I was one of Berger's testers for it, here is my results I sent them.
87gr Berger VLD test results
Testing done in Kansas, 1200ft elevation
Rifle
Custom 243 Win
20" #5 Montana barrel, cryoaccurized
Laminate thumbhole stock
Load data
Winchester case once fired
Winchester Lg rifle primer
44gr IMR 4831
87gr Berger VLD
COAL 2.792"
1st group was .52" 3 shots in 1 hole and one that opened the group. The flier was probably my fault.
I had an accurate load in my 243 win with the 85gr Sierra HPBT gameking bullet and so I tried the 87 berger with it and had a winner.
Whitetail performance: My 243 with the 87gr berger was used by 3 other hunters during our deer season. They had all shot this rifle at targets and prairie dogs and were comfortable with it.
All entrance wounds on deer were caliber size, and none of the bullets exited.
Jamie shot her buck with my rifle and this bullet. She hit the deer at the last rib at 120yds and it was broadside. The bullet did massive internal damage, even throwing shrapnel into the inner thighs of the deer. It was poor shot placement but the internal damage was so severe the buck only went 20ft. A less destructive bullet may have resulted in a lost deer or long blood trail.
Beth shot her deer with my rifle. It was a small doe at 74 yards, the bullet dropped the doe in it's tracks and did massive damage to the lungs and spine. It didn't hurt the back straps, must have just been a little shrapnel that hit the spine. The results were the same as the deer she shot with the 95gr VLD last year.
Another neighbor used my rifle to take a huge bodied old buck at 226yds. The bullet hit the buck through the heart broadside and he only went 20ft before collapsing. Internal damage was massive, the heart was destroyed and the lungs took major damage.
For any hunter who may want to take multiple deer from one stand location this bullet is ideal. The tiny entrance wound and lack of an exit wound make for very little external bleeding to contaminate your area with scent. I plan to use it for antlerless season myself when I don't have to fight the girls for my rifle.
Varmint performance
I shot a coyote with the 87gr Berger at 230yds. He ran 140yds after the shot before going down. The entrance wound was caliber size and the exit wound only slightly larger. It was a small coyote, probably less than a year old. Pelt damage was minimal, but I was a little disappointed with how far he traveled. I've had similar results from the 95gr berger in the past at ranges over 175yds with the lower velocity from my short barrel. I can't fault the bullet for this, they are designed for big game not varmints and their delayed expansion works great on animals with a deeper chest cavity to expend energy in.
I got a chance to take 2 more coyotes with this bullet, and shoot targets out to 400yds.
The next coyote was shot at 225 yds and the bullet entered behind the onside shoulder, quartered through the coyote, and exited behind in front of the offside hindquarter. The coyote stayed on his feet for 15-20 seconds spinning and biting at the wound before dropping, and covered 35yds. The exit wound was 1" according to the ruler on my Leatherman.
The last coyote was at 412yds and I hit him to far back, at the very back of the lungs. He ran over a hill. I recovered him but was unable to find the exact location I shot him from, he probably covered 150yds after the shot. The exit wound matched the earlier ones.
As stated earlier, I think this is an excellent deer bullet but I would prefer a little more expansion and shock for coyotes. I'd love to see a 87gr VLD varmint bullet with the same BC and flight characteristics as this one. That would let a shooter fit the bullet to the use he planned for it. That would also probably lead to people using the varmint bullet for larger game it wasn't designed for and cause problems. I'll let smarter people than me figure that one out.
I shot 25 rounds over the chronograph with an average velocity of 3013fps. The slowest was 2942fps and the fastest was 3074fps. Most stayed within 25fps of the average, and the fastest loads were fired while waiting for wind to drop with a round in a warm chamber.
My first .52" group at 100yds proved to be very consistent. I shot this rifle on my 100yd range several times with very similar results. My rifle has had several thousand rounds shot through it and I think this is probably the limit of it/my ability with my shooting set-up. My rifle has a Leupold VXIII 4.5-14x40mm scope with the varmint hunter reticle.
I had the opportunity to shoot paper at longer range with the bullet this one time. The temperature was in the lower teens while I was shooting, and I had a variable crosswind of 5-8mph.
At 200yds I shot two 3 shot groups that measured .94 and 1.1 inches.
At 300yds I shot two 3 shot groups that measured 2.48 and 3.76 inches.
At 400yds I shot two 3 shot groups that measured 4.62 and 5.13 inches.
I feel that the bullet was capable of more accuracy than me and my rifle were. I realized when trying to seat the bullet out to touch the rifling how bad my rifle's throat really was. I also shot my old pet load with the 85gr Sierra at 400yds and the results were not as good. The low BC of the Sierra and wind probably account for part of that. I feel the Berger performed to the limit of the ability of my equipment with me operating it.
In summary, I would not hesitate to use the 87gr Berger for any shot on deer I would take with a 6mm cartridge. I spent 2 hours last Sunday helping a color-blind friend blood trail a doe before a snow storm rolled in. Being unable to see the blood he searched blindly until dark with no luck, and then called me to help. I had to follow the light blood trail very slowly but did manage to recover the deer before the snow covered the trail. I told him about the Berger's performance and I will be loading them for his rifle next year. He should not have to worry about a blood trail with this bullet placed well, the deer won't make it far. I think this bullet will get all the available accuracy from a 1 in 10 twist barrel that likes it, and I had no trouble finding an accurate load. For varmints it will depend on what type performance you want from your bullet, I found it a bit to hard for coyotes at my velocity but pelt damage was minimal.
Thanks again for the opportunity to test your bullets, and keep up the good work. I would definitely take this one to market.
