147 ELD-M or 156 Berger EOL

I have a sweet load for my 6.5x248 with both the 140 & 147 ELD-M, both right at 2930 fps with very good SD #s. I've shot 3 antelope with the 140 ELD-M and had pretty good results, but of course I've read too much on this forum and am considering switching over to the 156 EOL, even after just getting a great load for the 147 ELD-M worked up. Why? Because that's what people like us do on this forum!

So, guys that made the switch this year is there a good reason to pay more for the 156 EOL instead of shooting the 147 ELD-M for fun and hunting?? This is my antelope and deer gun, but not my primary elk gun. I will use this rifle for long-range spring bear and occasional cow elk hunts as its heavier than my 7mm Mag and easier to shoot way out there. I just got some RL-26 and have H1000 & Retumbo on hand to try the 156, just not sure its worth the effort.

Greyfox can probably answer that question the best

MTLIVIN said:

I have a sweet load for my 6.5x248 with both the 140 & 147 ELD-M, both right at 2930 fps with very good SD #s. I've shot 3 antelope with the 140 ELD-M and had pretty good results, but of course I've read too much on this forum and am considering switching over to the 156 EOL, even after just getting a great load for the 147 ELD-M worked up. Why? Because that's what people like us do on this forum!

So, guys that made the switch this year is there a good reason to pay more for the 156 EOL instead of shooting the 147 ELD-M for fun and hunting?? This is my antelope and deer gun, but not my primary elk gun. I will use this rifle for long-range spring bear and occasional cow elk hunts as its heavier than my 7mm Mag and easier to shoot way out there. I just got some RL-26 and have H1000 & Retumbo on hand to try the 156, just not sure its worth the effort.

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The switch is probably unnecessary. I have had a lot of luck with the 147gr eldm.

Have you seen the new 144gr hybrid Berger came out with? I will probably explore that before I switch to the 156.

We've had good luck with the 147's on game in the Sherman shortmags so theres really no reason to change unless you're like most of us and want to try something new

I prefer the 156's over the 147's, especially if your shooting bigger game such as elk or very extended distances. I killed a few elk with the 147's last year, 703 yards and 814 yards if I recall, and I killed a few this year with the 156, 865 yards and 845 yards. The 156 was simply better for me. I shot/videoed around 13 animals from pronghorn to elk last year with the 147's. For the most part, they did ok. Killed just as many critters this year with the 156, and noticed a significant difference. They all ended up dead just the same, but a significant difference I noticed was in a couple of the animals that had less than perfect impacts on the first shot. With the 147's, they ran, usually not allowing a follow up shot, though they usually died within a couple hundred yards. With the 156, they stood there in shock and allowed a follow up shot.

The nail that sealed the coffin for me on the 147's was an elk my wife shot. With a good hit through the shoulder on a forward quartering shot at 703 yards, the cow elk ran over a half mile, leaving zero blood trail because there was no exit and the entrance sealed up. The ONLY reason we found her was persistence and fresh powder snow on the ground. It is fully documented as well, on video, with photos of the bullet impact location so you can see exactly where it was hit, and it still ran over a half mile. I'll link it, as upload a photo of the impact.




https://www.longrangehunting.com/th...-game-a-lot-of-shot-videos-and-photos.208832/

And there is my detailed thread on every animal I killed with the 147, if you care to check it out. Many people had different experiences, however unfortunately I had poor experiences with them. The performance on pronghorn was generally good enough, save one at 980 yards where they penciled through, also on video with detailed pictures. Just one guys opinion, not saying the 147's won't kill critters, they did a fantastic job on a 6x6 bull at 814 yards, as well as several other critters. I just prefer the consistency and more impact on the animal I saw from the 156 this year, with the one caveat being that I ensure every tip on the Bergers is opened up with a wire drill. Also, check your stability with the 156. If you want to try Bergers and don't have the twist, maybe check out the 144 as predator slayor suggested.

One thing I will say, is on the big mulies (and I mean BIG bodied) we took this year and the elk we shot, we did not get exits....However, nothing ran after being hit, even if it was back in the liver. But if your a guy that requires an exit, I actually got more exits from the 140 H-VLD's than I did with the 156's suprisingly....may have just been circumstantial? Not totally sure. I'm still going to stick with them if performance continues to be like what I have seen, because I have not needed an exit thus far.

Check this thread out, I posted most of my hunts this year here. Also lots of load development data for a 6.5x284 and others.

https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/6-5-156-eol.222920/

Cody has killed more animals than I have the last few years, and my clients have had good luck with the 147's so far but since Cody has tried both bullets, I will defer to him!

elkaholic said:

Cody has killed more animals than I have the last few years, and my clients have had good luck with the 147's so far but since Cody has tried both bullets, I will defer to him!

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And don't get me wrong, I'm not downplaying anyone else's experience, I would say the majority of the animals I killed the 147 did fine, comparing them to the 156 in those instances would be like comparing a 7mm mag to a 300 mag on elk, both do it but one just generally does it a little better, but there was a couple that the 147 simply didn't work well, the buck antelope at 980 and my wife's cow elk. I have never lost an animal, but that one, we almost did. It may have just been a fluke, but it sincerely scared me, especially since it was my wife's first elk as well as first big game hunting season. Loosing your first elk when your new to hunting, especially after a good shot, could ruin a person on it, and I was terrified that was going to happen when I was nearly half a mile from where a good shot was placed, with no elk, and no blood in fresh snow. That is likely a large part of my bias away from the 147.

codyadams said:

And don't get me wrong, I'm not downplaying anyone else's experience, I would say the majority of the animals I killed the 147 did fine, comparing them to the 156 in those instances would be like comparing a 7mm mag to a 300 mag on elk, both do it but one just generally does it a little better, but there was a couple that the 147 simply didn't work well, the buck antelope at 980 and my wife's cow elk. I have never lost an animal, but that one, we almost did. It may have just been a fluke, but it sincerely scared me, especially since it was my wife's first elk as well as first big game hunting season. Loosing your first elk when your new to hunting, especially after a good shot, could ruin a person on it, and I was terrified that was going to happen when I was nearly half a mile from where a good shot was placed, with no elk, and no blood in fresh snow. That is likely a large part of my bias away from the 147.

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The pic showing where that elk was says it shouldnt have gone ANYWHERE!

elkaholic said:

The pic showing where that elk was says it shouldnt have gone ANYWHERE!

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And I recovered the bullet, it was a nice mushroom, around 80ish grains retained. It just didn't hardly do any damage inside, the lungs looked bruised but that's it. Wish they would have worked better for me, that load was stupid accurate and consistent, I had a bunch of sub half MOA groups at the 800+ range. My load with the 156 I would say is just as good now though, so that's ok. The only issue is now my barrel is on the downhill slope of it's life ha ha!!

codyadams said:

And I recovered the bullet, it was a nice mushroom, around 80ish grains retained. It just didn't hardly do any damage inside, the lungs looked bruised but that's it. Wish they would have worked better for me, that load was stupid accurate and consistent, I had a bunch of sub half MOA groups at the 800+ range. My load with the 156 I would say is just as good now though, so that's ok. The only issue is now my barrel is on the downhill slope of it's life ha ha!!

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A mushroomed bullet passed through that area and the elk ran 1/2 mile? crazy!
I killed an elk once though that had a 30 cal (corelokt) I think, that was perfectly mushroomed under the hide after passing right through the lungs!
Elk can be stupid tough!

elkaholic said:

A mushroomed bullet passed through that area and the elk ran 1/2 mile? crazy!
I killed an elk once though that had a 30 cal (corelokt) I think, that was perfectly mushroomed under the hide after passing right through the lungs!
Elk can be stupid tough!

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Absolutely. That is why I built a .338 Norma Mag after that experience lol

I saw some good outcomes from the 156 EOLs this season. Loaded our PRCs and CMs this year with 156s. Very easy to find accurate loads for and good consistency. Still had a couple of hunters using 142 ABLR and 147 ELDM and all were successful. My nephew used a 147 to squarely hit the shoulder of a coues and not penetrate the rib cage at 560 yards but a follow-up shot was very effective. A 156 from one of the CMs dropped a big 6x6 bull with one hit at ~500 yards and another took a nice coues at 460.
The 147 and 156 are ballistically similar when loaded near max for the same cartridge, but I believe the 156 is better designed for hunting. Attached a picture from the 156 EOL/CM shot from my 13 y/o grandson at 460 yards showing entrance just behind the front shoulder and exit through the opposite side shoulder (top right). Dropped like a rock

While I spent the pre-season working up fully optimized loads at 3000FPS with the Berger 156, I ended up using my 142 JLK VLD load on a whitetail, mule deer, and antelope this season. Perhaps I've lost my adventuress spirit, but I have had such great success with both the JLK mentioned, and Berger 140HVLD's with over 60 animals(150-1188 yards) over an eight year period that I couldn't bring myself to experiment. Most all of theses animals, (including this seasons), were DRT, with only a few running less then 50 yards before dropping. Sixteen of the deer were very big bodied Canadian mule deer and whitetails. Comparing the 156, drops and windage out to my usual max range of 1000 yards(deer), they were within .5MOA, and energy at 1000 yards was only an additional 175FPE. I concluded that the margin of improvement wasn't worth the change for the medium sized game and ranges that I hunt. Were I to use my 6.5x284 for elk, I would give the 156's a try based on Cody's very comprehensive reporting.