Moose and elk with berger bullets?

[V45 sabre]

Heading out this fall with my 7mm remington magnum and wondering if guys have use the bergers on the larger animals. I am going to use the 140's I have had no trouble in the past with sierra game kings and barnes triple shock in that weight just looking for reviews.

[elkhunter11]

They will likely work if you can get a broadside lung shot, but there is a good chance, that they will fail to penetrate heavier bone.

[Desert Eagle]

I'm not going to get into it, but if it was me I would save them for paper shooting. Leave the hunting to a decent bullet.

[Bobby B.]

I've some experience with the 168 Berger VLD out of the 7RM; eland, moose, deer, zebra, hartebeest, wildebeest, springbok, kudu, gemsbok, warthog, jackal, coyote, etc, etc.. I've killed well in access of 100 game animals and if there's a bullet that kills quicker than the Berger VLD, I've yet to see it. Yes, it will break bone, yes, it will penetrate bone, yes, it will penetrate on quartering shots.

Disregard the naysayers, they have either limited experience or none at all.

Bobby B.

[walking buffalo]

Originally Posted by Bobby B.

I've some experience with the 168 Berger VLD out of the 7RM; eland, moose, deer, zebra, hartebeest, wildebeest, springbok, kudu, gemsbok, warthog, jackal, coyote, etc, etc.. I've killed well in access of 100 game animals and if there's a bullet that kills quicker than the Berger VLD, I've yet to see it. Yes, it will break bone, yes, it will penetrate bone, yes, it will penetrate on quartering shots.

Disregard the naysayers, they have either limited experience or none at all.

Bobby B.

I accept that they kill, my concern is about what they do to the meat?
I've heard that they often destroy a lot of good food where another premium bullet would not. It just doesn't make sense to me to use a such a bullet on big game that I intend to eat.

[V45 sabre]

Thanks for the replies gives me some things to think about.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by Bobby B.

I've some experience with the 168 Berger VLD out of the 7RM; eland, moose, deer, zebra, hartebeest, wildebeest, springbok, kudu, gemsbok, warthog, jackal, coyote, etc, etc.. I've killed well in access of 100 game animals and if there's a bullet that kills quicker than the Berger VLD, I've yet to see it. Yes, it will break bone, yes, it will penetrate bone, yes, it will penetrate on quartering shots.

Disregard the naysayers, they have either limited experience or none at all.

Bobby B.

He is not talking about the 168gr VLD, he is talking about the 140gr Berger.

[hunter1993ap]

Originally Posted by walking buffalo

I accept that they kill, my concern is about what they do to the meat?
I've heard that they often destroy a lot of good food where another premium bullet would not. It just doesn't make sense to me to use a such a bullet on big game that I intend to eat.

just don't hit shoulder and you wont have a problem. I tend to stay away from berger for hunting. they are a good long range hunting bullet. use the target brand of bullets and not the hunting ones. the hunting ones have a thinner jacket than the target bullets and they still expand a lot at close range.

[Dr.D]

I've seen three fail will never shoot them ever again !!!!

[manitoban]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

They will likely work if you can get a broadside lung shot, but there is a good chance, that they will fail to penetrate heavier bone.

exactly.

[sevenmil]

Nobody ever said a berger won't work on a moose or elk most of the time. The real question is (all things being equal) will a berger out penetrate a barnes of the same weight, especially if it enounters heavy bone? How could it. Bergers are not magic, as some may claim. Neither are barnes. But I've yet to see a barnes come come apart. About the worst I've seen happen is they've sheared a couple petals off when encountering heavy shoulder bone or spine. I would choose a barnes over the berger any day if hunting large, heavy boned game. If you want to test if out for yourself take a pine stump and shoot a berger into it and a barnes of the same weight. Carefully split the stump and recover the bullets. See which one holds up better, and penetrated further. And then remember that moose and elk shoulders are harder on bullets than a pine stump is. Moose and elk shoulders can and do turn bullets that are not up to the task. It is just that simple. It has happened to me and all that would have been required is a better bullet. The premium bullets were developed for a reason, and it wasn't just because someone had nothing better to with their time. Use whatever you feel comfortable with but I don't buy the argument that a non bonded cup and core bullet will out penetrate a barnes of the same weight and calibre, this rationale does not hold water.

[HuntingAlberta]

I'm with Bobby B.

I use Bergers in every gun I shoot. I've killed over a hundred animals with them and they have performed flawlessly every time. I shoot 115 Grain Bergers in my 257 weatherby, 168 gr in 7MM Rem Mag, 180 Grain in 308 Lazzeroni and they kill anything you shoot at. The biggest and best thing about this bullet is they hit the exact spot you are aiming at every time. 140 Grain bullet is lots for killing elk out of a 7mm Rem Mag, shoot them in the heart and they'll drop faster than anything you've ever seen.

As with any bullet, practice and only make shots you are ethically comfortable shooting. A well placed shot with that bullet will perform as well as anything. Obviously a 140 Grain bullet from a 7mm isn't meant to kill elk at 1,000 yards but it will do a damn good job out to several hundred yards.

The 168 Grain Berger out of the 7mm Rem Mag will flatten Grizzlies, Elk, Moose and anything you look at out to 1,000 yards. I've tried, they work. I use the 115 grain berger on Muleys and Bighorns and have killed (and dropped on the spot) them out to 600 yards.

[Pathfinder76]

Originally Posted by HuntingAlberta

I'm with Bobby B.

I use Bergers in every gun I shoot. I've killed over a hundred animals with them and they have performed flawlessly every time. I shoot 115 Grain Bergers in my 257 weatherby, 168 gr in 7MM Rem Mag, 180 Grain in 308 Lazzeroni and they kill anything you shoot at. The biggest and best thing about this bullet is they hit the exact spot you are aiming at every time. 140 Grain bullet is lots for killing elk out of a 7mm Rem Mag, shoot them in the heart and they'll drop faster than anything you've ever seen.

As with any bullet, practice and only make shots you are ethically comfortable shooting. A well placed shot with that bullet will perform as well as anything. Obviously a 140 Grain bullet from a 7mm isn't meant to kill elk at 1,000 yards but it will do a damn good job out to several hundred yards.

The 168 Grain Berger out of the 7mm Rem Mag will flatten Grizzlies, Elk, Moose and anything you look at out to 1,000 yards. I've tried, they work. I use the 115 grain berger on Muleys and Bighorns and have killed (and dropped on the spot) them out to 600 yards.

You have shot Grizzlies, Elk, and Moose at 1000 yds?

I'm not concerned about 1000 yds, I'm concerned about 20 yds.

[Bobby B.]

Originally Posted by walking buffalo

I accept that they kill, my concern is about what they do to the meat?
I've heard that they often destroy a lot of good food where another premium bullet would not. It just doesn't make sense to me to use a such a bullet on big game that I intend to eat.

WB, that's a legitimate concern. Due to their explosive expansion qualities, Bergers will generally destroy more meat than a mono metal such as the Barnes, no doubt about it. Most of the animals I've killed with Bergers have been shot in the chest so there's no real meat loss other than the heart is often shredded. On the few animals I've shot in the shoulder, in particular the shoulder bones, much meat had been lost, sometimes the entire shoulder meat. The same can be said of the animals shot in the hind quarters.

On the other hand, I've never lost all the meat due to a lost animal. Based on personal experience, the Berger has never failed to either outright kill the animal where it stood, or kill it within close proximity of where the animal was located when the bullet struck.

All experienced hunters realize there exists no 'perfect' bullet. The advantage of the Berger is that the violent expansion of the bullet destroys more tissue than other bullets. The downside is when this tissue is meat rather than vitals. The characteristics of the Barnes is generally the inverse of the Berger.

Bobby B.

[fatboyz]

I too use Bergers in a 7mag. My question is why a 140? The idea behind a VLD is to have a high BC, that means a heavy bullet. If you do the calculations you will have considerably more down range energy out of a 168 than a 140, even though it starts off slower. The 168 will stabilize and shoot well in most hunting rifles, not necessarily so with the 180 as it requires a faster twist than most stock rifles have. Try the 168 hunting VLD and see how it shoots. I'm using 69 grains of Retumbo behind a 168 and am getting just shy of 3000fps in almost stock Remington Sendaro.
My .02.

[HuntingAlberta]

Originally Posted by chuck

You have shot Grizzlies, Elk, and Moose at 1000 yds?

I'm not concerned about 1000 yds, I'm concerned about 20 yds.

My apologies, I shoot out to 1,000 yards. Me and my hunting partner have killed Grizzlies at 500, elk at 750, black bears at 900+ yards, sheep at 600 yards, deer at 800 yards. We also have a full time range setup in the backyard out to 1,000 yards that we shoot Wildside Steel gongs at 1,000 with hundreds, if not thousands of shells every year.

I have also shot everything above at 10 feet and the berger bullet works whether 10 feet or 1000 yards. The farther away the animal the larger diameter cutting hole they put in the animal as the velocity of the bullet is slower it does more damage upon entry. A whitetail at 50 yards will actually put a very small diameter hole in the animal as compared to one being hit at 500.