berger bullets!

[BULLBLASTER]

Heres a buck shot at 435 yards with a 215 hybrid. Just behind the shoulder deer dropped after 20 yards stumbling.

I shot a bull elk a few years ago at 70-80 yards with 210 bergers and hit it low by the heart/brisket. It was lightd out amd when i walked up to it i could see the heart amd lungs through a fist sized hole in the brisket.

[b23]

Berger applies a different thought process than does most of those other bullet companies.  Berger is all about creating the biggest wound channel they can so the animal bleeds out as fast as possible.  They care very little about weight retention.  Bergers hunting bullets actually use a slightly thinner jacket than does their target bullets because they want maximum expansion.

If you want a more conventional mushrooming type bullet that retains a lot of its original weight, obviously, Bergers aren't for you but I'm always surprised when people scream Berger bullet failure because they only found pieces of the bullet in the animal they just shot dead.  Does it make them any more dead if you dig the bullet out and it has that perfect mushroom look to it?  I mean, dead is dead, isn't it??

[BULLBLASTER]

Berger applies a different thought process than does most of those other bullet companies.  Berger is all about creating the biggest wound channel they can so the animal bleeds out as fast as possible.  They care very little about weight retention.  Bergers hunting bullets actually use a slightly thinner jacket than does their target bullets because they want maximum expansion.

If you want a more conventional mushrooming type bullet that retains a lot of its original weight, obviously, Bergers aren't for you but I'm always surprised when people scream Berger bullet failure because they only found pieces of the bullet in the animal they just shot dead.  Does it make them any more dead if you dig the bullet out and it has that perfect mushroom look to it?  I mean, dead is dead, isn't it??

[Taco280AI]

Berger hunting VLD.

And it's fine if you want a bullet to spray the organs inside an animal, the only problem is when it hits heavy bone and tissue and doesn't fully penetrate into the chest cavity because it came apart too soon. If all you do are perfect broadside lung shots no big deal, but a lot of the time it doesn't happen that way.

Just wonder how many elk have been hit with Bergers and other target style bullets and never recovered when a better hunting bullet would have put them down. At least the 208 Amax retained 38.5% and the new BT did even better. They fly through the air well too.

[MooseZ25]

I have had great success with Bergers.  The two photos are of my mule deer exit hole at one shot 75 yards.  Bull elk exit holes two shots at 600 yards.  Shot with 338 Rum with 250 VLD.   

[b23]

Berger hunting VLD.

And it's fine if you want a bullet to spray the organs inside an animal, the only problem is when it hits heavy bone and tissue and doesn't fully penetrate into the chest cavity because it came apart too soon. If all you do are perfect broadside lung shots no big deal, but a lot of the time it doesn't happen that way.

Just wonder how many elk have been hit with Bergers and other target style bullets and never recovered when a better hunting bullet would have put them down. At least the 208 Amax retained 38.5% and the new BT did even better. They fly through the air well too.

I understand what you're saying and even though I don't completely agree, I certainly don't completely disagree with you either. 

Your point has merit BUT I think the exact same point could be made with regard to the many different chamberings.  I wonder how many elk have been hit with smaller chamberings and never recovered, when a bigger more powerful round would have put them down.

[kentrek]

I wonder how many elk have been hit with smaller chamberings and never recovered, when a bigger more powerful round would have put them down.

I wonder how many elk have been hit with big chamberings and never recovered that a smaller more accurate chambering  would have produced better results

[MooseZ25]

I wonder how many elk have been hit with smaller chamberings and never recovered, when a bigger more powerful round would have put them down.

I wonder how many elk have been hit with big chamberings and never recovered that a smaller more accurate chambering  would have produced better results

Does the caliber have any effect on the accuracy?  Big BOOM or small BOOM?  Is that the question?

[kentrek]

I wonder how many elk have been hit with smaller chamberings and never recovered, when a bigger more powerful round would have put them down.

I wonder how many elk have been hit with big chamberings and never recovered that a smaller more accurate chambering  would have produced better results

Does the caliber have any effect on the accuracy?  Big BOOM or small BOOM?  Is that the question?

I was referring to the shooter being accurate with a large magnum


Most cartridges are pretty dang accurate by themselves

[MooseZ25]

I wonder how many elk have been hit with smaller chamberings and never recovered, when a bigger more powerful round would have put them down.

I wonder how many elk have been hit with big chamberings and never recovered that a smaller more accurate chambering  would have produced better results

Does the caliber have any effect on the accuracy?  Big BOOM or small BOOM?  Is that the question?

I was referring to the shooter being accurate with a large magnum


Most cartridges are pretty dang accurate by themselves

I totally agree with what you are saying.  Most of the time the bullet, caliber or rifle has nothing to do with lost game. 

[kentrek]

I wonder how many elk have been hit with smaller chamberings and never recovered, when a bigger more powerful round would have put them down.

I wonder how many elk have been hit with big chamberings and never recovered that a smaller more accurate chambering  would have produced better results

Does the caliber have any effect on the accuracy?  Big BOOM or small BOOM?  Is that the question?

I was referring to the shooter being accurate with a large magnum


Most cartridges are pretty dang accurate by themselves

I totally agree with what you are saying.  Most of the time the bullet, caliber or rifle has nothing to do with lost game. 

Exactly 

[b23]

I totally agree with what you are saying.  Most of the time the bullet, caliber or rifle has nothing to do with lost game. 

I 100% agree.  I'm of the belief a well placed shot, trumps, bullet and cartridge nearly every time.  A bad shot is a bad shot, no matter what it was shot from.

[str8meat]

i did a test between 250 gr. bergers and 225 gr. abs out of my 338 rum. both penetrated very well about 14" into compressed newspaper at 100 yards. both have a muzzle velocity of 3000 fps. the biggest difference i witnessed is that the wound channel created by the bergers was a tad bigger than the abs. now weighing in the bullets i pulled out the accubond weighed in at 165 gr which is about 74% retention. berger was a mess at 120 which is 48%.  either load will bring a elk to their knees, but i am just fond of two holes vs one. both are great bullets and i use both in different rifles. berger do wonders on coyotes with little or no exit. saved pelt means money. just my two cents. shoot what your gun like or loves and put it where it belongs and its lights out.
 

[zike]

 

I totally agree with what you are saying.  Most of the time the bullet, caliber or rifle has nothing to do with lost game. 
[/quote]

I disagree I lost an elk from a bullet that failed to penatrate. I think it hit the leg at the shoulder, it knocked him down and off he went. Down to the bottom of a 2000ft canyon and up the other side. He was still alive and limping 3 days later. I now shoot 250gr GS, I shot thru a 2" heavy wall steel tubing out of my 340 Weatherby. I don't think any bone will stop it.

[bobcat]

I used 140 grain Bergers out of my 270 for the first time this year. They worked very well on my bighorn sheep and a couple mule deer in Wyoming. However, I still would not use them on an elk hunt. I'd prefer Nosler Accubonds or Barnes bullets so that in case I did hit a bull in the shoulder there'd be no worries about getting enough penetration.