Is the 140 gr VLD really great for deer?

[devins]

Had a great weekend and was blessed with a Viper PST 4-16X50, FFP Mrad for my .260 AI that Ted at Ted's Custom Shop built for me. My staff and wife got it for me to celebrate 20 years of practice, they are great. The rifle has been performing extremely well, but I have never seen anything that Ted touches that doesn't. But now I am working up final loads and will be shooting with the new scope on. My question for you all is how well do you like the 140 gr Berger VLD as a bullet for deer at longer ranges? I know that is a relative term so I am going to say to 700 yards. The rifle so far has liked the 142 gr SMK, 140 gr Hornady A Max and the Bergers. I was just going to see which it liked the best and stop there. I had not planned on hunting with it this year except for varmints but I have a few places that 700 yard shots are a possibility. And I still remember the buck several years ago that was no doubt a shooter at 683 yards and I was not prepared for the distance. So I am thinkning as long as I am working it up I might as well see about being able to hunt with it too and not just shoot the distances but really begin to practice at that range.

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

It has to be the most popular 6.5mm bullet on the site hands down. I have only shot one deer with them and it was just a hair over 200meters no complaints on my end.

 

[devins]

Thanks, that is what I see too as far as popularity. I have seen many kills with many different bullets over the years and I am old enough to remember the days when some of the early attempts to use high bc bullets were not so good. Under certain circumstances they might perform very well and then, for instance we were getting a guy his first rifle deer about 20 years ago and he was using one of the first polymer tipped bullets and when we recovered the deer we found that the shot did not penetrate the lining of the rib cage. It caused a tremendous shock but skipped along the outside of the rib cage. It was I believe a 130 grain 270 Win. I put that deer down for him with a 165 gr 7mm partition. Way overkill for deer but it dropped it right there. I have killed my last 8 kills in Africa with Barnes TTSX bullets in 180 gr 308 Norma Mag and all one shot kills but nothing over 220 meters. Otherwise I use Accubonds and have loved there performance even on a nice bear a couple of weeks ago. I have made kill shots with it to 400 plus on Audad and 200 plus on Deer. I know on one of the TV shows they advocate the high shoulder shot, which with my understanding of anatomy I had already been encouraging for years, but I have encouraged that with a "tough" bullet. Did you intentionally hit the shoulder on your shot? And is that the shot everyone else that has used it recommends for that bullet?

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

No I did not intentionaly hit the shoulder it just kind of happned that way. It was a low light shooting situation. The deer was dead before it hit the ground. I wanted so badly to recover a bullet but I have not been able to yet. I have shot up all my remaining VLDS nothing wrong with them but I am going to the TTSX

 

[Greyfox]

I use a 6.5-284 with Berger and JLK 140gr VLD' s which shoot just about identically in my Cooper with the same impact point and trajectory out to 700 yards. The JLK is slightly flatter shooting past that due to a higher ballistic coefficient...612 vs .640. I have shot 8 whitetails and 2 antelope with these bullets from 200 yards to 998 yards. All were one shot kills with eight dropping in there tracks. One antelope was shot at 200 yards, the others were shot between 375 and 998 yards with five whitetais shot between 500 and 700 yards. Except for the 200 yard antelope with a frontal chest shot, the rest had complete penetration with chest shots with small entry, 2-3 inch exit with a lot of internal damage. I noticed no difference in the wounds between the Bergers and JLK's. They are both outstanding bullets for deer sized game. My velocity is 2965 fps. I would expect a 260 to do well on game with VLD's at 700 yards.

 

[devins]

Thank you guys. We have fairly rolling country around here and I have typically held myself to less than 400 yards, usually under 300, but I have some places like I said earlier that you can get high and see bucks moving slowly at a distance. I have loved to watch them but have never had a chance to think about trying the longer shots and I think I will be trying the VLDs, after lots of practice.

 

[devins]

One last quesstion; how do people like the 140 gr Hornady interlock in the .264 with the BC of .520?

 

[bigbrother]

This one ran about 50 yards after being hit through the lungs at 1100yds with one out of a 6.5x284. This was yellow box match bullet prior to Berger marketing both match and orange box hunting bullets. I honestly couldn't tell you off the top of my head what the difference between the two are.

The 140AMAX works tremendously well on game as well, I've taken whitetails to over 800 yards with them. The only reason I switched to the Berger was the bc.

I've never shot the 142SMK on deer as I had poor results on groundhogs with them.

 

[devins]

Good information. Thank you. That is why I am wanting to stay as high of a BC as possible too, I live in the windiest place in North America. Everyone thinks it is Wyoming or Chicago, nope good ol' Weatherford, Oklahoma. We have some wide open spaces out here and I am going to have to be pretty good with the wind, hence why I have kept my shots relatively short in the past. All of this info is helping me get ready though, so Thanks you all.

 

[Yotekiller]

I have never shot a deer with the 140 vld but I have shot lots of coyotes. I have a 6.5x284 and bullet performance has been very similar to what Greyfox posted. Small entry, 2-3 inch exit with complete pass through with all of them. Some have been very close most 300-500 yds.

 

[mcseal2]

I have yet to find a load I'm truly happy with in my 264WM with the bergers. I built the gun around that bullet, just haven't found the perfect load yet.

On a happier note, the rifle shoots real well with the 140gr accubond. I really like the BC of the berger, but the terminal performance of the accubond has been excellent in everything I've used it in. I've recovered several bullets from different game, usually because it was shot at a tough angle requiring lots of penetration. All have retained very near 60% of their original weight, within a few % either way. They open fast to deliver major shock all the way through the wound channel, yet penetrate very well. Nothing against the berger, I may switch to it myself if I ever get the load perfected, The accubond has been very effective in several calibers out to 500yds for me. I've never seen one fail.

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

I have yet to find a load I'm truly happy with in my 264WM with the bergers. I built the gun around that bullet, just haven't found the perfect load yet.

On a happier note, the rifle shoots real well with the 140gr accubond. I really like the BC of the berger, but the terminal performance of the accubond has been excellent in everything I've used it in. I've recovered several bullets from different game, usually because it was shot at a tough angle requiring lots of penetration. All have retained very near 60% of their original weight, within a few % either way. They open fast to deliver major shock all the way through the wound channel, yet penetrate very well. Nothing against the berger, I may switch to it myself if I ever get the load perfected, The accubond has been very effective in several calibers out to 500yds for me. I've never seen one fail.

Accubond is a great bullet. Have you read this Optimizing Precision And Accuracy From VLD Bullets Its cut and dry and it realy works. I wish Barns would have their guy write one.

 

[devins]

I have taken many animals with the Accubond in 270 and 7mm. They are awesome and have never let me down. But I am also drawn to the higher BC. I have a load for my 7mm that groups at .310 outside diameter of the group at 100 yards. Love it. Why do I not use it for everything? I have a fine reticle scope with out target turrets on it. So I am point blank zero and a little managable holdover. One of these days I will put a new scope on it but that one was given to me by a friend that I still hunt with regualrly and he would be asking me where it went. So there you go, it gives me an excuse to play with more rifles and more loads, LOL.

 

[mcseal2]

Try kenton industries they may make a turret to fit your scope