Berger Hunting Bullets

[pjeffreys]

has anyone here ever hunted with Berger vld bullets and taken any medium to large game with them? how did they do and would you reccommend using them for deer size game? also are they accurate?

[Graybeard]

Yer kidding right? You are asking if Berger bullets are accurate? Dat's kinda like asking if the Pope is a catholic.

I have no experience with them but from the few reports I've read folks seem pleased with their on game performance.

[pjeffreys]

so you wouldn't worry about using them on whitetails? i tried a sierra matchking in 270 on deer and the bullet came apart on impact. i didn't know if these match bullets were any different.

[Tunaman]

I have a couple of buddies that are really into the long range hunting thing and the VLD match is all that they use. They swear by them and even build ther rifles around them. The Matchking is very frangible, not a real good choice for medium game.

[Reed1911]

Sierra Recommends AGAINST using the SMK for hunting. Berger Recommends to use their bullet for hunting. Need anyone say more? If your rifle shoots them accurately you'll do well with them.

[shotgun31]

I shot a nice antelope last week on a hunt in Montana using a 6.5-06 & a 140 grain Berger VLD bullet.  Shot was 240 yards, death was immediate.  Exit was about a 1/2 inch hole on the far side and I couldn't expect anything better.  Buck was laying down when I shot him, bullet hit the bottom of the spine.  I'm going to continue to use the Berger bullet on deer, etc.
Good hunting!
Shotgun. 

[Don Fischer]

I shot a nice antelope last week on a hunt in Montana using a 6.5-06 & a 140 grain Berger VLD bullet.  Shot was 240 yards, death was immediate.  Exit was about a 1/2 inch hole on the far side and I couldn't expect anything better.  Buck was laying down when I shot him, bullet hit the bottom of the spine.  I'm going to continue to use the Berger bullet on deer, etc.
Good hunting!
Shotgun. 

I assume that that 140gr VLD is a very long bullet. What is the twist in your 6.5x06?

[SAWgunner]

I use Bergers in my Varmint rifles, and they are extraordinarily accurate.  I have never used the heavier VLDs, because I have the wrong twist rate for such a long bullet.

[IOWA DON]

This coming January during the antlerless rifle deer season I plan to shoot a few deer with the 105-grain Berger VLD's out of my Thompson-Center TCR with a barrel chambered for the 6mm-06 (photo below). The barrel was made by Bartlien, is 5-groove, and has a 1-in-7.5 twist. Loaded to about 3,300 fps accuracy is good. I watched a video called "How to Shoot Beyond Belief", which highly recommended the Berger VLD's for long range hunting. I also got a CD from Berger on using their VLD's for hunting, and talked with one of their tech guys about it. In addition, I've read a couple articles in magazines where they reported very good results. The consensus was that the VLD's penetrate about 2 inches befor violently fragmenting and therefore energy is not wasted on muscle tissue like shoulders, but is expended on the lungs and internal organs. I read a saw this info before deciding to make up a fast-twist TCR barrel especially for the Berger VLD's. In the past I used Hornaday 120-grain hollow point varmint bullets in a 7mm STW with a slow twist barrel for antelope hunting. I probably shot more than 20 antelope with that load with very good results. I think the slow twist barrel allowed the varmint bullets to penetrate deeper before expanding, than fragment winside the body cavity. There were always exit holes on broadside shots, about 1-1/2 inch diameter, and the antelope almost always dropped esentially in their tracks.

[shotgun31]

Hey, Don!  Missed your question.  Twist in my Bullberry 24" barrel is 1X9. 

Saturday 15th November, I shot a whitetail doe at 250 yards with the Burger 140 VLD.  She was walking away from me, quartering,  going into the cornfield last minute of legal shooting light.  Bullet went into her left armpit, out the right side of brisket.  Entrance 3/8" hole, couldn't find the heart or lungs, when I fleld dressed her;  3" hole on exit.  With that, there was not much meat damage!  That bullet had passed through at least 12" of deer, through the left shoulder joint, broke the collar bone as it exited.  I'd want a side shot on an elk, but that 3" hole would be in the lungs, I think.  What I like about the VLD is that it goes straight through.  No deviation, really no sign of breaking up.  Just a big hole.  Straight through.  Shotgun.       

[Grumulkin]

I've now dispatched 7 big game animals with Berger VLDs.  They were:

1.  Four antelope with a 300 Weatherby Magnum the furtherest being at 292 yards.
2.  Three deer; 2 with a 300 Weatherby Magnum and one with a 25/06 Remington.

I shot the deer with the 25/06 at a range of a bit over 200 yards in the back of its left rear leg (it was angling away from me).  The bullet angled forward toward the right lung and the deer died quickly; that's penetration.

[Savage_99]

I have taken three whitetails with the Berger VLD bullets and I find them superb.  I used the 168 VLD in the 7mm WSM and the 155 VLD in the 308 Win.  I have them as a go to bullet in other rounds as well.

John Barsness says that they are the fastest killing deer game size bullet  that he has seen.

[Totenkopf]

Berger is the only .308 bullet I have ever used on game. Taken deer, elk, moose and bear with them. I play around with 1000 yard shots on the ranch, so it's just the only bullet I have in this caliber.

[IOWA DON]

UPDATE - This is for the 105-grain Berger VLD at a muzzle velocity of about 3,300 fps from a 6MM-06 Thompson Center TCR over the course of the first three days of Iowa's rifle antlerless season. This was between myself and another shooter. (1) Whitetail doe shoulder shot at about 200 yards dropped instantly. (2) Bedded down whitetail doe shoulder shot at 303 yards did a summersalt and died on the spot. (3) Whitetail doe shoulder shot doe at about 75 yards died instantly. (4) Whitetail doe shoulder shot at 131 yards died instantly. (5) Bedded whitetail doe head shot at 335 yards died instantly. (6) Whitetail doe shot at about 275 yards collapsed, ran off and bedded down after 75 yard run. When approached she ran off like she was completely healed up. Probably poor shooting! (7) Whitetail doe shot a little far back at about 400 yards ran 30 yards and stood there hunched up. Upon second shot in shoulder at 407 yards the deer appeared to die immediately.

[pjeffreys]

Iowa Don, could you tell anything about expansion? was there much meat damage and did all the shots pass through?

[IOWA DON]

pjeffreys - I do not gut out the deer as most people do. I pull the skin off one side and remove the rear legs and backstraps, and the shoulders if they are not shot up. I am not seeing whats going on inside the rib cage. I don't know what would happen with a larger caliber, heavier bullet, but with the 6MM-105-grain VLD don't count on the bullet to exit. It appeared that maybe half the time some fragment of a bullet exited with a shoulder or lung shot, but only on a fawn did I see a large (2-inch) exit hole. I spine shot one deer and there was a large hole on the top of its back. I got more deer since the previous posting and with these made an effort to do lung rather than shoulder shots. They did not drop as quick as with shoulder shots. Here goes: ( Doe shot in lungs at 346 yards ran 25 yards and died. (9) Doe shot in lungs at 343 yards ran 50 yards and died. (9) Doe shot in lungs at about 275 yards ran 30 yards and died. (10) Doe shot in lungs at 404 yards ran 60 yards and died. (11) Fawn shot in lungs at about 425 yards ran about 25 yards and died. This time there was a good exit hole. (12) Doe shot in lungs at 376 yards died but I lost track of it and am not sure if it ran or not. (13) Doe shot in spine at about 400 yards (near miss) dropped on the spot and finished off with pistol bullet. ---- My assessment of the Berger VLD 6MM-105-grain bullet for deer is that deer do not go as far as they would go when hit with the Nosler 70-grain Ballistic tip. I more or less limited the range to not over about 300 yards with that bullet, but think that 400 yards is OK with the Berger VLD. Also, I think that shoulder shots are OK with the Berger VLD, but did only lung shots with the Ballistic tips as I thought that penetration would be poor on shoulder shots. After all, the Nolser 70-grain Ballistic tips are varmint bullets. Any deer this season much over 400 yards were shot with a .338-.378 Weatherby with 225-grain Nosler Accubonds and as in previous years there were always exit holes. - DON

[Savage_99]

I read now that Berger is making a hunting VLD and a target VLD.   Someone wrote that the hunting  VLD has a thinner jacket.

http://www.bergerbullets.com/Products/Hunting%20Bullets.html

http://www.bergerbullets.com/Products/Target%20Bullets.html

http://www.bergerbullets.com/Products/Varmint%20Bullets.html

[charles p]

A gunsmith friend of mine made himself a longrange groundhog rife using a .25/STW format.  I took him to my hunt club to shoot some doe.  He shot two with Berger bullets about ten years ago, and neither deer got away but both had to be shot again to put them under.  Maybe he used a bullet of improper construction.

[pjeffreys]

thanks Don. i am loading these in a 7mm RM. i have been playing with seating depth. i was loading them to where i have to actually PUSH the bolt closed. i have backed off that some but I'm still not comfortable with it. how deep or far away from the lands do you seat yours?

[IOWA DON]

pjeffreys - A guy at Berger told me that generally one gets best accuracy with their VLD's seated to touch the lands. For my 6MM-06 the VLD's are seated 0.02-inch from lands, which is about half as far as I usually seat bullets. With a Thompson Center TCR it is best to full length resize because if too much force is required to get the cartridges chambered the action may not completly close and then the firing pin will not drop. I was concerned that difficult chambering would be a problem if the bullet touched the lands. Since this is for hunting I needed reliability over a small gain in accuracy. I don't know if I answered your question before regarding meat damage. I would say that a shot in the shoulder will ruin most of the shoulder meat and I think the VLD bullets tend to fragment rather than just mushroom. The guy at Berger told me their VLD's may not be the bullet of choice if one wants to save deer shoulders. There is a lot more meat on the butts and backstraps than on the shoulders (at least with does), so that was not a concern for me. With lots of deer permits available (antlerless) I end up giving away much more venison than I save for myself. - DON

[doeroller]

  My experience with Bergers is this. Shoot the heaviest hunting vld that your gun is twisted for. If your gun has a short mag box and is marginally twisted for the grain bullet you choose, chances are that accuracy will be disappointing as well as terminal performance on game. Heavy bullets,twisted right are as accurate as you can shoot and terminal performance on game is down right outstanding. I have had the best luck with the 210gr 30 cal and the worst luck with the 180gr 7mm. No fault of the bullet though