2009 moose and Berger real world results

I believe it is in the Nosler manual(not 100% sure) where the author is shooting a 300WM and he notes that he had to put multiple shots into the animal(moose) to drop it.Upon his inspection he found that the bullets where fragmenting too soon due to velocity, thus not penetrating deep enough for an effective kill on the vitals. So yes, speed and weight do not necessarily equal penetration and kills. All depends where the energy goes and how it is transferred. IMO a bonded or partitioned quality bullet is the way to go,it is all about on game performance.Like previously stated, a hollow tipped bullet MAY kill the animal, but at what risk? I do not shoot large calibers or magnums, but have found by using the correct projectile there isn't much most calibers cannot handle.

also, after seeing the pics above. I recovered bonded bullets i have shot into sand piles , 140 grain bullet weighted in at 116 grain.That impressed me.
 
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Bullet construction not velocity is what penetration is based on.

Example if you had a huge target box full of feathers and shoot it with a fmj round at high velocity the bullet would penetrate further than a slower fmj round, but if you change to a varmit round like a v-max the faster velocity would blow the bullet to pieces and the slower charge would penetrate further, slower v.s faster really has nothing to do with the penetration, bullet constuction does.
 
Northman999 said:
Just digging through some hunting regs and paperwork at home and found an envelope with the recovered part of my bullet from last year.

This was, by far, the largest recovered part, and it is quite small. I believe it is the base of the bullet and some small amount of forward material. There is a little lead there, but it is mostly jacket.




Retained weight is 26.4gr (started life as a 210gr Berger VLD of course).

Muzzle velocity was 2645 fps, and impact velocity calculated at 2513 fps using Norma Ballistics software.

For those who firmly hold the opinion that bullets should stay together and hold as much retained weight as possible, this would be further evidence that they should stay away from Berger bullets.

For those looking for explosive damage in a relatively shallow wound, with very little chance of any exit wound, this should be further evidence that these bullets perform as edvertised.
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Less than 13% weight retention, not much of an advertising campaign for Berger. I would expect the same or better with any given bullet on the market, including dedicated match HP's with paper thin jackets.

Evidently if they recommend 210 gr. for 30/06 and 308, they're well aware of how dismal the performance of their hunting line of bullets is at closer ranges, or should I say at ethical ranges. I'd imagine you wouldn't recover more than a sliver had the bullet been in the 165-180 grain range.
 
bearkilr said:
Less than 13% weight retention, not much of an advertising campaign for Berger. I would expect the same or better with any given bullet on the market, including dedicated match HP's with paper thin jackets.

Evidently if they recommend 210 gr. for 30/06 and 308, they're well aware of how dismal the performance of their hunting line of bullets is at closer ranges, or should I say at ethical ranges. I'd imagine you wouldn't recover more than a sliver had the bullet been in the 165-180 grain range.
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You're probably right.

Personally, I am okay using the 210 at 308/30-06 velocities, as I know what I am dealing with in terms of bullet performance (so I can shoot accordingly), and since they shoot great.

I am certainly not loading them in my 300 win mag however.
 
Seems to me that the Berger bullets were being used on long range animals a few years back were the target VLD's, and they worked well according to those that shot them because of the heavier jacket.
Now the jacket is thinner in their "hunting bullets". I might be inclined to try out the supposed target bullet, if I wanted to shoot a berger on an animal. FS
 
The "hunting" VLD is actually the old "target" VLD. The old "target" bullet was found to fall apart at higher velocities. Berger put a thicker jacket into the new target bullets. They do not recomend the new target bullet on game as they may just pencil through with no expansion.
 
4 of us used Bergers last year in three calibers. Two had great results, two would be quite content to see Berger shove them up their anal orfice. Two had lightning kills and a few exits. Another shot a couple deer to rag-dolls before they quit getting up. Mine was a 440 yard shot with a 190 VLD in a .300 Win Mag, 3050 Muzzle velocity. It hit a piece of shoulder meat, and blew up against the ribs. The deer went down, but when my son and I got up to it it was standing. He cracked it with his .257 Weatherby and 100 grain ballistic tips at 30 yards or so, and it piled up. That little bullet made it to the far side, even with 3550 fps muzzle velocity.

I sectioned some 190 grain .308 Target and Hunting bullets and posted the pictures last year. There isn't one bit of difference between them. Zero, nada.
You can't swing a dead cat in a gunstore without knocking over better BG hunting bullets than a Berger. 'Course, I don't have a TV show.
 
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