Desert Fox
Handloader
- Aug 14, 2006
- 1,965
- 3
I build my 6.5-284 Norma around the Berger 140 VLD hunting bullet. IMO as long as you can keep your velocity around 2900 fps, you're not gonna have a problem with this bullet.
berger vs nosler
- Thread starter nitis
- Start date
remingtonman_25_06
Handloader
- Nov 17, 2005
- 2,806
- 403
I have mixed results with these bullets. Bottom line for me is I wont use them anymore for anything but coyotes/steel.
There is various reasons and various calibers/bullets I have shot in the last few years and the whole deal is that they are totally unpredictable on how they perform and what they hit.
Sometimes they will exit with a good hole, but most times they do not exit and explode inside. They also explode on deers shoulders at 625 yards, something that NBT's DO NOT do, they actually go through and break them and do the job.
I've got experience with 4 different bullets from 3 different calibers.
257" 115g VLD from 25-06 at 3275fps, 284" 168g at 3000fps & 180g at 2800fps from 7 RM, and the 210g at 3000fps from 300 RUM.
All were very accurate from my rifles. Every one did 1/2 MOA with very minimal load testing.
From milk jug perspective, the 115g VLD is very very explosive, would make a good coyote IMO, but not a good deer bullet for busting shoulders. Dont have proof of this on game, but I wouldn't trust them.
I shot 2 deer with the 168g VLD's, 1 at about 200 , other at 618. The one at 200 was hit behind the shoulder and exited with about a 2" hole. Deer ran about 10 yards and was toast. The one at 618 was hit in teh shoulder and he dropped like a rock but was not dead. He had to be shot again in the neck. Upon arriving, the first shot landed square on his shoulder and simply blew up, did not reach the chest area or vitals one bit.
Next year I figured I would fix that problem by going with the 180g VLD. Well this bullet acted the complete opposite from the 168's. Driven at 2800fps and being heavier, I thought they would have a little more penetration and not open up as much/quick. Well shot a buck at about 100 yards behind the shoulder and he didn't even flinch, waited a few seconds and put one in his shoulder, still didn't move very much. Took a few steps and fell over. Bullets exited alright, like pinholes. Very minimal damage.
Only shot 1 doe with the 300 RUM and 210g vld bout 200 yards. Hit her high shoulder and she dropped like a rock and was stone dead with a softball hole on the farside. Also show a few coyotes with them and it puts really big holes in them to!!
In wet newspaper, these bullets tend to hold around 25% of there weight and are just one small piece of mangled lead.
I shot them for a few years before the "hunting" vlds were out, but they were the same thing. If anything, the jackets on the "hunting" ones should be thicker, they need to be... Main reason I think they went to the "hunting" vld's was for advertisement and to get there share of the hunting bullet market.
With all that said, I dont really trust match bullets on game unless they are 30 cal 220-240g SMK's or 338 300g SMKs where there weight and SD alone will get them to penetrate. WHen you shoot a chunk of lead, you can afford to lose some weight. I went back to NBT's for deer and shoulda stuck with them all along. The BC of the bergers is what fools ya, but thats not everything. There still is no perfect bullet out there, and probly never will be...
On top of all that being said, I'm still waiting for the 300g VLD to come out for my 338 EDGE.
There is various reasons and various calibers/bullets I have shot in the last few years and the whole deal is that they are totally unpredictable on how they perform and what they hit.
Sometimes they will exit with a good hole, but most times they do not exit and explode inside. They also explode on deers shoulders at 625 yards, something that NBT's DO NOT do, they actually go through and break them and do the job.
I've got experience with 4 different bullets from 3 different calibers.
257" 115g VLD from 25-06 at 3275fps, 284" 168g at 3000fps & 180g at 2800fps from 7 RM, and the 210g at 3000fps from 300 RUM.
All were very accurate from my rifles. Every one did 1/2 MOA with very minimal load testing.
From milk jug perspective, the 115g VLD is very very explosive, would make a good coyote IMO, but not a good deer bullet for busting shoulders. Dont have proof of this on game, but I wouldn't trust them.
I shot 2 deer with the 168g VLD's, 1 at about 200 , other at 618. The one at 200 was hit behind the shoulder and exited with about a 2" hole. Deer ran about 10 yards and was toast. The one at 618 was hit in teh shoulder and he dropped like a rock but was not dead. He had to be shot again in the neck. Upon arriving, the first shot landed square on his shoulder and simply blew up, did not reach the chest area or vitals one bit.
Next year I figured I would fix that problem by going with the 180g VLD. Well this bullet acted the complete opposite from the 168's. Driven at 2800fps and being heavier, I thought they would have a little more penetration and not open up as much/quick. Well shot a buck at about 100 yards behind the shoulder and he didn't even flinch, waited a few seconds and put one in his shoulder, still didn't move very much. Took a few steps and fell over. Bullets exited alright, like pinholes. Very minimal damage.
Only shot 1 doe with the 300 RUM and 210g vld bout 200 yards. Hit her high shoulder and she dropped like a rock and was stone dead with a softball hole on the farside. Also show a few coyotes with them and it puts really big holes in them to!!
In wet newspaper, these bullets tend to hold around 25% of there weight and are just one small piece of mangled lead.
I shot them for a few years before the "hunting" vlds were out, but they were the same thing. If anything, the jackets on the "hunting" ones should be thicker, they need to be... Main reason I think they went to the "hunting" vld's was for advertisement and to get there share of the hunting bullet market.
With all that said, I dont really trust match bullets on game unless they are 30 cal 220-240g SMK's or 338 300g SMKs where there weight and SD alone will get them to penetrate. WHen you shoot a chunk of lead, you can afford to lose some weight. I went back to NBT's for deer and shoulda stuck with them all along. The BC of the bergers is what fools ya, but thats not everything. There still is no perfect bullet out there, and probly never will be...
On top of all that being said, I'm still waiting for the 300g VLD to come out for my 338 EDGE.
