Not Happy With Berger Performance

My first kill using a Berger classic hunter was yesterday. It was a 130 grain out of my 260AI. The whitetail buck forced me to take 210 degree flank shot. All I could see was the protruding portion of his abdomen. The bullet ran true and entered just forward of his entrails and proceeded into the vitals. The 10 point buck hit the ground like he'd been hit by lightning. Not a twitch. I'm not sure I've ever seen as immediate a kill. When I open the deer I was in awe. Every vital organ was mush. The bullet did not exit. I did find a small portion of the bullets base, no lead, against the aft rib cage. That situation confirmed the many comments of the blog contributors, shot placement can give DRT results. A spine, hind quarter or shoulder shot is going to result in significant meat loss
 
Cholla said:
I spent all summer working up a load for my Remington 700 in 7mm Rem Mag and achieved sub-MOA, which makes me happy. I was drawn for mule deer in the unit where I live so I literally walk out my back door and start hunting, which also makes me happy. On the second to last day of the season, a medium mule deer stayed in one spot long enough for me to get a shot at him at 75 yards, so it seemed God was smiling at me. The buck dropped like a ton of bricks in an area that made it easy to drag him back to where I could get a cart to him, so another win!
I became unhappy when I started processing it. The bullet shredded a lung, which is great and I found the base of the bullet against the far side rib cage. But, parts of the bullet angled upward and shredded the center of both backstraps with tiny bits of lead! That is so frustrating! At this point, I want to go to a monolithic bullet made of copper or copper/zinc. I have a year to get things worked up again.
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Sounds like a little bit of bad luck with the bullet deflection. I've had great luck with both the Bergers and Hornady ELD-Ms
 
manitou said:
I have found that the Bergers are so catastrophic that the animals stomach contents often com out their nose... even with heart/lung hits.

In fifty years of hunting I have never experienced that with another bullet.
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You're not the only one buddy!
 
I shot a moose bull a few weeks ago at about 130y with Berger 210 VLDH from a 300 win mag. It was quartering away and to the right, I shot just in front of the belly. It dropped instantly, and that was all. When I opened it, it no longer had a heart! Just a sea of blood, small pieces of heart muscle, and both lungs completely shredded. On the flip side, there was no meat loss, very clean, but again, it was a big boy... Shot placement is key with Bergers, but then, again, they are friggin' accurate. Plus, my Tikka Varmint rifle in 300 WM can shoot .5 MOA consistently with handloads and a EC Tuner Brake (in a steady setup). So, the whole setup is geared that way. I used Barnes TTSX (and also used MRX before, until they were discontinued - those combined the best of both worlds, with tungsten instead of lead), and they worked great from regular distances (longest kill at 500 y). They had great weight retention, passed through, but occasionally the flesh-only wounds (not hitting at least a bone) could become long searches for the dead or terminally wounded animal... So I stopped using the monos.
 
Schw15 said:
Just DONT SHOOT THEM IN THE SHOULDER!!! There not made for that just like many other bullets
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And you, "know THIS",.. How ??
I shot, a 140 grain, Berger, Classic Hunter Bullet, from my .270 WSM, going 3,173 FPS average Muzzle Velocity, clean thru, BOTH Shoulders and, Hides
( "Scrambled" upper, Lung area ) KaPow,.. Hooves, in Air,.. DRT ! Check Barbour Creek Video's to Confirm, Penetration on,.. BERGERS !
Bull Elk, in Idaho, 2021 shot, kneeling, shooting over sagebrush,.. w/ Stix at, 115 yards, so I HAD to shoot, Shoulder area.
Found, Base of, Bullet stuck in Hair on FAR side ( 2 inch Exit hole with, MOST "Fragments" in the Diaphragm area,. only a couple in, Meat.
Meat "Loss" was, less than, 3 Pounds !
LOTS of, guys / gals, take Shoulder shots on Elk with, Berger's and Unless, the Tip IS, "Plugged",.. they Penetrate, very, WELL !
 
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I First noticed Berger Bullet, "Toughness" several Years ago, when Practicing, LR field shooting prone, in the WIND with, my son,..
I forgot my "Hold-off" a bit and My .270 WSM, 140 gr. Berger Classic Hunt., Bullet,.. blew, a few inches Left and CUT my 5/16 inch diameter, Steel Target Frame,.. in Half, at almost,.. 600 yards !
Then, the experience above, on my 2021 Elk,.. PROVES to ME, that, they are,. Bone crushing deep penetrating,.. Killers !
 
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Idaho Lefty said:
And you, "know THIS",.. How ??
I shot, a 140 grain, Berger, Classic Hunter Bullet, from my .270 WSM, going 3,173 FPS average Muzzle Velocity, clean thru, BOTH Shoulders and, Hides
( "Scrambled" upper, Lung area ) KaPow,.. Hooves, in Air,.. DRT ! Check Barbour Creek Video's to Confirm, Penetration on,.. BERGERS !
Bull Elk, in Idaho, 2021 shot, kneeling, shooting over sagebrush,.. w/ Stix at, 115 yards, so I HAD to shoot, Shoulder area.
Found, Base of, Bullet stuck in Hair on FAR side ( 2 inch Exit hole with, MOST "Fragments" in the Diaphragm area,. only a couple in, Meat.
Meat "Loss" was, less than, 3 Pounds !
LOTS of, guys / gals, take Shoulder shots on Elk with, Berger's and Unless, the Tip IS, "Plugged",.. they Penetrate, very, WELL !
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Lol not arguing I don't care either way. Just telling the OP to stay off shoulders so he don't lose the meat ect. Ect. I don't need convincing or anything like that everyone has seen what then seen and performance
 
Every caliber Bullet, can "Act", a little bit different, ( think Velocity upon, Impact ) for Penetration and,. Meat "Destruction" or,.. not !
Many L R rifle builders recommend, Berger's for a Reason, accuracy and they, "Get it,.. DONE",.. on killing power !
My experiences, with Berger's have been,.. awesome !
AGAIN,. there is, NO,.. Perfect Bullet,..Yet !
But these, come real, "Close",.. IMO
 
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Schw15 said:
Lol not arguing I don't care either way. Just telling the OP to stay off shoulders so he don't lose the meat ect. Ect. I don't need convincing or anything like that everyone has seen what then seen and performance
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IMO,.. the OP used, "Too MUCH,. Gun and, Bullet" for, a 75 yard shot, on,.. a Deer.
The REASON FOR,.. "the Problem" !
The 7mm Rem Mag and the 168 grain Bullet would have been,. FINE at,.. 250 - 300 Yards or, more.
My 13 y/o grandson has, dropped 2 Large, ( one, a 4 x 5 and 30+ inches ) Heavy Horned, Desert Mule Deer, in S Idaho ( Draw Tag ) at, 225 and 270 yards with, an 87 gr. Berger, H-VLD .243 Win., @3,100 FPS, both,.. DRT with,.. NO, meat Loss
 
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