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Rifles, Reloading, Optics, Equipment
Rifles, Bullets, Barrels & Ballistics
Berger Prep for Terminal Performance
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<blockquote data-quote="CONatureBoy" data-source="post: 2745352" data-attributes="member: 118769"><p>That's a great question. I see you're shooting lighter Bergers (140 grains) at bulls out to 700 yards. I think that's marginal bullet for that range. I shoot 210 VLDs or 230 OTMs out of my 300 RUM at bull elk. Cow elk maybe 180 or 190-grain Bergers from a 280 AI. I reserve the 156-grain 6.5 mm (264 Win Mag) for lighter game. I used to hunt with a 270. I have come to believe in overwhelming force.</p><p></p><p>In my experience there's not much left of a Berger bullet that hits an animal inside 500 yards. Lots of tiny pieces of metal, evidence of explosive impact. When they slow down enough, out towards the limits of my ability to shoot, I expect the front part of the bullet still fragments, and the rest tumbles. I haven't seen that. My longest shot to date was 611 yards with a drilled SMK on a cow elk. I didn't recover the bullet. (The elk dropped where it stood, and I saw good evidence of fragmentation while field dressing.) My longest shot with a Berger was an antelope at 525 yards. The bullet fragmentation was dramatic and obvious to the naked eye. </p><p></p><p>I think if you watch a few of Barbour Creek's gel-block tests of Berger bullets (usually at 600 yards), you'll realize that Bergers are highly frangible by design. They go in an inch or two, and then fragment violently, transferring all of their kinetic energy into the animal. (You can see the little bullet fragments in the gel block.) Once you've seen the insides of an animal shot with a Berger, there's no question of whether the bullet fragmented or tumbled. Bergers don't hang together well enough to tumble, except perhaps at very long range. Take a look at my gel-block picture earlier in this thread. It's obvious.</p><p></p><p>I load my long-distance rounds so they retain 1,500 ft-lbs of kinetic energy out to the maximum distance I'm willing to shoot at game. This is a widely published ethical minimum for elk (some folks say 1,000 ft-lbs for smaller game). My hope is that this much kinetic energy will drive a bullet to fragment, producing a quick kill. In my experience, fragmentation in the heart-lungs region is the best way to stop an animal right where you shoot it, and to produce a quick, humane kill.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="CONatureBoy, post: 2745352, member: 118769"] That's a great question. I see you're shooting lighter Bergers (140 grains) at bulls out to 700 yards. I think that's marginal bullet for that range. I shoot 210 VLDs or 230 OTMs out of my 300 RUM at bull elk. Cow elk maybe 180 or 190-grain Bergers from a 280 AI. I reserve the 156-grain 6.5 mm (264 Win Mag) for lighter game. I used to hunt with a 270. I have come to believe in overwhelming force. In my experience there's not much left of a Berger bullet that hits an animal inside 500 yards. Lots of tiny pieces of metal, evidence of explosive impact. When they slow down enough, out towards the limits of my ability to shoot, I expect the front part of the bullet still fragments, and the rest tumbles. I haven't seen that. My longest shot to date was 611 yards with a drilled SMK on a cow elk. I didn't recover the bullet. (The elk dropped where it stood, and I saw good evidence of fragmentation while field dressing.) My longest shot with a Berger was an antelope at 525 yards. The bullet fragmentation was dramatic and obvious to the naked eye. I think if you watch a few of Barbour Creek's gel-block tests of Berger bullets (usually at 600 yards), you'll realize that Bergers are highly frangible by design. They go in an inch or two, and then fragment violently, transferring all of their kinetic energy into the animal. (You can see the little bullet fragments in the gel block.) Once you've seen the insides of an animal shot with a Berger, there's no question of whether the bullet fragmented or tumbled. Bergers don't hang together well enough to tumble, except perhaps at very long range. Take a look at my gel-block picture earlier in this thread. It's obvious. I load my long-distance rounds so they retain 1,500 ft-lbs of kinetic energy out to the maximum distance I'm willing to shoot at game. This is a widely published ethical minimum for elk (some folks say 1,000 ft-lbs for smaller game). My hope is that this much kinetic energy will drive a bullet to fragment, producing a quick kill. In my experience, fragmentation in the heart-lungs region is the best way to stop an animal right where you shoot it, and to produce a quick, humane kill. [/QUOTE]
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