didn't seem to perform like I wanted it to, will try it again on a doe to hopefully change my opinion.

if you shoot them in the shoulder he would go straight down if you shoot them in the lungs they are going to run

 

[25WSM]

I shoot all my deer in the lungs. DRT 95% of the time. The ones that didn't only went less than 20 yards. I like deer meat and you don't lose much at all with a ribcage shot. I've seen deer run like the wind with broken shoulder. Plus a shoulder shot normally doesn't hit vitals. I've seen deer shot through both shoulders drop in its tracks and then flip around till we got to it and shot it again. And as far as this 156 not working great this time is most likely a fluke. It's one time out of many kills posted. I won't judge that bullet till it has another season on it. But I think it will be a great bullet. And I'm sure I've read on here before of bergers not working once in awhile. I don't think there is any bullet that works 100% of the time in every situation. If nosler partitions were made with a high bc for long range it would be close to perfect to me.
Shep

 

[Elkhunter1983]

I have had the opposite experience with the 156s. Shot an elk at 300 right behind the shoulder. It caused such a shockwave inside the chest there was stomach matter in front of the diaphragm. And this thing was broadside. Its insides were a mess. MV of 3100

 

[Opa-lopa]

IMO, expecting good terminal performance from a non-bonded cup&core bullet is wishful thinking. Go with a bonded bullet made for hunting or a monolithic copper bullet.

 

[JTB]

440 yards. 6.5CM at 2660 MV. AZ course. Entrance on the left side of

the photo ; exit on the right. No movement after the shot. First experience with the 156 EOL was flawless.
Off to Kaibab later this week for another grandson's hunt so must use copper. Going to give the 7mm 177gr Hammer hunters a try.

 

[vancan]

Not very happy with the performance, had a good hit in a whitetail. Didn't seem to be a ton of internal damage. Took out one lung , good shot placement. Ran 200 yards, then piled up. Didn't seem to perform like I wanted it to, will try it again on a doe to hopefully change my opinion.

I took a 180 mule deer last week in Alberta. Used Berger 156 EH that I reloaded myself. MV if 2750. Shot at 172 yds. DRT. First experience and worked excellently for me

 

[Overbore 28]

My 12 year old son used my 26 Nosler loaded with the 156 to take a doe whitetail at 175 laser ranged yards and it was BANG FLOP. Lungs were jelly and the deer never took a step. Muzzle velocity was 3130 fps.

 

[68formalGT]

I've read here and some other threads that some of you are using a small drill bit and checking the hole in the tip, is there a specific size and depth that you are drilling to?