Recovered Bullet Photo Gallery

[lancetkenyon]

6.5mm 130 Berger OTM @ 2900fps MV, 454 yds, large mule deer hard quartering away. Entered back of ribs, took out both lungs, stopped under the offside hide in the neck. Deer dropped without even a twitch of an ear. Death ws so fast, zero blood from the mouth, no tongue hanging out, nothing.

 

[BUCKWORKMAN]

Not to dispel the out come of these last two kills, but that match bullet did not stay together as a hunting bullet of the same brand and weight would have. Obviously it all worked , but it could have turned out with a wounded and lost animal. So I myself at an older age and with much more experience have seen the same thing happen with Nosler Ballistics Tips that are not bonded or any thing else. We, my wife of 30 years have killed mule deer and Black Bear in Southern California. Over the last 20 years and have never lost an animal to a bullet that was not designed for big game animals. Please do not take this personal by any means but do understand that the right bullet for the right job is where it is at...….O.K.....Michael T.

 

[Westernhuntr]

I hunted with Bergers and ELDM'S for years, I've taken quite a few elk and deer with these bullets and have seen some really poor terminal performance with these match bullets.
After last season I'm totally done with anything that's not bonded, at least for elk.

I had multiple failures with Berger 215's, and witnessed a 300 grain Berger completely explode on an elk shoulder at 800 yards.
Also saw a 225 eldm blow up at 700 on an elk shoulder.

I could care less about how fast an animal falls when hit perfectly behind the shoulder, not worth the unpredictable performance or total lack of penetration when heavy muscle or bone is hit.

 

[LongBomber]

Short range hunting, cause it just happens that way sometimes.
225ttsx from a 33N into a black bear at 37 yards. Muzzle velocity is 2850, so about 2790fps impact speed. Bear was 1/4ing away, bullet hit the last on-side rib, and was found under the skin just infront of the offside shoulder. Went through a couple feet of bear.

 

[Ingwe]

I hunted with Bergers and ELDM'S for years, I've taken quite a few elk and deer with these bullets and have seen some really poor terminal performance with these match bullets.
After last season I'm totally done with anything that's not bonded, at least for elk.

I had multiple failures with Berger 215's, and witnessed a 300 grain Berger completely explode on an elk shoulder at 800 yards.
Also saw a 225 eldm blow up at 700 on an elk shoulder.

I could care less about how fast an animal falls when hit perfectly behind the shoulder, not worth the unpredictable performance or total lack of penetration when heavy muscle or bone is hit.

I totally agree with you.

You are about to be slammed by the Berger crew on how you must be wrong on what you experienced

PS I don't use target Bullets on big game either

 

[aushunter1]

Interesting seeing the way different brands spread & how much they retain.
The rifling marks also cool to look at.

130gr .277 SST retrieved from a small/medium sized fallow.

Was found on the other side just under the hide.

You can still make out some of what looks like the cannelure.

 

[Westernhuntr]

You are about to be slammed by the Berger crew on how you must be wrong on what you experienced

PS I don't use target Bullets on big game either

Yep
I've been slammed by those guys on multiple forms already..
If there's one thing the Berger cult hates it's an ex Berger cultist

 

[Riflehunter1776]

Yep
I've been slammed by those guys on multiple forms already..
If there's one thing the Berger cult hates it's an ex Berger cultist

the Nosler supporters are just as bad.

 

[Riflehunter1776]

7mm 120gr and 270 130 gr barnes recovered from whitetail. Only one other barnes was ever recovered from 50+ deer shot with that bullet. the rest exited.

I also have a Nosler soft point 30 150gr recovered from my first deer, but since they are long out of production, it's performance is irrelevant. All other Noslers ended up in tiny pieces out of many deer shot - the rest exploded; one accubond exited.

 

[Ingwe]

the Nosler supporters are just as bad.

Not even close!

 

[North Idaho Hunter]

7mm, 175 grain ELD-X, dug out of a bull elk. 512 yards.

7mm, 175 eldx, pulled out of another bull elk. Range - 98 yards.

243 - 90 grain accubond. Impact velocity over 3100 FPS. Whitetail, 18 yards. Smashed through the thick lower shoulder bone and ended up behind offside shoulder.

 

[wv270wsm]

This is what was left of a 150 gr Sierra game king from a 30/30. We recovered from a bear that was shot at inches not feet or yards inches. Dogs had him bayed up on ground fighting him . My buddy put the barrel against his head and shot when there wasn't a dog getting chewed on . Shot went in it's left eye traveled through the head and went lengthways down the neck just against its right shoulder. Bear was dead instantaneous. Bear ended up weighing 160 live weight
I've seen sierras come separated before but they seem to work

 

[Deleted member 107796]

Yep
I've been slammed by those guys on multiple forms already..
If there's one thing the Berger cult hates it's an ex Berger cultist

You'll always have some emotional fans out there that haven't realized that we can learn something new every day, so not to worry. I think this thread shows many valid results that cannot be disregarded, even if we choose to go one way or the other. I see some bullets here, that are specified for hunting and yet have retained very little mass. I see some match bullets retain more than I thought they would.

I could care less about how fast an animal falls when hit perfectly behind the shoulder, not worth the unpredictable performance or total lack of penetration when heavy muscle or bone is hit.

For elk, this sums it up for me. When I shot an elk with 175gn Booger from my 300wsm, square in the shoulder at 130 yards , it did the job perfectly.

 

[Westernhuntr]

View attachment 168450

7mm, 175 grain ELD-X, dug out of a bull elk. 512 yards.



View attachment 168452
View attachment 168453

7mm, 175 eldx, pulled out of another bull elk. Range - 98 yards.

View attachment 168454

View attachment 168455
243 - 90 grain accubond. Impact velocity over 3100 FPS. Whitetail, 18 yards. Smashed through the thick lower shoulder bone and ended up behind offside shoulder.

Glad to see the ELDX held together so well.
I might just try the 270 ELDX in my 338 NM, I've been a little hesitant to try them after my buddy shot a bull in the shoulder with a 143 ELDX from his creed.
That bullet blew apart and only penetrated about 3-4"