Berger Bullets, wow

[pnut]

For those who are curious on how the Berger perform, here's my experience with them a week ago in Texas. I was shooting the .270, 150 grain vld. The shot was about 80 yards on a medium size buck. This was my very first deer so I did not know what to expect.

The deer dropped where he was shot. He was facing away from me, as soon as he turned and gave me a shot I took it. The bullet entered mid rib and connected with the heart. When I first walked up I saw a small entry hole but no exit wound, so all the energy expanded inside the animal. There was not much blood outside the animal, I was concerned because everything I read says the blood would ruin the meat if you don't bleed it quick. So we got the deer back to the cabin and hung him up quickly to gut before taking it to the butcher. What I saw when I opened up the cavity was amazing, the bullet had penetrated into the heart and lung area and pulverized the organs. what was supposed to be the heart and lung, all I found was a soupy pulp; it was just soup inside the chest cavity.The stomach and intestines were still intact, untouched.

The second deer I took, I took out the shoulder and the deer dropped right there; kicked a few seconds and expired. Again no pass through with all the energy absorbed by the deer.

So if you are curious, just give them a try.

 

[Bonejour]

Yup. Hydrostatic shock. Did you find the bullet? Would be great to have a pic.

 

[pnut]

Unfortunately I did not find the bullet. I was in a hurry trying to get the deer to the butcher before they closed for the day. I'll try to locate the bullet next time, it would be interesting to see what they looked like.

 

[Bonejour]

I usually try to find it. LP is amazing; I think he finds it 80% of the time. I'm sure he'll correct me if I'm wrong. It is always instructive to look at it given your knowledge of range, what it hit, etc.

 

[NBK]

I usually try to find it. LP is amazing; I think he finds it 80% of the time. I'm sure he'll correct me if I'm wrong. It is always instructive to look at it given your knowledge of range, what it hit, etc.

More often than not you wouldn't find a Berger VLD that has been shot at an animal from a .270 at 80 yards. It is likely the bullet has come completely apart. Depending on the shot, this can be an awesome event or a complete disaster.

The reason LP finds his bullets is because he shoots the Barnes "X" bullet (it regularly retains 90-95% of its weight).

 

[ilovesprig]

I usually try to find it. LP is amazing; I think he finds it 80% of the time. I'm sure he'll correct me if I'm wrong. It is always instructive to look at it given your knowledge of range, what it hit, etc.

More often than not you wouldn't find a Berger VLD that has been shot at an animal from a .270 at 80 yards. It is likely the bullet has come completely apart. Depending on the shot, this can be an awesome event or a complete disaster.

The reason LP finds his bullets is because he shoots the Barnes "X" bullet (it regularly retains 90-95% of its weight).

Endorsed by California Condors...... Love that weight retention...................lol

 

[TaftHunter]

Look at this copper

 

[Lungpopper]

I usually try to find it. LP is amazing; I think he finds it 80% of the time. I'm sure he'll correct me if I'm wrong. It is always instructive to look at it given your knowledge of range, what it hit, etc.

More often than not you wouldn't find a Berger VLD that has been shot at an animal from a .270 at 80 yards. It is likely the bullet has come completely apart. Depending on the shot, this can be an awesome event or a complete disaster.

The reason LP finds his bullets is because he shoots the Barnes "X" bullet (it regularly retains 90-95% of its weight).

Most of the bullets that I recovered were the Nosler ballistic tips. They would shed 50% of there weight and act like a big parachute. Since I switched to the Barnes TTSX my bullet recoveries have gone down.
All animals that have been shot at died just to be clear.

 

[Bonejour]

Most of the bullets that I recovered were the Nosler ballistic tips. They would shed 50% of there weight and act like a big parachute. Since I switched to the Barnes TTSX my bullet recoveries have gone down.
All animals that have been shot at died just to be clear.

Are thé ttsx disintegrating or passing through?

 

[Lungpopper]

Most of the bullets that I recovered were the Nosler ballistic tips. They would shed 50% of there weight and act like a big parachute. Since I switched to the Barnes TTSX my bullet recoveries have gone down.
All animals that have been shot at died just to be clear.

Are thé ttsx disintegrating or passing through?

Pass through

 

[NBK]

Wasn't planning on stepping into this pile of soft excrement. I am a glutton for punishment!

I have been shooting the Barnes since 1989. At the end of the day, I like the copper bullets. Today there are many and most are very good. I have recovered about a dozen Barnes and all have worked as advertised. Below are a couple of examples (I have a pile of recovered bullets but I do not know where they are).

The first three pictures are a 168 grain .30 caliber Barnes "TTSX" recovered from an elk. Bullet was fired at about 300 yards. It is representative of how they work regarding controlled expansion and weight retention. The bullet retained 99.7% of its weight and weighed 167.5 grains after recovery. Cartridge was 300 WSM

The next three pictures are a 120 grain 6.5 mm Barnes "TTSX" recovered from a pig. The bullet was fired at 60 yards. It is a worst case scenario - the bullet retained 78% of its weight and weighed 93.5 grains after recovery. Cartridge was .260 Rem

The last two pictures are a 129 grain 6.5mm Hornady "SST" (lead) recovered from a pig. The bullet was fired at 225 yards. It is a worst case scenario (catastrophic failure) - the bullet retained 32.8% of its weight and weighed 42.3 grains after recovery. Cartridge was 6.5/.280 Acklety Improved.

My point is, most folks have not used copper bullets to an extent of being able to manifest an opinion based on a reasonable sample size. My experience of copper versus lead core bullets has been interesting - both work. But copper is more reliable and predictable. It also allows for a lighter bullet to be used due to the weight retention and consistent penetration. This boils down to higher velocities and better ballistics.

Opinions are like - well you know! Just thought I would chime in. I might also add that the Monolithic Munitions loaded GS Custom Bullets are spectacular. It is another copper bullet but incorporates some other attributes that are amazing on game as well as accuracy.

Anyway - I stepped in the poop didn't I?

 

[TaftHunter]

How is this for a copper bullet? This is a 270 bullet I shot a buck with a few years ago. Hit him in the chest, as you can see pretty much 0 expansion..

 

[NBK]

How is this for a copper bullet? This is a 270 bullet I shot a buck with a few years ago. Hit him in the chest, as you can see pretty much 0 expansion..

Handload or factory? Whats amazing is you recovered the bullet. Seems like that should have passed through. Especially from a .270.

 

[TaftHunter]

How is this for a copper bullet? This is a 270 bullet I shot a buck with a few years ago. Hit him in the chest, as you can see pretty much 0 expansion..

Handload or factory? Whats amazing is you recovered the bullet. Seems like that should have passed through. Especially from a .270.

Factory. That's what I said lol. Exactly, it was only 80 yards away..

 

[NBK]

Over the years we have seen some crazy stuff. All bullets do weird things - like go backwards in the animal, sideways, exit in weird areas. It can get like a pinball game inside sometimes.

 

[Bonejour]

The first three pictures are a 168 grain .30 caliber Barnes "TTSX" recovered from an elk. Bullet was fired at about 300 yards. It is representative of how they work regarding controlled expansion and weight retention. The bullet retained 99.7% of its weight and weighed 167.5 grains after recovery.

I may do a field test of this bullet in a .30-06 cartridge this weekend during my bear hunt with Neil. We'll have bow and bullet with us, and depending on range to target, I hope to launch a projectile of one sort or another.