berger bullets!

[longrangekiller]

ok so i decided the change up my load in my 7mm rem mag and switched from 160gr accubonds to 168 gr berger classic hunters. so all summer i was trying to perfect a load i finally got one shooting 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards moving at 2950fps. i figured thats not to bad. so i loaded up a handfull and went deer hunting hahaha well i got a shot off on a buck just a little 3x2 and nailed him in upper front shoulder at 50 yards. he took off and picked his leg up for about 30 yards then went in the timber so i snuck around and got back on him not less then 5min later see him just eating along with the doe like nothing ever happend. i couldnt get a clear shot and he took off again he was running and jumping perfectly fine not even a little limp to him at all. i had 3 people looking through binos with me and all said i hit him a little high in the shoulder but still should of hit vitals. my question is has anyone had any problems with penetration with the berger bullets? i know if i was shooting my trusty nosler accubonds it would have been buck down!

[lokidog]

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,161988.msg2137409.html#msg2137409

I think I remember this thread talking about your topic.  Is it possible there was a second buck that looked very similar to the one you hit?

[BULLBLASTER]

If you hit a buck in the vitals with either it would have been dead. Im guessing like lokidog or a miss. Did you fi d any blood at any spot?

[Jellymon]

Something like that happened to me muzzleloading this year. Shot at around 40yds and the buck stumbled and ran off. Looked and couldn't find him. No way I could have missed.  Found him the next day feeding and ended up shooting him. Looked for a wound or graze from the previous day and nothing. Looks like I just had buck fever.
Those bergers are known to do a lot of damage and drop animals, I've never heard of a failure. There is video of guys dropping elk at 500yds with them, so I don't think penetration is an issue. If you actually did hit slightly high in the shoulder that's the scapula that will drop a deer nine times out of ten, and if it doesn't it will die quickly. I wasn't there though so just adding    I do love the accubonds though, very easy to get accurate loads and perform well. While trying bergers they were very finnicky with seating depth in my gun, so I stopped using them.

[Taco280AI]

I'll take bullets like Accubonds and TTSXs that are proven to penetrate through thick tissue and bone over target style "hunting" bullets every time.

[dye7barrel]

I shot a bedded cow at 250 yards through the front shoulder with a 140 Berger moving 3000 fps out of a 280 Rem. She stood up for a second then fell over dead.

A bullet cannot do its job if not properly placed.

[longrangekiller]

no it was the same buck for sure he was pretty unique with a webbed 3 on one side. it was a for sure hit in the upper shoulder. there was even a little poof of hair when i shot and one tiny tiny drop of blood was all i seen i hunted the same area for 3 days after and never seen him or the spike and doe he was with again.  there is alot of long range videos of the bergers being used but 99% of them are spine shots it seems like. i just figured i would try them because of the high BC and alot of people talking highly of them, i was just curios if anyone else has had this happen to them? but none the less there already pulled and loaded with 160gr accubonds back to my original load for late season hahaha 

[huntandjeep]

The 168 Bergers are all that me and friends use in our 7mm's. None of us have had a problem with them. ( p.m. me if you want to sell them  )

[carpsniperg2]

I have been finding that the bergers at a high rate of speed at close ranges do not kill very well. They work better at extended distances. I also favor bullets like the accubond.

[coachcw]

I shot my ram hi shoulder at 300 yards with a 140 berger and flat knocked the piss outta him . my guess is you hit him hi behind the shoulder and under the spine . and the bullet just blew right through . I know that a tsx at high speeds will blow right through and cause minimal damage , accubonds and ssts are great all around bullets too. if that berger would have hit him in the shoulder it would have knocked him down with catastrophic damage 

[high country]

A friend shot a bull in tthe lungs. .....except it took a trip through the leg bone on the way in. He watched the hit and saw the bull act seriously hurt. He didn't die. He moved well. later that week his fil killed the bull he hit. The bullet, a 30 cal 210gr berger popped on the leg and bruised the hell out of the bull, but it walked away with a broken leg only.

He took another bull with the load and it was drt. These are very frangible bullets and work awesome if you are 100% accurate,  but leave very little room for error.

My guess is confidence got in the way of accuracy just enough to let the deer walk.

[wastickslinger]

  good move on the switch back.

Seems that high speed and close distance equals splatter for any target bullet. I have also seen the same thing on a close coyote with .204 cranking 4400 fps with a 40 Vmax- fur flys and the bullet turn to powder.

[jdb]

I do not trust a bulletin that's designed to come apart

[2labs]

good move on the switch back.

Seems that high speed and close distance equals splatter for any target bullet. I have also seen the same thing on a close coyote with .204 cranking 4400 fps with a 40 Vmax- fur flys and the bullet turn to powder.

How do you get 4400fps out of a 40 gr. vmax?

[Taco280AI]

...accubonds and ssts are great all around bullets too...

Accubonds and SSTs aren't even remotely close. They both fly through the air, but on impact they are worlds apart.