Shot Placement w/ Bergers

[gillettehunter]

I'm pushing up around 40 animals with the 180 Gr VLDH in my 7mm SAUM. I have it going about 2900 fps. Mostly 1 shot kills unless I screw up the 1st shot. Animals have run from Duiker to Livingstone eland with a number of deer and pronghorn. This bullet hits with authority. Used it on my last 3 African safaris.
If you hit your animal on the shoulder you will lose meat. Go behind the shoulder and it does a great job.
Bruce

 

[TexSavage]

I have aimed and hit high shoulder, heart lung in the crease, and in the area protected by the front leg when that leg is moved forward to expose the heart area. I am using the 215 Hybrids at a muzzle velocity of 2810. Ranges were 100 to 350 yards, all single shots, and the whitetail deer I have used them on have dropped in their tracks with the exception of 2 animals. One doe taken two years ago ran 80 yards with an exit hole the size of a baseball and half of her heart hanging out the hole. Second was a buck this year that went 20 feet before collapsing DRT. All my Berger kills have had excellent exit holes, were only one shot and all were easy to recover. Total deer kills with the Berger 215 number 20. This year I'll be testing the 208 Hybrid. I have a ton of them and my 215s are shelved as a final go to round. Trying to conserve them.

rpierce just sent me a PM inregards to my testing of the 208 Hybrid. Well it was not a long range adventure, but it's what get presented to you at the time! I did pm him back with the following:

2022 Deer hunt update:

I did get one buck using the 208 Hybrids. I wish I could tell you it was a good long shot, but 35 yards was the shot that presented itself. I was in a blind about 20' off the ground. The buck was 35 yards out. Bullet hit in the heart lung area, .308 entry hole, exit hole about the size of a baseball with some shredded pieces of lung on the ground. I did have some off shoulder damage, which is typical. One lung was eviscerated, heart looked like someone cut two deep trails across it. There was massive blood loss on the ground and there was a lot of blood pooled up in the heart lung cavity. When I hit him, guessing velocity was about 2790 according to AB (2820 is my MV using a Magneto Speed). The shot violently spun him around 180 degrees and he went bang flop down. Slight twitch for a few seconds then DRT. This is very comparable to my 215 hybrids from 30-335 yards when I placed my shot in the same location. I did a tip check on all my rounds before heading off hunting. This was my first hunt with a suppressor and it was amazing. Wont do it any other way from here on out!

Second animal I killed was a 250 pound boar hog. I hit him in the heart lung area as he was moving across an opening at about 100 yards. Velocity upon impact acording to AB was about 2728. The pig acted like someone hit him with a baseball bat and dropped right there. No travel, no second step, no running, just DRT. Little twitching for 30 seconds, then nothing. The bullet exit wound was bigger than a golf ball, maybe the size of a hen egg. I purposefully aimed in the heart lung area to see how the cartilidge plates that protect the hogs vitals would affect the berger, but without cutting him open I can only surmise everything was obliterated. Blood pool was not very big, but I don't mess with the feral too much after I shoot them. Too many parasites.

All in all very successful performance very similar to almost every Berger bullet I've used to take deer and hogs. Hope this helps.

 

[Scalloper]

I have shot 15 +- deer and one moose with my 7 mag and 28 Nosler both with 168 VLDs. All white tail dropped but two they went 15 yds. The moose took two but only needed one I just did a follow up for good measure as with Moose if they are standing we are shooting.
The 2 deer I shot this year with the 28 Nosler were shot through the lungs and scrambeled everything they were a mess with no pass through. I am going to try 175 Berger EH next.
The 5 deer my wife has shot with her 6.5 CM and my hand loads of 140 VLDs 2 ran but both were off hand shots at 215-230 yds. One just clipped the jugular and went 120 yds the other hit above the knee in the hind quter and went 200 yds but blead very badly. The other three were pass through shots with perfect exit holes.

 

[Netz]

Not asking for the often repeated argument about whether Bergers/match bullets are hunting bullets or not… if you haven't taken lots of animals with Bergers please refrain from commenting. For those that have I'm interested in your approach on shot placement… heart/double lung shots closer than x and maybe high shoulder shots beyond for example… I hunted with Bergers 15ish years ago and it didn't perform as expected and I wrote them off… but then I expected traditional lead core construction results…I appreciate now that I didn't know what to expect or how to effectively use them… always thought you needed an exit and blood trail which isn't what the Berger is necessarily design for. I'm interested in your thoughts/experience on how I should think differently about shot placement considering that I've taken the overwhelming majority of my animals with high heart shots with accubond (a few Barnes) or similarly constructed bullets… thanks for your help

I hunt deer, elk and African plains game exclusively with Berger 180 VLD-Hybrid (Target) bullets. My 11 years experience with high shoulder shots has consistently produced one-shot kills. The longest was a 756 yard elk shot. I practice a great deal and am very pleased with my Gunwerks LR-1000 in their 7 Long Range Magnum (LRM).

 

[Allen Kitts]

I hunt deer, elk and African plains game exclusively with Berger 180 VLD-Hybrid (Target) bullets. My 11 years experience with high shoulder shots has consistently produced one-shot kills. The longest was a 756 yard elk shot. I practice a great deal and am very pleased with my Gunwerks LR-1000 in their 7 Long Range Magnum (LRM).

Great Rifle. I have the same set-up and love it!

 

[DakotaFire101]

The last two hunting seasons have been fun for my personal testing of berger bullets. Namely the 168 gr 7mm hvld and 180 hybrid out of a 7mm magnum and the 195 eol out of a 28 nosler. I'm a fan of high shoulder shots for the drt effect but just this year alone and 5 big game animals and only one broadside shot, I'm even more of a believer in the lethality of berger bullets. Handled quartering away, quartering towards me, and head on shots beautifully.

 

[Hoss50]

I have been around and shot several cow elk behind the shoulder to double lung them with Bergers. 115gr 257, and 135gr 6.5. All died within 80 yards. Most didn't get that far.

I won't purposefully shoulder shoot with Bergers. Especially since I am shooting smaller caliber and weight Bergers mostly.

 

[338 dude]

ME,behind the shoulder,,,,pudding.....

Shot burgers mostly for years and yes, I have lost a few so I'm not just a burger fan boy! I've started to doubt them lately, but I've come to the conclusion long distance put it on some bone up close through the boiler room.

 

[338 dude]

Most of my experience with Burger bullets on game is with high shoulder shots with the 168 grain Classic Hunter in a 30-06. I gave up on these bullets for hunting because for me bullets like the Nosler Partition and Nosler AccuBond work better. I use a high shoulder shot and I expect the animal to fall as soon as it is hit and I especially like the loud whap of the Nosler Partition. Burger bullets don't sound right when they hit and I don't like the bullets flying apart inside the animal. Sometimes the fragments come through the skin on the far side like a shotgun. Again, I like a big whap when a bullet hits and if the bullet has complete penetration it want it to make a single hole on the far side. I have used 25, 27 and 30 caliber Berger bullets and they always give excellent groups but I don't like them for hunting.

I use 150 grain Nosler partition in my Winchester model 70 3006 as well they have never let me down ever!

 

[338 dude]

Clear disclosure. I have only used the 70 grain .224 caliber Berger bullet. Nothing but coyotes and at less the 200 yards. In the crease, no exit on any of the shots I have taken. At this time it is close to 100 shots on coyotes, give or take a few, ahem, misses. Other than my poor shooting, the coyotes drop in their tracks. Even when I don't get the perfect shot, I haven't lost a any of the coyotes that have taken a hit from the Berger bullet.
I haven't nor will I ever, hunt big game (deer, elk) with any bullet other than Barnes.
Ah yes, my proverbial two cents worth of limited knowledge of Berger bullets.

I've got a great load (super accurate) from my 338 Lapua with Barnes 225 grain TTSX-BT.