Bullet experences requested, Help me understand the Berger for big game

[Karl Blanchard]

That is Dioni.  He is a close friend and hunting partner.  I've seen those bullets first hand.  As someone else previously stated, they did have an issue with some clogged tips a half decade back or whatever.  Those bullets were all from the same box.

[Bob33]

It’s tough to say that a bullet failed when a dead animal is retrieved. It’s also tough to say that a bullet failed when an animal isn’t retrieved, because the shot placement may have been poor.

I’ve not used Bergers and probably never will. They appear to have a fair number of fans and detractors. I suspect that’s true of most bullets.

I’ve personally had good experience with Barnes TSX and TTSX bullets. The current count is 53 dead animals recovered, with none lost or followed for an unreasonable distance.

[Karl Blanchard]

I've seen a lot of death over the years and in my experience, almost 100% of the time, the perfect shot ended up not being so perfect.  It was "right in the pocket" but ended up being low brisket, or too far back etc.  I had one this year during archery on my bull.  I'd of bet every penny in my savings account that it was a double lung.  Turns out it was too low and the arrow only got one lung.  Verified by dissection.

I switched to berger not because of other bullets shortcomings but do to all the spectacular kills I observed while helping others on hunts.  From point blank to WAY out there, they have been flawless in my observations. 

In the end, shoot what you want because nobody cares except you.  Just dont publicly discredit a company and their product if you haven't done your due diligence to confirm that it did in fact fail

[Jonathan_S]

There is a large amount of "perfect" shots that turn out to be marginal

[Curly]

40 yards, broadside with a rest. Entrance and exit hole the same size, behind the shoulder in between ribs. Had to be smack middle of lungs, but with zero expansion. 

I don't see telling of a bad performance of a bullet as bashing a company.  If someone has a bad experience and doesn't want to use said bullets, they are free to do so and tell people about it if they wish.

[bobcat]

Thankfully hunting/shooting, and writing about it isn't my job, so due diligence isn't my concern. I found that statement quite humorous. 🙂

I like experimenting with lots of different bullets. I'm done with Bergers for now. For future hunts I've got Accubonds for my 270 Win., 200 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips and 185 grain Barnes TSX for my 338 Win. Mag., 178 grain Hornady ELD-X for the Weatherby 30/06.

I've also got a bunch of .308 Partitions (150 grain) and some .308 Sierra's (also 150 grain) to try in my Husqvarna 30/06.

I really do like the copper bullets though and if I had more time to work up loads I'd likely use nothing but Nosler E Tips and Barnes ttsx. The issue I've had is that it generally takes longer to find an accurate load with these bullets.

And speaking of accuracy, boy those ELD-X bullets REALLY have some potential. I've only loaded up a few so far but they are one of the most accurate bullets I've ever tried.

[Karl Blanchard]

Gosh I dont seem to see where I was refer to you bobcat

[bobcat]

Maybe you werent. No worries.

[Karl Blanchard]

Maybe you werent. No worries.

it wasnt.  It was a general observation I've made over the years.  Most "failures" were not in fact failures.  Of course it happens but more often then not its operator error.  And many folks wont follow up enough to determine what happened.

[carpsniperg2]

@carp, once again I've had very different results with the eldx.  I've gotten jacket/core separation on every single animal I've shot with the eldx.  Lot of copper jackets somewhere around here.  I personally dont care as like Mray stated, I want my bullet to get in there and really make a mess of things.  I like my vitals scrambled

Its unreal that you can find the eldx bullet in every animal you shoot. I have not found one "from tiny black buck to elk and aoudad" in the dozens I have put into critters, amazing how much results very.

I agree making a mess inside is what we all want but the bullet has to get in there to do so. The bergers I have hit heavy bone with at close range did not get in and make a mess.

I respect your opinions as there is only a handful of guys shooting the amount of animals you and myself shoot each year. I have 5 this year and with some luck 8-9 will fall. 7 a year being my avg big game for the year. Plus the amounts of people you help and the people I help and guide. We see a lot of animal killed each year. However see very different results.

[carpsniperg2]

I also would not call all of the berger issues I have seen and experienced failures. Bergers are flat not meant to be shot at close range high velocity into heavy bone and hold together. That is not there design and asking a bullet to do that, when it was not meant to isn't really a failure. Sure some will still do it and bullet weight and speed etc will play into those factors.

[Karl Blanchard]

I have not found any in tact bullets only jackets with the core or some combination of the two.  @Bullblaster helped me break down a Wyoming buck last year that stood there and soaked up 3 212gr out of my wsm.  We found 2 of the 3 jackets.

[Magnum_Willys]

I have not found any in tact bullets only jackets with the core or some combination of the two.  @Bullblaster helped me break down a Wyoming buck last year that stood there and soaked up 3 212gr out of my wsm.  We found 2 of the 3 jackets.

What range? 

[BULLBLASTER]

I have not found any in tact bullets only jackets with the core or some combination of the two.  @Bullblaster helped me break down a Wyoming buck last year that stood there and soaked up 3 212gr out of my wsm.  We found 2 of the 3 jackets.

What range?

If I remember correctly it was around 300-340 yards or so.

[hunter399]

ACCUBONDS
Thats all I'm say in.