Berger bullet failures?

Funny we all know someone like that.... or you could be my grandfather who just keeps every brand and grain in his pocket. . Needless to say , we limit him to the 50 yard shots with us backing him up lol.

Yup, he learned that from his grandpa.

Thread derailed a bit, sorry - carry on. Good chuckle anyway.
 
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I am glad you commented todbartell, you are another person in northern BC that shoots a pile of game. It just not worth the risk, in order to obtain a bc of +.600. do you think that the 160 accubond will hold up to a 28 nosler velocity ?

@ 3200ish FPS muzzle velocity - I don''t think they will nuke, but they will be stressed. Nosler claims unlimited impact speed

OMG people. Lets try again. He wants to use bergers. He sights in for bergers. If he gets a close shot like 100 that he is worried about the bullet grenading he uses the partition and misses by a few inches.

But again. Disregard.

I plan on doing this in my 280 Ackley. Rifle will be dialed in for 162gr ELD-X, but when hunting elk in the timber I'll be hunting with either 160gr Accubonds or 150gr Sciroccos. Most of my hunting shots are inside 75 yards so POI won't be an issue
 
175 grain eld-x s work great out of a 28 nosler . Ive had them perform great from 100 yards to just over 500 yards on game, made quick work of my bull elk this year at 462 yards. I built a second 28 nosler just to shoot 195 grain bergers out of, so not sure how they will perform yet, but if you are in doubt try the 175 grain eld-x
 
The 168 exploded into confetti at 600 yards on an elks ribs out of a .300RUM In a 130gr /.270 I recovered 10gr of the boat tail the rest peppered the meat like sand at 50 yards.
 
I say shoot the Berger. I wish they cost a bit less but they work good on game. I have shot deer from 30 yds to 734 yds with various calibers, all with bergers. Never lost a single animal. Elk this year at 625 yds with the 215 gr Berger. Hit him lower in the point of the shoulder/brisket, was quartering towards me. I don't know if I would of found that bull if I was shooting a different bullet. HE only went 30-40 yds. Went on a south Texas deer hunt this past January and brought my two 6.5X47's. One shoots the 130 Berger hunting at just under 3000 fps, other gun shoots the 130 gr AccuBond at 2900 fps. Both bullets performed exceptionally well and we never recovered a single bullet. The Berger and AccuBond on shots varying from 80 to 300 yds always had a exit wound. I will say that both bullets were far more destructive than I expected. Lots of good bullets out there these days, so I say pick one that you feel will work the best for you. Also there has been numerous reports of the ELD-X being explosive at close range. I don't have any experience with them but plan on trying the 180 ELD-M in a 7 Dakota and the 162 ELD-X in my 280AI. Edit: A total of 10 deer and one feral hog were taken on the Texas trip.
 
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OMG people. Lets try again. He wants to use bergers. He sights in for bergers. If he gets a close shot like 100 that he is worried about the bullet grenading he uses the partition and misses by a few inches.

But again. Disregard.

Why not just use one bullet that works? There are several that will do both jobs very well, so such fiddling seems quite silly for whatever tiny "advantages" you think you will get. To deliberately load up a bullet you don't trust in some situations makes no sense to me.
 
If 2" off POI at 100 makes no difference, then surely a 2" difference in drop at long range won't either, so why use them in the first place?

The op feels the bergers work great at long range broad side shots. I assume he means terminal performance. He has concerns about bad angle shots at close range where the bergers terminal performance will not be so good. Or maybe I totally missed the point.
 
The op feels the bergers work great at long range broad side shots. I assume he means terminal performance. He has concerns about bad angle shots at close range where the bergers terminal performance will not be so good. Or maybe I totally missed the point.

I think that past 400 yards on a broadside shot they work good(terminal performance) from what I have seen. But after a few comments, I think I will pas on the bergers and stick to other tougher bullets.
 
I think that past 400 yards on a broadside shot they work good(terminal performance) from what I have seen. But after a few comments, I think I will pas on the bergers and stick to other tougher bullets.

I think thats probably wise. My idea was just intended to fix your close range issue. Certainly not a perfect solution.
 
I have sectioned some Berger bullets, Target types, so-called hunting versions, and a hybrid.
What I see makes me relegate Bergers to what they really were originally designed for:
Being a wonderfully accurate, sleek, match bullet, punching holes in paper and ringing gongs. Dave.
 
There are also the accubond long range which I found shoot very well.
Haven't taken any game yet, but reports indicate they are a little softer then the traditional AB pills and may shed more weight but not anywhere near a cup/core.
 
There are also the accubond long range which I found shoot very well.
Haven't taken any game yet, but reports indicate they are a little softer then the traditional AB pills and may shed more weight but not anywhere near a cup/core.

Good sir, that Is what I thought as well. Trust me when I say, close range they are only marginally better than a berger.. I almost lost an elk a few years ago out of a 7mm mag, because the 168 grain ABLR disintegrated on the front should of a bull elk..... The good ol game king is far tougher than a ALBR.
 
I was very taken by this thread (minus the hi-jackers), since I'm trying to work up a .308 deer load with the 155 gr. Bergers. Out of my Mossberg Patriot, they perform beautifully and group at MOA, but I've never taken game with one as yet. Like every ethical hunter, I'm concerned with knock-down capability. Almost everything I've taken over these many years have been heart/lung shots and one shot clean kills. I'd like to keep that as a personal standard.
 
Plain old Hornady .264 140gr IL

Hornady140gr-SP.jpg


Berger .264 140gr VLD Hunting

Berger-140gr-VLD-Htr.jpg


Enough said......
 
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I have never had a berger failure and shot a pile of game with them, from a 25-06 up to 338RUM
Everything died.
Distances from 50yards to 450yards, good and bad angles.
I have however had failures to expand on swift sirocco11 in my 257bee, ttsx in my 280ai.
Maybe it is just me, but stuff I have shot with Berger bullets has died, with more or less the same damage as any other bullet I have shot, the only difference was that the game went down like a freight train hit them.
That's what I like about them, they kill stuff. I have chased game all over hell's half acre with other bullets, and never tracked one with Bergers.
Not saying that they are the best but I have yet to have one fail.
Over 50 animals and counting.
 
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