Berger supporters, Vocal Minority with Something to Gain, or Legit?

[Troutslayer2]

I really want to shoot the 215 Hybrid, despite witnessing poor performance with the VLD with my own eyes. So I started really using the Google and reading real world reports here there and everywhere. The one thing that I realized, there is a very vocal group of people who are members of every single forum on the internets. There are like 3-4 people who are members of every shooting forum that ever was and post on all of them day in and day out. Don't you people have something better to do? Anyway, when you really weed through the "amazing" reports from the vocal minority, you find a lot of more joe average type guys who don't have the best things to say but seem to get drowned out or shouted down by a couple people who allegedly have killed ten thousand game animals without a failure.

Is it all guerrilla marketing?

 

[Ingwe]

Unless the Berger guys here just ignore your post, this should be fun

 

[Rhovee]

I think what happens a lot, is there are people who get to hunt all over the country or on ranches and are guide's that kill or whiteness lots of kills every year. The 215 kills. I have killed animals with them and no problems. I think there are WAY more people who get into long range hunting and don't practice enough or at all and take shots they shouldn't. They get a rifle that shoots 1/2"'at 100 yards and then think they can kill an animal at 1k. There are lots of bad long range shots taken. The more I shoot 1 k on paper the more I realize how much can change so fast. So you hear about how Bergers don't work because people try and shoot the shoulder. Or make bad long range shots. You do not want to shoulder punch an elk or deer with a vld. I am a bow hunter before I got into shooting. I always go for double lung. Only other bullet I would try is a LRAB. I personally have not had any issues with Bergers. Hybrids hold together better than VLD'S (thicker jacket). They can have clogged tips from polishing compound. So that needs to be checked.

 

[Troutslayer2]

I think there are WAY more people who get into long range hunting and don't practice enough or at all and take shots they shouldn't. They get a rifle that shoots 1/2"'at 100 yards and then think they can kill an animal at 1k.

Phase one of Berger defense- accuse all naysayers of being incompetent, unqualified marksmen!

 

[KyCarl]

Free Choice? Anyone can use what he pleases and say what he wants about it!
What we choose to believe or buy into is a whole different story.Everything out there is the next best thing until the next NEW best thing comes out? I haven't seen enough to leave Partitions yet..That's my choice!

 

[Thescandinavian]

I tried Berger and it was a mess, I tried eld and was a mess, nosler was a mess. On the ranges I have shoot game this far I can't really tell the difference.
Used the Berger's mostly because I somehow started with them and did my load development. See no reason to change.

 

[BEEMAN]

I've been happy with the 215's. I don't shoot piles of animals a year. Farthest deer was at 734 yds. Also a elk at 625 yds. Multiple deer at 500 give or take. I will say the damage was extreme on deer size game.

 

[Slick8]

I have used bergers off and on for years in the 2850-3100 fps from the muzzle. They have typically been the most accurate in my rifles and least sensitive to seating depth.

Nothing has been lost to the berger and most fell within a few yards of being shot. I have fortunate to not have suffered making a bad shot with bergers. Not that it can't happen but if it do I'll know it's on me.

My only knock is the lack of pass through. I've never had more than a fragment or two pass through which means no blood trail. I've killed a few along the edge of some thick nasty south Texas brush which could mean a 50 yard run with no blood would be difficult at best if it were late in the evening. Again, my only knock.

My shots have ranged from 50-520 with most in the 200ish range.

Here's my most recent. I threw a quick load together in a new rifle which produced 1 inch at 200 yards. I shot s cow elk at 180 dumping here in here tracks from a shoulder shot. Two weeks later I shot a WT buck which weighed 150 at the most at 265 yards. At this range the retained velocity was in the high 2400 range. The deer only made it 40-50 yards but it was getting dark and I had no blood trail. Excellent shot tight to the shoulder. The results of the 215 berger was 77 grains and of course core seperation. Again this was a small WT broadside at modest velocity.

 

[BallisticsGuy]

To those of us that have a definition of bullet terminal performance that includes the bullet not coming apart before it's finished defeating the target, it's pure supporter foolishness to try to take what in any guise is nothing but a target bullet and to push it into hunting purposes.

For those of us that think (wrongly) that many light weight fragments won't lose speed and therefore killing power faster than large heavy still glued together bullets which have expanded a bit but not come apart it seems just right.

To me, it's abject supporter foolishness from supporters that almost by definition don't really get how living animals, physics or statistics work.

 

[Buster Hemlock]

The Berger hybrids have been some of the easiest bullets to get shooting well with minimal tuning. I usually load up a few different powder charges with bullets seated .010" off the lands and have something worth while with under 20 rounds down the tube. On game I like the way they perform. If you like anchoring game by breaking the shoulder or exit wounds they may not be the bullet for you. Berger's bullets are intended to shed/fragment a fair amount of their weight and meat damage can be high if the bullet finds a shoulder. I shoot Partitions for Bear, Berger's for Elk/deer/antelope, Hornady V-Max's and Sierra Blitzkings for varmints, Sierra Matchkings only on steel/paper and whatever I have or can get to fastest for Coyotes.

 

[Wolf76]

My experience has been fantastic with Berger bullets. Most animals drop or take less than 10 steps. I'll say that I use hybrid or target bullets and not hunting vlds. Just like every bullet, there are some key watch outs. Use heavy for cartridge bullets and make sure the tips are not clogged.
I'll add that the best bullet is dependent on the animal, distance, and point of aim ( shoulder or ribs).
I love SST bullets for deer. 215 Berger hybrid out of my 300 mag should make every animal scared. And the regular accubond is always a sensible answer.
I've always heard "it's all about shot placement". If that's true, the Berger wins every time.
Essentially it's going to come down to your experience with _______ bullet. All three of these bulls died quickly from a Berger bullet. 2 from a 300 mag and one from a 308 @403 yards.

 

[mobenzowner]

I really like the Berger's in almost all my calibers. I don't shoot 1000 yds where I hunt and have never had an issue I felt was bullet related. I have also used lots of sierras, and core locks (sp?) and no issues with them either. The Berger's just seem to be more accurate in nearly all my rifles.

 

[sturner]

A few years ago I tried them couldn't get them to group in a 7 mag so I called told them my problem a guy told me that they had a bad run of .284s (that lot number)so I said well send me so more and he said that I could buy more so I worked up a load with Nosler 140 accubonds
Before the uproar 168 gr 6/08/2010

 

[bigngreen]

By definition I'm a Berger fan boy now I guess, even though I believe all we shot this year were Hammers.
Here why I really, really like the Berger's I use or similar bullet, here a typical bull shot running inside 300 yards with a 160 Matrix from a 6.5 Sherman, bull had skidded to a stop withing 30 yards.
First pic is the meat loss, second is the hole through the vitals and large MIA lung parts, third is the blood painted all over the sagebrush because he was blowing blood out his face, bullet didn't exit.