Hunting Bullet....Berger Classic Hybrid Hunter

I found that Federal 168gn Berger Hybrid Hunter to be the most accurate round in my 308. I plan on using them if I get a chance to get in the woods this year

No personal experience, just what I've read. They seem to get mixed reviews. Several people whose opinions I value claim they work great with proper shot placement. They tend to penetrate with a very small entrance hole and then expand very violently after they penetrate 4-5", often with no exit. Shots in the right spot supposedly result in impressive quick kills. Not the best bullet if you need to shoot from a bad angle and need lots of penetration. Most of the guys who don't like them cite limited penetration as their reason.

A similar bullet that I've also seen great reviews is the Lapua Scenar. I shoot 155's in my 308 and 139's in my 6.5 CM. Both are exceptionally accurate and by all accounts are deadly. I've seen enough to convince me to hunt with those bullets this year. Neither of the Scenar bullets are advertised as a hunting bullet, but I've seen photos of too many dead animals.

FWIW, many of the people who do shoot the Berger bullets claim the target bullet is actually a better hunting bullet than the one they advertise as a hunting bullet. Once again, no personal experience, just what I've read. They are the same bullet except for the thickness of the jacket. The hunting bullet uses a thinner jacket to expand more rapidly. The guys who prefer the target bullet claim better penetration and a little less explosive expansion.

The Hornady ELD-X might be another good option if you haven't tried them. It is sold as a hunting bullet. They tend to expand much like typical old school cup and core bullets, but have very high BC's. As long as you're shooting heavy for caliber bullets penetration should be fine. And they only make them in the heavier bullets. I've not looked at the options in 7mm, but the lightest 30 caliber they offer is 178 gr.

Since the Deer in my area are on the smallish side, I think quick expansion would be better than deep penetration. I am hoping they work well just because they group so well in my rifle. I haven't tried the ELD-X Yet, but they are on the list. My rifle does not seem to like 150gr so I was trying to stay around 165-168gr. Not sure how the Hornady would fly in comparison with the higher BC and grain weight

I like soft bullets, and before switching to the Amax line, pretty much all I shot were Berger's. This was before they marketed them as "hunting" bullets.

The Amax, and newer eld-m, do exactly what I want and are cheaper so I haven't shoot many Berger's in the last couple years.
I did shoot two sheep with my .250AI and 115berger box "hunting" bullets, the damage was exactly what I remember from my earlier experiences.

Yeah actually the Amax, and Eld-Ms have so far shown more initial expansion than the Berger VLDs....or well they start expanding sooner.
Berger's tend to punch a few inches in then grenade. The tipped "target" bullets tend to operate more like an original balistic tip, but seem to penetrate a little farther before opening up and shedding mass quickly.

With the Berger's, those will jelly most of the insides, but don't always exit on broad sides......if they do tho, you better have a strong stomach.
Biggest animals I've shot with the Berger's are Axis, zero losses, no all bullets exit.

I've shot animals up to the size of feral cattle with 162gr Amax from my 7Mag (3050 launch velocity) and you can expect about 2' of total penetration and a destructive wound AREA from about 2" in to where the fragments run out of juice.

On Axis deer up to 200lbs or so, I still have had one stay in the animal on a broad side, behind the shoulder. Hit the shoulder and it will be under the opposite side shoulder, or skin if farther back. Either way squishy bits are puddles.

98s1lightning said:

https://www.sierrabullets.com/product/7-mm-284-caliber-150-gr-hpbt-matchking/

I've never tried a MK in any of my rifles, or known anyone who's hunted with them. I know guys that punch paper with them in 308win.

Click to expand...

I've used them, their expansions in consistent in my experience. I do have some of the 160 TMKs if you'd like to try them, they work similar to Amax or balistic tips.

98s1lightning said:

I'm looking at the Berger Hunting line of bullets


I read a while back not to use their VLD bullets on game, I may have overlooked their hunting line though.....

Thoughts???


I'm looking at the #28571 7mm 150gr for the 284win short action.......I have my doubts it will fit properly it MAY and could be the most accurate bullet for my rifle. I don't know if I don't try. I don't really want to find it runs super accurate and THEN find I end up with a wounded animal.

The videos I have watched are dropping then DRT, but that could also be a sales tactic.....

Click to expand...

Around 2012 and before Berger marketed hunting bullets I took three pronghorn antelope with Berger VLDs. No problem at all. The gun used was a 300 Weatherby Magnum.

Two years ago I used Berger hunting VLDs on three deer using a 308 Winchester. Each of the deer were DRT; even the one with the lung shot.

This year I was planning to use the 308 Winchester but ended up using a 22-250 with 55 grain Remington Varminter bullets. This also killed deer; two of them.

I would have absolutely no worries about using 7mm VLDs on game.

I have used the Berger Classic Hunter in my 30-06 for deer and I have shot several boxes of 130 grain in a 270 Winchester. My reaction to the 168 grain 30 caliber is that I didn't particularly care for them because of the way they sound when they hit the animal. Bullets like the Sierra GameKing and the Speer boattail make a big whap when they hit and the deer goes down quickly. The Classic Hunter has a less audible sound when they hit and the animals tend to move more after they are hit. For many years I have watch intently the immediate reaction when the animal is hit and I just didn't like the Classic Hunter. On the other hand, the bullets are very accurate and shoot really good groups. The Classic Hunter does not stay together and I won't buy any more bullets that don't stay together when they hit. The shotgun effect on the inside of the deer is abnormal for rifle hunting. I think the Nosler AccuBond would be a better choice if your rifle likes them.

I’ve not personally used the Berger’s and I’m sure for smaller deer size animals the bullet fragmenting may even be advantageous to a quick kill. That said I’ve heard stories of horrendous results on larger sized game, I feel most average deer can be put down by nearly any bullet properly placed. Personally I would prefer a bullet that will hold together. I want to know if that critter of a lifetime pops into veiw I would be able to take a less than ideal shot and still get deep penetration and expansion. I’ve found the 160gn Nosler Accubond very accurate in my rem 700 adl in 7mm rem mag and have settled on that for my “do anything” bullet. I’d still like to try some Partitions as they seem to be a standard to which a lot of other bullets are compared.
Good luck!

Thoughts? Why would you bother to use a bullet for hunting if you have any doubts at all about its performance on game?

There are LOTS of good hunting bullets that you can use with complete confidence, so finding myself on an internet forum trying to collect subjective anecdotal evidence to support a plan about which I have doubts would be proof to me that something else would be better. I won't even bother to suggest specific choices because I know of several bullets that have reputations for being completely reliable on game, and accurate in many different rifles. When I pull the trigger on game animals, I like to have no doubts about the rifle, cartridge, and bullet I'm using.

Aletheia said:

Thoughts? Why would you bother to use a bullet for hunting if you have any doubts at all about its performance on game?

There are LOTS of good hunting bullets that you can use with complete confidence, so finding myself on an internet forum trying to collect subjective anecdotal evidence to support a plan about which I have doubts would be proof to me that something else would be better. I won't even bother to suggest specific choices because I know of several bullets that have reputations for being completely reliable on game, and accurate in many different rifles. When I pull the trigger on game animals, I like to have no doubts about the rifle, cartridge, and bullet I'm using.

Click to expand...

I'd have to agree, as long as one is happy with the cost and performance of the normal hunting bullets.
There's times when what's available for hunting either dosent shoot well in a particular rifle, or dosent perform the way one wants, or simply cost more than one is willing to spend (I don't suggest cheeping out on bullets just because, but it is a consideration for me.)
What I'm looking for in an bullet is usually extremely rapid expansion with reasonable penetration.... basically a really heavy varmint bullet.
Shoot a 40lb-60lb goat or sheep with a bullet to hard and you'll likely be in for a really long sucky day on the lava rocks.
Like wise I sometimes need enough weight to punch at least a foot or two into a fairly large animal.
I used to shoot heavy Ballistic tips, except they started not expanding as fast in the mid 2ks, dunno if they changed the jacket alloy, thickened them, or something else, but they stopped doing what I wanted.
The Berger's on the other hand did exactly what I wanted, and I tried a bunch of other bullets including some varmint weights, and SMKs, before settling on the Berger's. The Amax was a latter switch, but again they follow similar performance lines as the original Balistics.
Again this isn't to say the SGKs, SSTs, and others don't work, or do what they are supposed to, they just didn't do exactly what I wanted.

Last year I used Berger 135 Classic Hunters with my Creedmoor. Excellent accuracy; perhaps the best ever in one of my rifles. This year I changed to Barnes LRX and I am happier. With the Barnes there is no doubt I hit the deer and they didn’t go but a few yards. The Berger 135’s worked ok, but the wounding wasn’t as dramatic and finding the deer took a little more effort.