Berger Bullets

[luvdemcoues]

I have been shooting 140 grain Nosler Accubonds from my 270 WSM and am not getting very good groups with them. I have been researching the Berger bullets. I am thinking about working up a load with the Bergers. Has anybody tried them in this caliber? Any experience with these in hunting applications? If so, how did they perform?

Thanks, Josh

[.270]

i've reloaded some for my kid's .264. he couldn't get them to hit real well, but his rifle needs a quicker twist to shoot the weight he wanted to use. from what i've read, they're real twist sensitive, but that shouldn't be a problem in .277 cal. you can't argue with the results that others have with them tho. if you get them loaded right i'm sure they'll shoot. a lot of the time when you don't get the accuracy you hoped for with a bullet, the bullet may not be the problem. at least not the whole problem. powder, load, primer, and the ever important overall length can have as much or more to do with it than the bullet. always make sure the bullet is real close to the lands. if you're shooting factory loads, that's hard to do. i'm sure that berger's will work well, but the accubonds should also. just need the right set up. Lark.

[Coues 'n' Sheep]

As Lark mentioned, if you can get them to shoot for you.... we found that once you find the right load for your gun theyy shoot really well... I tested several bullets and got best results in my rifle with the Bergers and a fairly low end powder charge... and good speed.

 

Once you have the accuracy..... as a hunting bullet, I only have 2 words..... Show Stopper! You should not ever lose game with this bullet.... and it does not waste large amounts of meat either...

 

Good luck.

[WHT_MTNMAN]

Josh I shoot them out of my .300. Very accurate in my rifle and can make a huge hole in coues sized animals but stops everything quick.

 

BTW I'm shooting 210 gr at 3100fps, I got better groups when I backed it down a bit.

[luvdemcoues]

I am just starting to reload. I am sure I will have to try a few different seating depths out to get it just right. Thanks for the input fellas. I am sure if I tried hard with the Accubonds, I could get them to shoot well, I just thought that with what I am reading and hearing about the Bergers, I would give them a try first. I do not take real long shots, and I have read that the Bergers or more effective at long distances. Any thoughts?

[youngbuck]

Everything Ive shot or seen shot w/ an AB ends up in the freezer. 7mm 140 & 160 and 180 .30 cal is what Ive seen in action. This year my gun shooting .30 180s claimed 4 coues and one desert big horn. deer were 180, 330, 413, 722; sheep was 440. That was this year alone everthing fell in its tracks except the 722 yd coues, it made it about 10 yards. Everything was a 1 shot kill. Ive had the same results the past few years ive used them. Ive seen 600yd+ shots out of 7mm that did the same exact thing. I know the AB is the best the performing bullet on game ive ever used, especially our coues, they stay together well enough in hot rod calibers to not blow up and destroy the cape. I have also never used or seen the bergers used other than on TV. I was all set on buying some before i saw the performance of the ABs. Im sure nothing is wrong with the bergers, and i still want to try some, but the ABs work for me. I really dont think you can go wrong w/ either.

[ScottAdams]

I used the 140 grn. in my 6.5 on my big buck this year and even with a "marginal" hit that monster buck didn't last 2 minutes. It is a real Show Stopper!!

[luvdemcoues]

Hmmm... anybody else have any history with the Bergers?

[elpepe25]

"Berger Bullets, Really any good?"

 

 

Yes

[Red Rabbit]

Out of my 6.5 WSM, I found the accuracy of the 130 Accubonds, Scirocco II and Berger VLDs to be real close to each other. Some say to seat them real close to the lands for accuracy, others have found to seat them away like the TSX. You may have to play some.

 

Here is an article on the hunting use of VLDs, which I have posted before.

http://www.riflemagazine.com/magazine/PDF/hl248partial.pdf

[TAM]

I have killed 9 big game animals with Bergers and they are the real deal! If you hit your target in the shoulder it will probably be taking a dirt nap before you can even get back into the scope. They pretty much turn the inside of an animals chest into chunky soup! Not to metnion they are the most accurate bullet I've ever shot.

[luvdemcoues]

Good to know. Thank you everyone for your comments. I will let you know how it goes. I am going to give them a try.

[luvdemcoues]

Doug, that was a great article. Thanks for posting that. Josh

[firstcoueswas80]

First, let me start by saying that the 140 NAB and my 270wsm is one of the most amazing combinations I have ever seen. Accurate out to 600 yards, fast and kills stuff right now!

 

 

I have used the Bergers in my .257 and been happy. I have only killed one coues, but he was at 571 yards. I missed the center of the lungs by about an inch, but still took out the rear 40-45% of the lungs. Somehow, the buck lived for about 20 minutes before he dide (I have a witness to shot placement and lenght the buck lived who is a member on this site.) Having said that, his insides were COMPLETELY mush and I have no idea how he lived for so long. As designed, there was no exit at all. Something weird was there was not a single drop of blood on the ground either. The buck only made it 13 yards, and spent about 5 minutes laying down with he head flat on the ground. How this happened, I have no idea.

 

Accuracy is about 2/3-3/4 MOA out to 600 yards.

[luvdemcoues]

It just hit me that I have not posted my results with this new load yet. I am pushing 140 grain Bergers with 59 grains of RL 22 and getting great accuracy. Last October my gun took 3 out of 4 deer from camp. My deer was shot at 235 yards and if not for the steep terrain would have likely died about where it stood. A buddy and fellow member on here shot his at 750 yards and my dad took his at 650 yards. My dad's shot was truly a lifelong memory I will have. It was his longest shot ever and to do it with just one shot was a thrill for him. The 750 yarder needed another shot to put it down for good but when we found it (pretty much where we shot it) it wasn't going anywhere. The first shot hit pretty high and to the back.

 

Needless to say, I am very impressed with the way the Bergers perform. Both accuracy and terminal performance.

 

In fact, I have finally convinced my brother to let me load him up some for his 300 WSM. I will be using either RL 22 or H4831sc with magnum primers pushing a 168 grain Berger. So if anyone has any suggestions on this caliber, that would be great.

 

None of the deer from last year were big, but the distances made it really exciting. Here are just a couple pics:

 

My dad's buck before he shot it.

 

My dad's buck with me and my brother. It was a little 2x3 but super cool.

 

All our deer.

 

First time my dad had ever taken an animal with any of his sons being there. And two of his sons also took animals. It was a year to remember!!!!