6mm 105 Berger VLD

[dakor]

Anyone ever use this bullet on deer or yotes? I asked about the 107 SMK about a month back or so but I picked up a box of the bergers also. My rifle likes the 95 bergers so I am hoping it will like the 105's. I am shooitng them out of a 6mm-284. I want to be able to shoot almost to 1000k with this rifle on deer and yotes.

 

[davewilson]

you will get your best accuracy with an 8 twist. a 9 will shoot groups,but generally an 8 will do better with the 105-107 berger and SMK's.now shooting deer at 500 miles or whatever a million yards is,i don't think this cartridge is up to the task.now if you're talking about 1000 yards, that's a different story.i don't think you've got enuf smack-em jack-em at that range for deer either.

 

[screech]

Have to agree that at 1000yrds for a deer you're running on fumes for deer. I would limit deer to 600-650yrds. Coyotes I would go for at 1000yrds.

 

[dakor]

I was talking a 1000 yards. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I talked with Berger and they said I should be able to shoot them with a 9 twist because of the speed I get with the 6-284. After running some numbers if I can shoot the 105 Berger around the same fps as the 107 SMK and it shoots the bullet will have a FPS in the 1700's with 700lbs + of energy. I am thinking this is enough for a whitetail deer or a yote. I base this on I have shot lots of deer with a 220 Swift and a 50gr B-Tip at 300 to 400 yards and this combo had around 700 ftlbs of energy at 300 yards and around 500ftlbs or so at 400 yards. I never had a problem with the 220 swift and the deer went down pretty fast. So back to my question anyone use this bullet on game? What was the result?

 

[James Jones]

I tried them out of a 243 Ackley and they diden't seem to like to be launched anyfaster than around 3000fps then the accuracy went to crap (1-8 twist)

Next thing I would do is get a meplat uniformer and flatten out the points a bit this will help with th reliability of them expanding. From the critters I've shot the Bergers anr softer than the match kings so keep that in mind.

But if they shoot well out of your gun then give them a try but like everybody else said I think that setup may be on the light end of the deal for deer , it will kill without a doubt but you better be on your game with the range and wind reading

 

[dakor]

Thanks for the info. I guess I should add more to the post. I am not going to plan on taking a 1000 yard shot on deer. I am just trying to set the rifle up incase conditions are perfect for the shot and that is the only chance I get. To be honest my average shot will probably be anywhere from 400 to 600 yards where I hunt. But sometimes a longer shot could present itself. I have never gone out and said I want this far of a kill I just take what I can get within my shooting range. Now for yotes where I hunt you could get lots of 1000 yard shots. If I was going to hunt deer at 1000 yards all the time I would use my 7mm STW or 300win mag.

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

I agree with your theory of 700 lbs of energy for deer. I have seen plenty of deer shot with 22-250 and swifts at 300-400 as well and seen them do the bang flop. I was also wondering about the 243 AI for deer at 1000 yards. Seems like a ways for 6mm", but deer aren't all that hard to bring down, and if the numbers are there, and you put the bullet there, thats all that matters.

 

[uncleB]

Dakor
I have a 6mm-284 also ,I loved shooting the berger 105's but if I pushed them past 3200fps they blow up coming out the muzzle ,so I switched to the 107gr SMK's with no problems and have shot rockchucks out to 1515yds with this combo.
The problem with my rifle is that it has a 3 groove barrel that is much tougher on a bullet than a 4,5,6 groove barrel. dont buy too many and try both. the berger perform's much like a varmint bullet at close range (because of the thin skinned J4 jacket) and at 1000yds out the SMK's perform like FMJ's (because they are so heavily constructed) they both have pluses and minuses so see what gun likes. dont waste your time with trying 105 A-Max's the b.c. is too low and they come apart hitting a blade of grass at 6mm-284 vel.
UB

 

[skeeter]

He's right about the v max.I shot them in my 6mm (87 grain) and theres a 1/2 plywood board behind my house that we put targets on at 100 yards that sits on the ground, and the other day while shooting there was a cardboard box behinde the borad and the v max was passing throught the plywood and putting a hold in the box that my sons base ball will go throught.@ 3300 FPS

 

[bailey1474]

[ QUOTE ]
.....the other day while shooting there was a cardboard box behinde the borad and the v max was passing throught the plywood and putting a hold in the box that my sons base ball will go throught.@ 3300 FPS

[/ QUOTE ]

Isn't that what you want in a varmint bullet?

 

[dakor]

UncleB I have a 6 groove and I have shot the 95 Berger VLD all the way up to 3500fps and they held up so I am hoping the 105 will hold up at a slower speed. I really do not plan on driving them to fast probably around the 3200 to 3250fps range. I will just have to see what they like. I always have the 95 VLD to fall back on and they have a very high bc and shoot well in my rifle. I figured the 107 would be to hard for those real long shots that is why I am looking at the berger. Rock chucks to 1500+ yards? Wow now that is some shooting and people say you need the big stuff for long range. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Thanks again for the info everyone. I plan on load testing this weekend I will let you what I find out.

 

[dakor]

Well after some playing around here is a pic of a 3 shot group I shot at 305 yards. The temp was 18 degrees I had a 5-8MPH wind from the 7 to 8 o'clock position from my back to the target. The load was 51.0gr of IMR-7828 with a 210 Fed Primer. The load was shooting 3260fps with a SD of 7.1 and a ES of 12.8. I do not know what happend on the second shot it could be because I used new brass. Yeah thats it I will blame the brass. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif First and third shots are right where they should be. Do you guys think this is a good load to test out to 1000 yards? I probably could get another 100 to 150fps faster but is it worth it what do you guys think? This load has no pressure at all Primer pockets were just as tight as when the brass was unfired. Here is the pic below.

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

I seem to get the same problems quite often with a "flyer" or thrown out shot. It makes you scratch your head thats for sure. I would say go ahead and try it since your ES is really good.

 

[Jimm]

Hey Dakor ,

FWIW my 243AI load using a 107smk @ 3050 is showing to have around 750 ftlbs at 800 yds using the exbal program. Through the lungs should equal a dead deer to at least that .

Jim B.