Berger VLD in 300 Win Mag

[scottyboy]

Hello everyone, first let me apologize if this topic is in the wrong forum or has been beaten like a dead horse, im new here... please forgive me

i am looking at shooting some Berger VLD in my 300 Win Mag but was wondering if i could solicit some opinions good-bad-indifferent. i have read on various places that Berger is "particular" in the twist, i shoot a Tikka which i believe is 1:11 twist. i have been looking at the 185 grain and the 215? grain VLD's. i want to assume that either will be fine as my max distance i will shoot is probably 500, maybe 600 on a good day. i will be chasing elk and deer in this particular instance (*i will shoot a few hundred rounds at these distances to be comfortable and did my fair share of long range shooting in my past life in the service)

reloading for me is off the table for now, for reasons we dont need to get in to , and i would be simply buying the HSM ammo through Cabelas or similar

perhaps this is a better bullet i should be looking at, but Bergers...to me, have a great reputation. i would appreciate any thoughts on Bergers in this case or any others for that matter.

again, thanks for having me on your forums!
Scott

 

[ShtrRdy]

If you go with the Bergers, make sure they are the "hunting" design. The jacket thickness is different.

 

[aj427ci]

I don't believe hsm offers loaded ammo with the 215, I might wrong. Give the 185's a try if they don't shoot well give the nosler trophy grade in the 180 accubonds. I've found there ammo shoots pretty good.

 

[WildRose]

Hello everyone, first let me apologize if this topic is in the wrong forum or has been beaten like a dead horse, im new here... please forgive me

i am looking at shooting some Berger VLD in my 300 Win Mag but was wondering if i could solicit some opinions good-bad-indifferent. i have read on various places that Berger is "particular" in the twist, i shoot a Tikka which i believe is 1:11 twist. i have been looking at the 185 grain and the 215? grain VLD's. i want to assume that either will be fine as my max distance i will shoot is probably 500, maybe 600 on a good day. i will be chasing elk and deer in this particular instance (*i will shoot a few hundred rounds at these distances to be comfortable and did my fair share of long range shooting in my past life in the service)

reloading for me is off the table for now, for reasons we dont need to get in to , and i would be simply buying the HSM ammo through Cabelas or similar

perhaps this is a better bullet i should be looking at, but Bergers...to me, have a great reputation. i would appreciate any thoughts on Bergers in this case or any others for that matter.

again, thanks for having me on your forums!
Scott

Give Berger's twist rate calculator a spin.

Twist Rate Stability Calculator | Berger Bullets

 

[aebhunter]

My only experience with the VLD's similar (I shot the 190s out of my .300) was not that great, but it was on an elk at a fairly long range and they can be pretty tough. I shot him about 6 inches behind the shoulder and he took off like a racehorse and ran about a 1/2 mile before he piled up. I was lucky it was in a fairly open area and I was able to see him, as there wasn't much of a blood trail, if any. That being said, I now shoot the 215 bergers, hopefully I can get some real world experience with them this year. Lots of folks on here seem to have really good luck with the Bergers though.

 

[ShtrRdy]

My only experience with the VLD's similar (I shot the 190s out of my .300) was not that great, but it was on an elk at a fairly long range and they can be pretty tough. I shot him about 6 inches behind the shoulder and he took off like a racehorse and ran about a 1/2 mile before he piled up. I was lucky it was in a fairly open area and I was able to see him, as there wasn't much of a blood trail, if any. That being said, I now shoot the 215 bergers, hopefully I can get some real world experience with them this year. Lots of folks on here seem to have really good luck with the Bergers though.

What did the damage look like when you cut the Elk open? Was it a narrow wound channel, or did it do much damage? Or maybe it just exploded in the first few inches and that was it?

 

[FEENIX]

I don't believe hsm offers loaded ammo with the 215, I might wrong. Give the 185's a try if they don't shoot well give the nosler trophy grade in the 180 accubonds. I've found there ammo shoots pretty good.

You are correct, the heaviest if you can find them is the 210.

ABM also loads them in 185s as well the 230s >>> All ABM Ammo

Unless in single shot, the 230s might not be ideal for Tikkas as they have limited COAL due to their DBMs clearance.

 

[FEENIX]

My only experience with the VLD's similar (I shot the 190s out of my .300) was not that great, but it was on an elk at a fairly long range and they can be pretty tough. I shot him about 6 inches behind the shoulder and he took off like a racehorse and ran about a 1/2 mile before he piled up. I was lucky it was in a fairly open area and I was able to see him, as there wasn't much of a blood trail, if any. That being said, I now shoot the 215 bergers, hopefully I can get some real world experience with them this year. Lots of folks on here seem to have really good luck with the Bergers though.

What did the damage look like when you cut the Elk open? Was it a narrow wound channel, or did it do much damage? Or maybe it just exploded in the first few inches and that was it?

I harvested a MT bull elk at 931 yards in 2013 with 190 Berger VLD off my .300 WM. He somehow managed to run 200 yards with the herd. There was a pool of blood and trails; when I field dress him, the internal organs were all souped up.

My other buddy shot another bull elk from the same herd less than a minute after I did and DRT it with 180 Berger VLD off his 7MM mag at ~ 200 yards.

Earlier that season, another hunting buddy shot a bull elk with his .300 WM. It took him 3 shots with 180 Barnes TTSX all in the vital area and all under 100 yards.

IMHO, all bullets performed as advertised but all the elk expired differently.

 

[scottyboy]

Thank you all very much for the replies. Yes I was probably mistaken about the 215 Berger, I was quickly browsing their online catalog and thought I saw 215..at any rate, one big factor I had noticed was the "hunting" descriptor for the bullets, I'm glad you all mentioned that. I think I'm going to get some 180s for this years deer season and while i understand this will be a apples vs shovels comparison to a elk, I think it will give me a idea of how/what the bullet does. I will be sure to post some pics and range reports if you guys are interested or just like to see pictures like I do

Scott