Berger Target vs Berger Hunting

[Bobby B.]

Anyone know the difference between the Berger Target VLD bullet and the Berger Hunting VLD? Anyone know of a source for 6.5mm 130 grain Hunting VLD's?

Bobby B.

[foothillsman]

I'm not sure what the difference is. The VLD's were being used as hunting bullets by some people and evidently the effects were devestating on game. This find was an accident, they got lucky, because target bullets are not known for reliable performance on game. None the less, the practice of using the Bergers was irresponsible.

I suspect that Berger has done some tests and looked for ways to ensure that the performance was more consistant. Although standard VLDs will still work, the ones marked for hunting are most likely better suited for hunting.

[whitetail Junkie]

Originally Posted by Bobby B.

Anyone know the difference between the Berger Target VLD bullet and the Berger Hunting VLD? Anyone know of a source for 6.5mm 130 grain Hunting VLD's?

Bobby B.

dad took a doe for meat last fall useing a 168 grain berger hunting bullet and she dropped in her Tracks. thats all I can tell you besides that berger's hunting bullets are as accurate as there target bullets,we do shoot both!

as long as you dont shoot them barnes TSX\TTSX,full metal Jacket,copper,100% weight Retention Junk,While hunting you'll do fine!!! broadheads tare deer apart more than Barnes Bullets.

[Cowtown guy]

Originally Posted by whitetail Junkie

as long as you dont shoot them barnes TSX\TTSX,full metal Jacket,copper,100% weight Retention Junk,While hunting you'll do fine!!! broadheads tare deer apart more than Barnes Bullets.

Glad to see your back trolling.

Also glad to see the majority here have you figured out.

Have fun Tyler.

[JustinC]

Originally Posted by whitetail Junkie

dad took a doe for meat last fall useing a 168 grain berger hunting bullet and she dropped in her Tracks. thats all I can tell you besides that berger's hunting bullets are as accurate as there target bullets,we do shoot both!

as long as you dont shoot them barnes TSX\TTSX,full metal Jacket,copper,100% weight Retention Junk,While hunting you'll do fine!!! broadheads tare deer apart more than Barnes Bullets.

Good luck bud. I had my fun on that one got me suspended.Keep out of trouble.

[JustinC]

Originally Posted by Cowtown guy

Glad to see your back trolling.

Also glad to see the majority here have you figured out.

Have fun Tyler.

Cowtown define what trolling is for me please.

Originally Posted by Cowtown guy

Glad to see your back trolling.

Also glad to see the majority here have you figured out.

Have fun Tyler.

LOL...I missed his edit...guess he wasn't happy just answering the question....decided the board had been too quiet for a while. Despite your little attempt at trolling whitetail junkie, I don't think I'll bite either.....

[trda]

as long as you dont shoot them barnes TSX\TTSX,full metal Jacket,copper,100% weight Retention Junk,While hunting you'll do fine!!! broadheads tare deer apart more than Barnes Bullets.[/QUOTE]

Not sure what your taking about, I use Barnes all the time. They work great. Used them on moose, deer, bears etc. No issues.

[Matt L.]

We need that troll smiley from CGN here.

trda, it ain't worth it.

[Cowtown guy]

Originally Posted by JustinC

Cowtown define what trolling is for me please.

After 600 posts I suspect you are doing the same.
Posting something to elicit a comment which will turn into a free-for-all, something just plain rude or simply non-factual just to start an argument.
Don't bother replying to me, I'm done with this one.

Originally Posted by Matt L.

We need that troll smiley from CGN here.

trda, it ain't worth it.

How about this one!

[JustinC]

So back to the thread. The jacket thickness is the different between the two. Target bullets are not to be used for hunting as they might not exspand as needed to do a proper kill.

[trda]

Sorry guy's.

[whitetail Junkie]

Originally Posted by JustinC

Good luck bud. I had my fun on that one got me suspended.Keep out of trouble.

Welcome back,I saw that you got suspended(lol) along with a few other guys got banned!!!,I guess like me,your not part of the Clique.Mind you i've never got anything yet except a warning 9 months ago for swearing?? cant remember.

What did you say to get punted for a week?

[whitetail Junkie]

Originally Posted by Cowtown guy

Glad to see your back trolling.

Also glad to see the majority here have you figured out.

Have fun Tyler.

The only thing I Troll for is Pike, I was Just stateing a Fact about Barnes bullets.

Originally Posted by whitetail Junkie

Welcome back,I saw that you got suspended(lol) along with a few other guys got banned!!!,I guess like me,your not part of the Clique.Mind you i've never got anything yet except a warning 9 months ago for swearing?? cant remember.

What did you say to get punted for a week?

Thought you'd try a new lure?

[whitetail Junkie]

Originally Posted by sheephunter

Thought you'd try a new lure?

no honestley,he is a buddy,its an honest question.!!! Guess i could of sent him a PM,but why hide what you have to say!!!

[Matt L.]

Originally Posted by sheephunter

How about this one!

That's the one!

[Faststeel]

B B
I shot the 140gr Berger in my Steyr 6.5x55 with Re 22 and it was an exceptional combo. I have heard good thing about the Accubond in 130gr, I may give them a try next. FS

[Bobby B.]

Guys,

Just to clarify, I've already killed some game with the 168 VLD out of my 7RM and am now wanting to load 130 VLDs in my 260 Rem. I know of sources for the 130 Target bullet but not for the 130 Hunting bullet so I want to hear from someone who KNOWS if there is a difference and what that difference is. I did request an explanation from Berger, but am still waiting for a reply.

Bobby B.

[209x50]

Originally Posted by Bobby B.

Guys,

Just to clarify, I've already killed some game with the 168 VLD out of my 7RM and am now wanting to load 130 VLDs in my 260 Rem. I know of sources for the 130 Target bullet but not for the 130 Hunting bullet so I want to hear from someone who KNOWS if there is a difference and what that difference is. I did request an explanation from Berger, but am still waiting for a reply.

Bobby B.

The hunting bullet has a slightly thicker jacket but mostly the jacket isn't interior turned to the same tolerances as the match bullet. Still highly accurate but a small difference.

[Sir Rollo]

I've used the 90 grain Berger match bullet with my .243 Win, and the weight retention was poor, the recovered bullet was 30 grains. It did imact bone, and left an incredible wound channel. The bullet(what was left of it) was under the hide on the far side. I should add, it was a beaver that I shot with the match bullet. For my game, I will be using copper bullets.

[whitetail Junkie]

Originally Posted by Sir Rollo

I've used the 90 grain Berger match bullet with my .243 Win, and the weight retention was poor, the recovered bullet was 30 grains. It did imact bone, and left an incredible wound channel. The bullet(what was left of it) was under the hide on the far side. I should add, it was a beaver that I shot with the match bullet. For my game, I will be using copper bullets.

what animal did you shoot with the 90 grain berger bullet? I bought the same bullets for my 240 wby,they were good on paper,but I hav'nt shot nothing with them yet.have you shot alot of animals with your .243? i'm curious to try out my new .24 cal this fall! I think i'm also abit nervous because i've never hunted with nothing smaller than a .257wby mag,and hope the .24 cal is enough to take down a big bodied muledeer\whitetail?

[JustinC]

Originally Posted by whitetail Junkie

what animal did you shoot with the 90 grain berger bullet? I bought the same bullets for my 240 wby,they were good on paper,but I hav'nt shot nothing with them yet.have you shot alot of animals with your .243? i'm curious to try out my new .24 cal this fall! I think i'm also abit nervous because i've never hunted with nothing smaller than a .257wby mag,and hope the .24 cal is enough to take down a big bodied muledeer\whitetail?

It was a beaver that he shot. Dont worry about the bullet I have shot lots with a 6mm and the kill everything.The bullets will work as you know.

[whitetail Junkie]

Originally Posted by Sir Rollo

it was a beaver that I shot with the match bullet. For my game, I will be using copper bullets.

Beaver Eh!!! guess I should of read more closeley,sorry for the dumb question!

[whitetail Junkie]

Originally Posted by JustinC

It was a beaver that he shot. Dont worry about the bullet I have shot lots with a 6mm and the kill everything.The bullets will work as you know.

Right on,thats good to know!!! I've been reloading with the nosler balistic silvertip's,which my 240 wby loves,plus I've killed them dead with them bullets before!

[Dmay]

From the opposite perspective, I'm using Berger "hunting" 180 VLDs in my long-range gun, and they shoot very well, though I can't compare them with the "target" bullets 'cause I can't find any.....

[Bobby B.]

Hi Bob,
Likes like you had a nice plains hunt in Africa congratulations. I can not relate to the lot number but the box should have a part number on it and that will tell me which bullet it is. The difference between the bullets is the jacket. The target bullet has a thicker jacket than the hunting bullet so it can with stand the the abuse the long range high power shooters expose them to. We do not recommend them for hunting as they may not expand in the manner the thinner jackets do and pencil on through some of the animals.
I would not recommend the 6.5 target bullet in a 260 Rem for a deer application. Velocity will not be excessively high and some of the deer rather small and they may not expand the way the hunting bullet does. Load data should be the same for both bullets use the target bullets to get your 260 Rem shooting and pick up some hunting bullets before next season would be my recommendation.

Walt Berger
Berger Bullets
Technical Advisor




-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Boychuk <bobscobra@shaw.ca>
To: bergerltd@aol.com
Sent: Mon, Apr 19, 2010 7:12 am
Subject: 6.5 VLD


Hi Walt,

The bullet I've been using on game so far is the VLD 7MM 168 GRAIN MATCH GRADE Lot# 1408. This bullet has proven very effective on our big bodied Alberta deer, a moose, kudu, gemsbok, red hartebeest, zebra, black wildebeest, blue wildebeest, etc. I don't believe this bullet to be the MATCH HUNTING but don't know for certain.

Currently, I'm in the process of building a .260 Rem for deer hunting. The only bullet I can find up here is the 6.5MM TARGET VLD, not the 6.5MM MATCH HUNTING VLD. Is there a difference bewteen the tow and, if so, what is it? Also, can the TARGET bullet be used on deer?

Bob Boychuk

The thicker jackets translate into lower BCs. Not a good thing. Less density.

I think Berger is also using harder jackets... at least according to a discussion with wild cat bullets...

Apparently the folks in the USA are using hunting bullets again for target shooting... not all (LOL) but many.

I wonder what the jacket thickness was on the early target bullets (pre hunting bullet hype). Probably thin.... When I was at the shot show, I was a small meeting with Glen Harrison from Nesika, a few others and the Berger promoter... at that time they targets and hunting were the same.

[Bobby B.]

According to the Berger website, the BC for the TARGET bullet and the HUNTING bullet are the same, at least for the 6.5 130 grain and th 7mm 168 grain.

The BC is dictated by the shape of the outside of the bullet. A thicker jacket would result in more copper covering less lead. Afterall, for a given bullet weight, if more jacket is present, then less lead must result. Therefore, if there is more jacket and less lead, then the dimensions of the bullet must increase to equate to the same bullet weight. Since the bullet cannot be of a greater diameter as this is solely dictated by the caliber, then a greater length must be the result. As a general rule, all else being equal, the greater the bullet length for a given caliber, the greater the BC. It would follow that a thicker jacket would increase the BC, not decrease it. However, the measurable difference would be very slight to the point of debatable consequence.

As stated by Walt Berger of Berger Bullets, it is the TARGET bullet that possesses the thicker jacket not the HUNTING bullet. He clearly recommends the thinner jacketed HUNTING bullet for deer as the thicker jacket of the TARGET bullet might fail to properly expand.

Bobby B.