Big News from Berger Bullets

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Eric Stecker

Industry Expert
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Location
California
When I returned to Berger in 2004, I was able to spend more time communicating directly with shooters through emails, phone calls and these forums. I believe strongly that it is from these interactions that we gain a better understanding of what rifle shooters need to be successful. I also understand that there are many shooters who need technical assistance.

Thanks to your support, Berger has been blessed with significant growth. Lately, the challenges that go along with growth while staying focused on quality have pulled me away from the phone, emails and forums. For some time, I have been working on resolving this shortcoming. Our announcement today is the final piece in our solution to this challenge.

It is with great pleasure that I announce the addition of Kevin Thomas to the Berger Bullets team as our E-Technical Consultant. Kevin spent the last 15 years as Sierra’s Chief Ballistician. Prior to becoming Sierra's Chief Ballistician, Kevin spent 6 years moving from Sierra's production floor to their ballistics lab. Kevin will use his extensive shooting knowledge to help folks get the most out of their rifle shooting experience.

Kevin’s addition to Berger puts into place the final piece of our customer service solution. Below is a list of Berger Bullets’ resources that shooters can go to get the answers they need.

Technical Support by Phone – 714-447-5458
Berger has partnered with Sinclair International to provide extensive phone coverage by active and knowledgeable shooters. Led by Bill Gravatt, Sinclair is a highly-respected and legitimate source for technical assistance (among other things).

Loading Data and Technical Assistance from Walt Berger – bergerltd@aol.com
Founder and member of the Benchrest Hall of Fame, Walt Berger’s extensive shooting experience is a tremendous resource for those who need help. Over the last several years, Walt has been working on our loading manual. This work has generated loading data specific to Berger Bullets in most popular cartridges.

Loading Data and Technical Assistance from Kevin Thomas – kevin.thomas@bergerbullets.com (email is not active yet)
Kevin spent two decades shooting in Sierra’s test facility every day and working with major ammo producers on several projects. Additionally, he is an experienced, active and successful competitive target shooter. He will soon be available for those who need shooting related assistance.

External Ballistic Assistance from Bryan Litz – bryan.litz@bergerbullets.com
Bryan’s reputation as a top external ballistics mind is well known. Equally recognized is his success as a competitive target shooter. Bryan is available for those who need to address advanced external ballistics concerns.

Both Kevin Thomas and Bryan Litz will actively engage the forums as we strongly believe that forums are a valuable resource for all shooters (us included).

All of the people listed above are active rifle shooters and are committed to your success. These folks can provide an even greater level of shooting-related technical assistance than I. For this reason, you will see less of me as I focus my attention on the production floor (which is my strength). I will not be disconnected or unavailable, but I will rely heavily on this “dream team” of technical experts to provide you with the information you need to get back to the range or into the field.

Regards,
Eric
 
I didn't find pricing all that bad for the type and quality of bullets. We are not talking Remington, or Winchester bulk bullets here and if you want quality components your going to pay for it.
 
Their prices are fair, I think. They have also given me great service in terms of answering my questions via email, regarding reloading data.

Personally I'd like to see them come out with a line of dedicated hunting bullets designed for deep penetration and controlled expansion, along with a high BC. If they could cross their 30 cal 190gr VLD Match with a Failsafe, and moly coat the thing, well, they'd have a winner there for sure!
 
Eric, that is quite the line up. Congrats.

In a way, Berger has come up with that type of bullet.

Many of their bullets now have two jacket styles. One thick and one reg. J4.

In general, Berger recommends the reg. J4 jacket for both hunting and match shooting. Essentially, you have the equivalent to a soft point cup bullet like a Hornady or Sierra but the ballistics and accuracy of a Berger. (Eric correct me if I am wrong).

The heavier bullet should work more like a premium controlled expansion bullet(again, Eric correct me if I am wrong).

At higher impact velocities, this heavier jacket should expand less, penetrate more.

From what I have discussed, bullets with either jacket style still maintain the high BC and quality of a true match bullet. In fact, they are the same profile.

I hope that I am getting this correct but looks like you can have the best of both worlds.

Let me know if I can help you with your BERGER bullet needs.

Jerry
 
Wow... Amazing to see a shooting related company drastically increase their customer support resources. Kudos.

Perhaps I'll have to try some Bergers.
 
Bergers

I just went out and bought a couple of boxes of these bullets. I bought a box of 140gr in 6.5 to try out in my new Steyr 6.5x55. I also got a box of the 25 cal in 115gr to try out in my Sako Varmint in 25-06. I have read a lot about the qualities of these bullets and thought I would give them a try. FS
 
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Great service! This is the first time I've seen a message direct from a manufacturer representative to our forum. Nice effort with the news of value added resources - well done. Thanks for providing the contact information and reaching into our Canadian shooting community.

I haven't tried Berger bullets yet and now certainly will. SD

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To Jerry's Points,

You are partially correct. Our line has been split into seperate Hunting and Target lines. The Hunting bullets are the same bullets we have been making for years. These are the bullets that penetrate 2" to 3" and then shed 40% to 85% of their weight as shrapnel (depending on impact velocity) and it dumps most if not all of its energy inside the vital area of the game (depending on impact velocity and the size of the animal) putting it down quickly.

This may not be what all hunters are looking for but it is a highly successful alternative to high weight retaining deep penetrating bullets than pass through game leaving many animals to be tracked.

The Target line consists of bullets that are made with thicker jackets. During target competitons there were some instances where bullets failed to make it to the target (blew up).

After years of work we sorted out that this was caused by the core melting from heat caused by high friction situations between the bearing surface and the rifling. There are several factors involved in causing failures but the thicker jackets make the bullets capable of sustaining higher levels of friction.

These bullets are meant for competition target shooters. When we tested these bullets in media they did not act in the same manner as the regular jacket bullets (Hunting line). Because we believe the way the standard jacket bullets work is a successful, consistent and predictable result we did not pursue any testing on game.

Frankly, we are not sure how the Target bullets will perform on game. They are not made like the deep penetrating, high weight retaining bullets so it is unlikely that they will act enough like these bullets to satisfy those who desire this result. At the same time they are different than the bullets in the Hunting line which are proven performers on game.

Willy 1,

We are working hard on our 338 cal bullets. There will be two weights which will be 250 gr and 300 gr. Each weight will be available in three different shapes. These shapes will be a standard tangent ogive with a BT, a VLD and a hybrid which will be a mixture of both.

THe tooling is completed but we need to build a machine with a longer stroke. This is happening now. The machine should be assembled this summer but the debugging process is impossible to schedule.

Regards,
Eric
 
rivetc78 said:
Wow, great news... Now how about lowering your outrageous pricing.
Click to expand...

How 'bout you keep shooting discount, and we'll keep paying $40/100 for quality bullets. You can't drive a Hemi with a Honda gas tank.

Fassteel said:
I just went out and bought a couple of boxes of these bullets. I bought a box of 140gr in 6.5 to try out in my new Steyr 6.5x55. I also got a box of the 25 cal in 115gr to try out in my Sako Varmint in 25-06. I have read a lot about the qualities of these bullets and thought I would give them a try. FS
Click to expand...

I love the 130gr VLD's in my 6.5x47.
 
Ben,

If you read the original post you will see that Sierra's former Chief Ballistician has joined Berger Bullets. He will use his extensive experience in providing assistance to all those who need it.

This move completes a team of technical support people whose combined experience and personal shooting success puts them head and shoulder above any other shooters support group. It will also allow me to focus on getting more bullets made while keeping our high level of quality.

All,

To add to the news I am pleased to announce that Kevin's email has been activated. If you have any questions you can reach him at kevin.thomas@bergerbullets.com.

Regards,
Eric
 
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