Like one dude said it's not so much the moose your worried about up there
Alaska Moose Hunt Berger 210vld
- Thread starter ElkSurgeon
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vancewalker007
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I shot lots of lower 48 stuff with various Berger bullets. They all died pretty close to where they were hit, some in their tracks. I'll be shooting the 156 EOL in Africa in Aug on Plains Game. Bullet placement is critical on game, so if you get d close shot on a moose aim carefully put it in the pocket ... Dead moose.
David Emerson
Well-Known Member
I AM SURE I WILL GET A LOT OF HATE MAIL. A BERGER IS A THIN JACKET TARGET BULLET WITH NO MEANS TO KEEP THE JACKET AND CORE TOGETHER. I feel like a preacher amongst the heathens. Go ahead and use your berger. And when you go back to get the meat the next day and a big grizzly greets you tell all of us how it works for you. After a lot of luck and a long expensive life flight. If you are lucky. Like Bob Hagel said god rest his soul. Don,t use a gun that will work under ideal conditions. Use one that will drag your as^ out of the fire under the worst conditions!!! A griz is very fast for a short distance. You will get one shot. I can imagine your rifle if you are a berger fan. Probably a 5 to 30 scope. Field of view at a 100 on 5 of 20 feet. Let me see. Brown blur if you can find it quickly. Google the soundtrack of Timothy Treadwell of him getting eaten by a brown bear.
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Indian7953
Well-Known Member
My son and I have shot three Alaska moose with 168 grain 7 mm burgers all have been one shot kills, they take a hit stand there or walk a little bit and fall over dead. I have all been lung/heart shots.
David Emerson
Well-Known Member
How I really feel is berger bullets are not game bullets. Thin jacketed target bullets. Long range they may work fine. But even then they are inconsistent. A berger is no different than a sierra matchking. Sierra has the fortitude to tell everyone that they are not game bullets. Bergers thing is that their bullets will penetrate about 4 inches and then blow causing a lot of damage. OK. A broadside shot on a small animal? Devestating. Now let us talk about a quartering to shot on a moose? Bull elk? Grizzly? Not so much. Do you think our bullet makers have been wrong for 50 years? A real game bullet will hold together and retain weight to penetrate deep. Smash big bones. I do not have a problem with you guys shooting animals at a long distance. IF YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH TO PUT YOUR BULLETS WHERE THEY NEED TO BE. Shot placement with confidence with a bullet that can drive deep. Now. A nosler partition can be shot to a long distance. The new federal premium SOLID SHANK BONDED CORE TIPPED that will open at a slow velocity. Not a thin jacket target bullet. I built a 28 nosler for a good friend. Loaded with 165 sierra game changers. Worked awesome on a big whitetail. But a told him. My friend these are not elk bullets.
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I shot a bull in AK in 2018 with my 300wm and 215 Bergers. One shot through the front shoulder and down he went. He dropped faster than my ID bull shot with 250gr Hornady bullets in my 358STA and my ID cow shot with 300gr X bullets in my .416 Rem. I'd probably take a handful of bonded/copper bullet loads in case I ran into a griz but I wouldn't worry about shooting moose with a 210 or 215.
David Emerson
Well-Known Member
I am happy for you. Shot where in the shoulder and at what range? I sold my friend my 358 norma. 250 Hornady at 2900 and it did not make it through a Mississippi whitetail at a 100 yards on a shoulder spinal shot. As for x bullets if you do not drive them through bone the result is wait a while. Go ahead and use your bergers
The bull shot with 215 Bergers was 250yds and the hit was in the middle of the blade for height and near the back edge, closest to the lungs. The 250 Hornady's I shot in my 358STA at 3050fps and they had a tendency to pencil hole the 4 or 5 elk and moose I shot with them. My bull was shot at 450yds through the lungs after he dismounted the cow he was with. After the hit he turned and faced me for 20-30 seconds before he started swaying from side to side and tipped over. The 300gr X bullets were going 2960fps in my .416 and my cow moose took 2 shots through the lungs at 130yds in normal moose fashion. She stood there for another 10 seconds or so and got rubbery legs then tipped over.
I dont really need your approval to use Bergers but thanks I guess. I've killed 14 elk, a moose in AK, a blacktail on Kodiak, 2 axis deer in HI, and a javelina in TX with 215 Bergers in the last 5 years so I'm pretty well versed on their performance. Before that I used Hornady Amax's. You can keep thinking target bullets dont kill stuff and the rest of us that know better will keep killing stuff with them.
I dont really need your approval to use Bergers but thanks I guess. I've killed 14 elk, a moose in AK, a blacktail on Kodiak, 2 axis deer in HI, and a javelina in TX with 215 Bergers in the last 5 years so I'm pretty well versed on their performance. Before that I used Hornady Amax's. You can keep thinking target bullets dont kill stuff and the rest of us that know better will keep killing stuff with them.
Where are you guiding in Alaska? One of my best friends fly's for Stoney River
RH300UM
Well-Known Member
South Slope of the Brooks
And the Peninsula
stonehands1
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- Feb 25, 2015
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- 233
Berger has 2 variants of the 210vld. Fortunately the are very similar. So similar that my 300nm doesn't know the difference. Same poi. Same drop. Same launch velocity.
Hunting bullet uses same j4 jacket as target bullet but is thinner.
Here's how I do it.
Load rifle with 210 target when hunting. They work on anything to 1000yds. If I see animal at 1000 plus yards simply pull clip of target bullets out and put clip of 210 vld hunting bullets in. The thinner jacket opens better at lower velocity.
No need to do anything on the scope since they shoot the same. Happy that Berger made a long range and shorter range bullet that are identical for the 30 cal.
Good luck on the hunt!
Hunting bullet uses same j4 jacket as target bullet but is thinner.
Here's how I do it.
Load rifle with 210 target when hunting. They work on anything to 1000yds. If I see animal at 1000 plus yards simply pull clip of target bullets out and put clip of 210 vld hunting bullets in. The thinner jacket opens better at lower velocity.
No need to do anything on the scope since they shoot the same. Happy that Berger made a long range and shorter range bullet that are identical for the 30 cal.
Good luck on the hunt!
Westernhuntr
Well-Known Member
A scapula is one thing, but I've seen a 300 Berger EH come apart completely on a bull that was hit center shoulder at 800 yards.
They are target bullets that kill quickly if hit perfectly, except sometimes even then they won't.
I had 2 out of 3 215's fail on my bull last year at 680
I thought the center of the shoulder was the scapula. It's the biggest bone in the front shoulder by a large margin. I hate to break it to people but even "hunting" bullets don't perform perfect every time. I've had what I consider terrible performance from Partitions in the past so I don't use them. I had a 162gr 7mm Amax not fully penetrate a bull elk's lungs at 533yds and I had to shoot him again. He didn't get up and run off and I got to eat him so not all is lost. I don't hunt with those anymore either. Amax's are target bullets as well. 140gr 6.5mm Amax's at 3230fps kill elk quite well though. Normal "hunting" bullets have marginal BC's which drops their energy on target and speed for expansion at long range. When the speed drops too far they pencil through with very little damage. If you don't like "target" bullets don't shoot them, it's your choice. I personally think certain Amax's kill better than Berger's but they aren't always as accurate. They are a mass produced bullet versus a custom bullet.
I get annoyed when people try to push their opinion on others. Use what you want to use. The OP asked about using Berger's on a moose and I gave my experience. He didn't ask to hear from those that don't like Berger's but people always feel the need to interject their opinion weather they are asked or not.
I get annoyed when people try to push their opinion on others. Use what you want to use. The OP asked about using Berger's on a moose and I gave my experience. He didn't ask to hear from those that don't like Berger's but people always feel the need to interject their opinion weather they are asked or not.
