From Hogs to Bears..... will the 180gr Berger work?

Nikolakangrga

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Joined
May 20, 2009
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154
Location
Sonoma County, CA
My go to hunting rifle is a Kimber Montana in .300WM. Iam currently shooting factory ammunition and the best groups I've gotten so far is .75 MOA at 100 yards. Considering this is not a long range rifle and just my packin' in hunting rifle I was VERY pleased. I recently purchased some HSM 180gr Berger VLD factory ammo and was BLOWN AWAY. Great performance and my groups shank to .4 MOA @100yrds.

My question to you is Ive heard that at close range the VLD's DESTROY game. 99% of my shots are within 50-400 yards. I have an occasional 500-600 yard shot. Are these ranges too close for the VLD? If I shoot a Hog or a deer at 50 yards will I be regretting the shot due to meat loss?

Thanks,
Nick
 
Mark,
Thanks for the reply. I do not re-load my own ammo (wish I did), and HSM does not load the 210's that I can find.
If I understand correctly, you are saying the 180's travel to fast and would expand too quickly?
Thanks
Nick
 
Nick, I have no first hand experience with them except a head shot on a coyote using a 210 Berger out of my 300 RUM. It made about a 2" exit hole. You will get a lot of opinions on this subject. Some love the explosive bullets and some dont. In a very high percentage of cases they are very effective killers. I have read the rare report of them failing to expand. With an explosive type bullet, you will run the risk of meat damage and that's why I shy away from them. And with the smaller, faster ones, I am not confident they will give good penetration on a less than optimal angle shot that may need to penetrate a lot of bone and muscle. I met a guy at the local range who said he used them for a while and stopped because they always caused a lot of blood shot meat. That was his only complaint. I've read reports here that well placed shots didn't cause blood shot meat so I'm guessing you can experience both results depending on.....

I think the only way to know for sure is for you to ttry them yourself, because if you do a search on the subject, which you should, you'll get a lot of varying experiences. I know that's not much help, but that's the way I see it.

Cheers,

Mark
 
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