Question on 7mm RM and 180gr. Bergers

[6.5x300 WBY]

Guys I am more a lurker than anything as I learn so much from just reading. So I now have a question for you all. I have a Sendero 7mmRM topped with Burris E III. I was planning on reloading for this as I accumalated things over the years for older 7mmmags. I bought some Berger 168. Barnes TTX and swift 150 scirocco II. I bought a few random boxes of factory to break her in. Hornady super .SST. Underwood SST and Remington 175 pointed core-lokt bullets.

Get to range and set up. Poo poo on Hornady and Underwood ammo. Sendero says no way .yuck don't feed this to me ever again. 2+". Fugly ugly.

So Chuck in remingtons 175's. And holy do do . She like it she likes it a lot. .75 all day. So I am like hmm. Get home order HSM 180 Bergers. Fast forward Shoots .5 or under all day long. Yikes I am smokin happy. Now this is what I'm talking about.

Delima boys. I now have No desire to reload for this as these HSM 180s are the cats meow. Accuracy and good velocities. Ave around 2950 fps. I am just about ready to put this load DATA in to the scope as THE LOAD FOR HER.

ONLY thing stopping me is these bergers. Yes I have read endless hours on here about failures and success. Kind of nervous about it but want to give it a chance.

So what is this ammo good for? Deer elk hogs moose? Is this round that good it could be my one stop shop for my 7RM? Now I am an eastern deer Hunter 90% of the time. I may get out west to chase an elk some day but I don't count on it will happen.. I am most worried about bullet performance. Where to aim ? Through Shoulder ,. Behind shoulder etc. The good bad and ugly please. I really hope I may have found THE LOAD .

I am going to SC. This August on a deer hunt 3k acres unfenced managed ranch .so its a doe ,buck, hog a day. If I choose. Actually my first attempt at a velvet buck. : ). I plan on this rifle taking the trip along with my Brothers 700 BDL 06 .Inherited . RIP and my TC encore handgun in either my 445 supermag or 41 GNR #2. And my BFR 454. 4 guns going on my trip. Each will have time in stand during the hunt.

So let's hear it. Bergers????

Thx Brian

 

[gillettehunter]

You will find endless discussions about this topic. Use the search feature and you'll find a lot of info. I'm using a 7 SAUM with the 180's. Running about 2900 FPS. So very similar to your load. I have killed 3 animals with it. 2 DRT's and the other went perhaps 30 yds max. Shots were 50 yds to 300 or so. They were deadly for me.
Be sure and take a small drill bit and make sure that the tip of the bullet is not plugged. Broz taught me that and I have found a number of bullets that required drilling out. A plugged tip causes the bullet to pencil through. Good luck.
Bruce

 

[6.5x300 WBY]

Thx for that info. I will surely check to make sure the tips are opened up.

 

[gillettehunter]

I think you'll like the Bergers in your outfit. Should do a good job for you.
Bruce

 

[codyadams]

My cousin has a 7rm that I loaded for. 180 Berger's, Reloder 26 going 3015 fps. Worked up to 3070 fps, best accuracy was at 3010-3035. Extremely accurate, shoots in the .3's out of his Remington 700 long range.

last year we killed 2 pronghorn, 2 elk, and 1 deer. One of the elk was at 578 yards and turned as he shot, it hit on the point of the shoulder and the bullet was in the off hind leg, just under the hide, literally penetrated through the entire length of a large cow elk, causing massive internal damage, dead on the spot. The other elk was at 520 yards, broadside through the heart, exit about 2", ran 20 yards down a steep hill and was dead. Deer was shot through the lungs at 150 yards, ran 50 yards and was dead. One of the pronghorn was hit through the lungs at 480 yards, dropped on the spot. Other one was hit through the heart at 740 yards, ran maybe 50 yards with a blood trail about 5' wide and was dead.

On all occasions, the bullets performed flawlessly. You should have no problems.

 

[6.5x300 WBY]

Thx Cody that's exactly what I was hoping to hear. Appreciate your time.

Brian

 

[zimmer2]

Here is my experience 7mm RM 180 bergers w/retumbo @ 2950 fps

Cow elk @ 650 yards, high shoulder shot dropped there BUT **** lots of meat lossed, front 1/2 of elk was jello

Bull elk @ 450 yards, hit low front leg first shot and second shot was lung shot, same devastation as last cow, front 1/2 was jello

I like to eat them so this year will try ELD-X, I have shot both Bergers and ELDX in this gun and can get .7 to .5 groups without to much tweaking

 

[dsculley]

I have read about people being unhappy with the terminal performance of the Bergers, but I have never had and issue. Deer hunting in S. AL. All the deer I have shot with them have been DRT (as in bang,flop!) except for one that ran about 30 - 40 yds. All the shots that were DRT were 100 yds or more. The one that ran was a close shot of about 40 - 50 yds. I think velocity was still too high for best performance, but it did get the job done. This is in a 7RM with the 168 Bergers.

 

[jlvandersnick]

I've been shooting bergers for almost twenty years. The key is having enough twist. On the 7mm RM....1 in 9 is minimum for the 180's. Faster is better I like 8.5. If you don't have fast enough twist and the bullet is not stable..... then that is where people get into trouble with the bergers. If that bullet starts to tumble then it won't open up like it is designed to do.

I have a 7mm RM and shoot the 180 hunting VLDs. Killed pronghorn at 656 yds and 600 yds broadside. Exit holes the size of tennis balls. One ran about 10 yds the other did not take a step. Shot a third at 200 quartering towards me....dropped dead.

 

[codyadams]

I've been shooting bergers for almost twenty years. The key is having enough twist. On the 7mm RM....1 in 9 is minimum for the 180's. Faster is better I like 8.5. If you don't have fast enough twist and the bullet is not stable..... then that is where people get into trouble with the bergers. If that bullet starts to tumble then it won't open up like it is designed to do.

I have a 7mm RM and shoot the 180 hunting VLDs. Killed pronghorn at 656 yds and 600 yds broadside. Exit holes the size of tennis balls. One ran about 10 yds the other did not take a step. Shot a third at 200 quartering towards me....dropped dead.

This is true, my cousins rifle has a 9.25 twist, however we live at 6600 feet, and where we hunt in from that elevation up to 8000-10000 feet, and even at our lower elevation and a low temp of 15 degrees with a 9.25 twist we have an sg of 1.71, up that to our elk hunting average of 8500, at an average elk hunting temp of 30 degrees and the sg is now 1.90.

However, if your at an elevation of say 1000 feet, same 9.25 twist, and 30 degrees, you are not properly stable at 1.43...you need a minimum of 55 degrees with a 9.25 twist at 1000 ft to BARELY stabilize this bullet. What can happen in this situation is the bullet tip is not totally stable, and since it is such a small hollow point, if it hits not square on, the bullet tends to banana and begin to tumble. It can still do extreme damage, but does not perform as it should. Just something to keep in mind!!

 

[MudRunner2005]

My Sendero SF 7mmSTW has a factory 9.25" twist barrel, and it will put 5 Berger 180 Hybrids in the same ragged hole at 100 yards. Now, I do realize that this is not necessarily going to be stable at distance, but I live at 500-600 ft. elevation. You would think at this low of an elevation, the 180's would not even shoot straight without key-holing, even at 100, with that slow of a twist.

 

[codyadams]

My Sendero SF 7mmSTW has a factory 9.25" twist barrel, and it will put 5 Berger 180 Hybrids in the same ragged hole at 100 yards. Now, I do realize that this is not necessarily going to be stable at distance, but I live at 500-600 ft. elevation. You would think at this low of an elevation, the 180's would not even shoot straight without key-holing, even at 100, with that slow of a twist.

I have seen bullets shoot strait that I KNEW couldn't be stable, such as a Berger 170 EOL out of a standard 10 twist .270, at about 4000 ft elevation.....shot surprisingly well, but I think I would be hesitant to use this for hunting, simply due to a test that a member did on here showing ballistics of MANY bullets, and Berger and matrix bullets consistently would banana if they were not stable. Would it still cause damage? most definitely, tumbling bullets will mess **** up, the downside is that they tend to be unpredictable and probably will not penetrate as much. It is very interesting however, that an unstable bullet can still be so accurate.

 

[6.5x300 WBY]

My Sendero SF 7mmSTW has a factory 9.25" twist barrel, and it will put 5 Berger 180 Hybrids in the same ragged hole at 100 yards. Now, I do realize that this is not necessarily going to be stable at distance, but I live at 500-600 ft. elevation. You would think at this low of an elevation, the 180's would not even shoot straight without key-holing, even at 100, with that slow of a twist.

Mine is same Sendero but regular 7mag. It's lights out so we are stable at like 100 feet at NJ shore. Go figure got to find what your gun likes

 

[martinakl]

Shoot the Bergers. You're getting great, confidence building accuracy. Load up on HSM ammo and work on your drop validation. The Bergers will work for you.