Disappointed with the Berger 156 grain EOL

[ENGUNEER]

I shoot Berger 180 hybrids in my 7mm Practical and 195 EOL's in my 7mm-300 NMI. Similarly, I shoot the 215 hybrid in my RUM and 30-378 Wby, and I shoot the 300 VLD in my 338-378 Wby. Same result in all cases. All the animals shot well drop or don't go far and the internal damage is significant. But, I don't usually get a pass-through with these bullets. I just get harvested animals.

 

[chav0_12]

View attachment 338340
This is what you should be getting out of a hunting round. This is a 130 grain Federal Trophy copper, 270WSM.

Not if the bullet isn't designed to do that. There are a lot of different styles of hunting bullets with different performance designed into the bullet. All with the same terminal objectives though, some seem to do better than others with different designs.

 

[FEENIX]

I shot a buck at 130 yards with my 6.5 PRC using Berger 156 grains EOL. I hit him right behind the shoulder. The buck ran about 50 yards with no blood. There was no exit wound. My Son and Grandsons have shot whitetail and axis with no exit wounds. Kind of disappointed with this bullet. My loads were going about 2860 fps and no exit wounds on that buck I shot. Looking for some advice as to what would be a good bullet to use that would have good exit wounds, thanks in advance

Ram heart shot at 500 with the Berger 156GR bullet from a 6.5 PRC.

 

[khmplus]

Not if the bullet isn't designed to do that. There are a lot of different styles of hunting bullets with different performance designed into the bullet. All with the same terminal objectives though, some seem to do better than others with different designs.

Agree. For medium to large game, I believe a bullet should expand enough when only hitting soft tissue to do lethal damage, and also retain weight for maximum penetration when hitting bone. A well designed bullet will do both effectively.

 

[hawlejr]

Do you think the long bullet could be "keyholing" due to rifling twist not fast enough. Shoot some paper at 100 and 200 yards and see if the holes are nice and round, or does it look like the bullet was "yawing" as it went through. I think a 156 gr .264 bullet will need a very fast twist ....maybe faster than the standard 1:8.

 

[naja302]

sounds like it worked perfectly. I shot an antelope with that bullet @ 800 and it killed it instantly and went all the way through.

It's difficult to find the perfect compromise for close and long range but this is about as close as it gets

 

[chav0_12]

Ram heart shot at 500 with the Berger 156GR bullet from a 6.5 PRC.

Looks like he might've rolled 50 yards down the hill, never to be seen again.

 

[Squatch]

Try some ELD-X , taken many with them, blows right thru the boiler room and they don't go 25 yds. Bleed like a garden hose wide open

 

[chav0_12]

Agree. For medium to large game, I believe a bullet should expand enough when only hitting soft tissue to do lethal damage, and also retain weight for maximum penetration when hitting bone. A well designed bullet will do both effectively.

Sure, that can be your belief. Keep in mind though, not everyone believes that full penetration and pass-thu is optimal performance. Especially when considering the forum we're on currently. For some performing well at lower velocities and having better ballistics is more important than a pass-thru at shorter ranges. The Trophy Copper and other monolithics like Barnes' TSX/TTSX and Nosler's E-Tip tend to require a lot more velocity than a Berger or ELD-X to expand the way yours did, limiting them to very large magnums, lighter weights, and/or shorter range hunting.

 

[Huntz]

The truth is that most old plain cup and core bullets give the best penetration and pass through`s at the ranges most guys shoot game at.A Game King will put the smack down on almost anything in NA.Too many are worried about getting the extra 1/10" accuracy at 600 yards then face the fact that it really does not matter.Yes the Bergers and ELDx`s I have used have all been Bang Flops,but the animals were past 300 yards in distance.They were shot out of a 270WSM and a 6.5X55.My Son used my Tikka 6.5X55 to shoot a Mule Deer Buck at 450 yards with a 143ELDx that just crumpled on impact.We carry two cartridge wallets on hunts.One with cup and cores and the other with Long Range VLD type bullets.On a stalk you have a chance to change cartridges according to how far a shot you have.Most of the time same weight bullets will pretty much shoot to the same POA,but you may have to try several different bullets first.JMHO,Huntz

 

[OldElkHunter1961]

.308, 180 grain Nosler E-Tips started at 2964 from a .300WM. Recovered after a 226 yard flight. Have never recovered a SGK besides jacket bits and the elk was always dead within ~30 yards. Pick u'r poison.

 

[pltibbits]

I shot a buck at 130 yards with my 6.5 PRC using Berger 156 grains EOL. I hit him right behind the shoulder. The buck ran about 50 yards with no blood. There was no exit wound. My Son and Grandsons have shot whitetail and axis with no exit wounds. Kind of disappointed with this bullet. My loads were going about 2860 fps and no exit wounds on that buck I shot. Looking for some advice as to what would be a good bullet to use that would have good exit wounds, thanks in advance

I have killed Deer at 200 and a bear at 700 both definitely had exit wounds both went down instantly with 6.5 PRC going 3060 at muzzle at 700 it was definitely way slower but performed exactly how it was supposed to both in shoulder blade behind shoulder

 

[Squatch]

I have had great luck with these bullets out of my 6.5 prc, MV 3050. Antelope at 530, an axis at 130ish, and a cow elk at 430yds. Pics below ate the antelope and the axis.

 

[Solomon]

I shot a buck at 130 yards with my 6.5 PRC using Berger 156 grains EOL. I hit him right behind the shoulder. The buck ran about 50 yards with no blood. There was no exit wound. My Son and Grandsons have shot whitetail and axis with no exit wounds. Kind of disappointed with this bullet. My loads were going about 2860 fps and no exit wounds on that buck I shot. Looking for some advice as to what would be a good bullet to use that would have good exit wounds, thanks in advance

That is exactly what I want, and expect from a Berger bullet. That bullet penetrated 6-10", then dumped every ounce of energy in that animal. Personally, I appreciate the lack of over penetration because I nearly never end up with bloodshot meat on the off side. Sounds like optimal performance to me.