Berger Jacket Deformities

[orygun]

Hello all I'm new here. I recently bought a box of 7mm 140 gr Hunting VLDs for a new load work up for this upcoming fall season. About halfway through reloading I noticed that one of the copper jackets on one of the bullets had a very pronounced crack in it.

I'm relatively new to reloading (~300 reloads so far) and I've noticed a few cosmetic issues with other brands, i.e. scratches, discoloration, dings, sketchy looking meplats on SMKs. Most of the time I attribute these "bumps and bruises" to them bouncing around in the packaging. In other words I don't expect all the bullets to be perfect when I break the seal. But I have never noticed a jacket that looks this bad. Upon further inspection I noticed that a number of bullets had very minute cracks in their respective jackets but none as extreme as #4 in the following pictures.

Some info on the bullets: 7mm 140 gr Hunting VLD, lot#7544.



The bullets are arranged from left to right in order of best to worst. When inspecting the box I noticed that most of the time I could randomly select a bullet that resembled #1 and #2. The cracks are very small and they look like cosmetic defects. Bullet #3 has some discoloration but still has a noticeable crack in it. Bullet #4 is the worst and luckily there is only one.

When comparing the jackets to other brands (Sierra, Nosler, Hornady), I would not consider this box a box of match quality bullets. However I'm not one to let a bad apple spoil the bunch. If anything I'll use #4 as a fouler/sighter. My question is, has anyone else noticed this type of defect with Berger Bullets or any other brands of bullets? Thanks for reading.

 

[Darkker]

Yes, I'm definitely not a Berger supporter. It had been several years since I left them, so when I built a Creedi figured I'd try the new magical hybrid target bullets. Let's just say they are not magical. After working loads and testing them with a Pressure Trace, I wanted rid of them. Funny thing, I haven't found anyone who will trade for them in any brand!

 

[ZSteinle]

That is from when the bullet shape is formed the copper is smaller in diamater so has to fold in on itself. Bergers work great for me. When I was new to reloading I had a really hard time with them but now I have no issues with them and think they work great. Couldnt really tell you what I changed in my reloading but finding a load now for a new rifle seems easy.

 

[Laelkhunter]

Is it possible this is a box of "seconds" or "blems" ? I have never seen anything like that in bullets that I buy, although I have never bought Bergers.
I did buy some Nosler "blems/seconds", and they were only slightly discolored, and were almost half the price of the first grade bullets.
It looks like the Quality Control person that inspected your bullets took the day off, or they employed Ray Charles for a short time.
I would call them, and give them the lot # on the box, and see what they tell you. Doesn't look right to me.

 

[Dosh]

Ory, never seen a single flaw in a Berger. A few meplats, but never a crack or fold. I've loaded a lot of them for about 8 years for myself and friends. You should definitely contact Berger, they should not balk at making it right for you. Good luck

 

[jammer300]

I have never bought Bergers or used them but I have never seen anything like that from all the other brands I have loaded. It does make me want to stay away from them even more. I would call them and ask them to go and wake up their QC guy. As far as discoloration on copper, that has never bothered me, but if I had multiple bullets with cracks in the jackets from the same box I would be wanting my money back. I'm not bad mouthing Berger, maybe it is a fluke that these made it out and hopefully they make it right.

 

[lamiglas]

I called berger on this and they had me send them in. if I recall correctly they said they were lube lines, and that they are normal. They said that even in thier posters if you look close you can see them on some of the bullets. I have tested these out to distance and it does not make a difference. One batch was worse than the others and these were the ones I tested. I just got some 140 vld hunting, and they have quite a bit of discoloration as well. Again they shoot great, so for me they have turned out to be cosmetic only

 

[bigngreen]

Your looking the cosmetic effects from swaging a bullet, any brand that builds a bullet the same way will show the same thing. Load them and worry about things that will actually matter IMO!