.338 Berger 250 Elite Hunter

[Timber338]

All - I've been using the search function to dig up info for how well the .338 Berger 250 grain Elite Hunter has been working in the field. I wanted to start a thread to try and get a single source for info on this bullet and how well it has been working on animals. There is no doubt that these bullets are very accurate with a very impressive b.c.

The goal is to use this bullet in my 338 RUM for elk... comparing to any other bullet in the 225 to 250 grain weight range, it dominates for high retained energy/velocity and low wind drift on long shots. But a few of the reviews I've found report less than ideal terminal performance.

Anybody out there with field reports using this bullet?

 

[angus-5024]

I have been running the 250' s for about two years now. Lack of time off has seen few hunting days but I have harvested one mule deer, a black bear and a wolf with those bullets. On the mule deer and black bear the bullets performed better than I hoped, exiting with about a 1-1/4" hole, both shots between 100-200 yards. the wolf was... well.... a little thinner skinned.
I have shot them at long range, but not at game. they shot very well out to 1100 yards. Its tricky to get them to shoot if your using a long throated rifle, because they are very short and tough to get to the lands. 7828ssc was the best for me.
good luck!

Rifle is a .338 RUM XCR

 

[Timber338]

I have been running the 250' s for about two years now. Lack of time off has seen few hunting days but I have harvested one mule deer, a black bear and a wolf with those bullets. On the mule deer and black bear the bullets performed better than I hoped, exiting with about a 1-1/4" hole, both shots between 100-200 yards. the wolf was... well.... a little thinner skinned.
I have shot them at long range, but not at game. they shot very well out to 1100 yards. Its tricky to get them to shoot if your using a long throated rifle, because they are very short and tough to get to the lands. 7828ssc was the best for me.
good luck!

Rifle is a .338 RUM XCR

Thanks for the info. I did notice that to seat within .005" of the lands, I am only gripping to the bullet with about 1/8" of the bearing surface in the neck. And the overall length to the tip of the bullet is well over 3.9", much longer than even my extended wyatt box will accomodate at about 3.81" overall inside length. I have not done any load development yet, but it would be OK with me if I had to use these 250's in a single shot setup.

I've got quite a few powders to try... Hoping to use either H1000 or RL33. I am going to do quite a bit of testing with this bullet before I am confident it will open up properly on an elk. Good to hear you had good performance on a deer and black bear.

Did the bullet on the wolf just not expand as much? Sounds like you killed him, did you do any investigation in the wound channel?

 

[dkhunt14]

I have shot both the 250 and the 300 Elite. The 300 was a lot more accurate in my gun. It has killed 5 straight whitetails at 450 to 500 yards. All were DRT and none took second shot. I like what I saw with the exits of the 300 Berger Elite. The only downside is you can't run it over 3000 but you won't do that with your RUM. Matt

 

[Timber338]

I have shot both the 250 and the 300 Elite. The 300 was a lot more accurate in my gun. It has killed 5 straight whitetails at 450 to 500 yards. All were DRT and none took second shot. I like what I saw with the exits of the 300 Berger Elite. The only downside is you can't run it over 3000 but you won't do that with your RUM. Matt

So it sounds like you had very good expansion on whitetails ... What is the ballpark velocity between 450 - 500 yards with your load? I would guess that the ogive/nose profile and design between the 250 and the 300 are the same ... the 300 just being a longer bullet. Not sure on that though. Good question for the folks at Berger.

 

[dkhunt14]

I am running them out of a Lapua IMP and the muzzle is 2993. I don't know without running numbers but I don't think I lose much and the energy retained is unreal. We tried 300 Sierras on deer and they didn't open. On elk that could be a different story. I know the 300 Elite is devastating on deer. Matt