7mm Berger VLD Hunting ?

[WhelanLad]

Howdy i posted on FB about wanting some once fired 7 rem mag brass, i got some an the fella mentioned he will throw in a new box of berger vld hunting 7mm projies.
a nice gesture , i offered to pay freight an a six pack of beer of his choice

anyway , since dabbling with the 7rem mag in these more specialty bullets moreso than any other cartridge, being skeptical with even a SST at first, an looking like a ELDX is a good choice, of course i want to load and use these VLDs, so i wondered, what people on CGN new about them (searching forum also as i type this) for threads.

im going to assume these are 168gr? whats the Go for them on deer sized animals?

i personally heard alot of neg about them, esp close, is it one of those way further out the better (hang onto until im reaching 500m more often than not) ?

i want them for Sambar / Elk / Mule sized game, but could be option of using as a Fallow deer projie in future for the Rut etc.?

 

[WhelanLad]

searchings possibly answered this one... il put them in the back of the pile for a while...

Fallow deer sounds like perfect medicine for them, even if up close, as a fairly small animal

 

[coleman1495]

Well Berger makes a few different VLD 7mm bullets. Theres 140,168 an 180. I’ve only got experience with the 140gn on deer. They are very accurate and easy to load for. In terms of terminal performance thats a matter of great debate. On a deer I found that they are very effective in dropping the animal quickly. They did make a bit of a mess though. There is a lot of bloodshot liquified meat and lead fragments everywhere.

 

[Dogleg]

I’ve used any number of 7mm 180 VLDs in the 7-300 win, enough that the accumulated culling damage has the barrel teetering on its last legs for long range. A lesser amount have gone though my STWs, but its a common combo in our tight group of ungulate slayers. The results are simply devastating on muke/big whities / red deer, and can blow a NZ goat or fallow wide open if you hit them a bit far back. They also survive my close range test of using them as a dispatch load on foot-snared bears. They turn them off like a light and leave a clean skinning carcass.

Having said all that, there are simpler ways of killing typically close range animals than bullets that have as their best feature that they will maintain huge wound channels through fragmentation when bullets that only expand have lost their luster.

One of the simple ways is standard factory ammo. Those manufaturers arent as dumb as they look

 

[cam1936]

I have used 140 grain out of a 7mm08 on a moose, a deer and an antelope. They break up easy, they usually result in a dramatic bang flop and meat damage. They work so long as you don't try and punch through the shoulder of a moose or something of that nature.

 

[WhelanLad]

thanks for the hands on experiences there fellas, i got a good picture of them, made up my mind to utilise for fallow deer or the like when oppertunity arise!

im hopin they are 168 gr lol