200 grain Berger hybrid

[dennisinaz]

Any of you ever use the 200 grain Hybrids from Berger?

My buddy was getting ready for his limited entry mule deer hunt in Utah and I gave him a box of 200 grain Bergers for his 300 WBY as there were no bullets to be had. We found a load that shot about .5 MOA at 3000 fps and held well out to 500 yds or so, the limit at which he shot it.

To make a long story short, he shot a deer this week and the bullet disintegrated and didn't penetrate. Biggest pieces of bullet were fingernail sized. He has not used Bergers before this point and is very sour on them now. He made a send shot on the buck and killed it- slow lingering death but the first shot would have taken a long time to do the job.

Anyone else ever had this happen?

My experiences with them have been good!

 

[XTR]

Was it a hunting bullet or a target bullet?


...edit

I'm going to venture a guess here, Berger does not list a 30 cal 200gr hunting bullet on their website so you were using the target bullet that says "Not Suitable for Hunting" on the box lid. If so then now you now why. Also why I personally don't like any of the "explosive expansion" [my term] hunting bullets, Bergers included, for anything but varmints.

 

[trailrider121]

Kind of strange the Hybrid disintegrated and didn't penetrate.

The Hybrids are designed with thicker jackets than the hunting version, per Berger website info.

Berger info:
Our Target and Tactical bullets are designed with thicker jackets that withstand more stress before bullet degradation occurs. A target or tactical shooter generally fires multiple rounds in a row, causing the barrel to heat up and more stress on bullet. To keep performance high, we give these bullets thicker jackets.

Our Varmint and Hunting bullets have slightly thinner jackets. This means that the bullet will expand more effectively, creating a large wound cavity that devastates the animal using hydrostatic shock. Hunters generally shoot 1-3 bullets at a time, so bullet degradation is not as much of a concern as expansion.

 

[SEB-USA]

What distance was the deer shot at?

Any of you ever use the 200 grain Hybrids from Berger?

My buddy was getting ready for his limited entry mule deer hunt in Utah and I gave him a box of 200 grain Bergers for his 300 WBY as there were no bullets to be had. We found a load that shot about .5 MOA at 3000 fps and held well out to 500 yds or so, the limit at which he shot it.

To make a long story short, he shot a deer this week and the bullet disintegrated and didn't penetrate. Biggest pieces of bullet were fingernail sized. He has not used Bergers before this point and is very sour on them now. He made a send shot on the buck and killed it- slow lingering death but the first shot would have taken a long time to do the job.

Anyone else ever had this happen?

My experiences with them have been good!

 

[Down South]

I've had nothing but GREAT luck with Berger hunting bullets, never shot an animal with their target bullet so can't comment on that. With that being said, im not running them super fast either. 308 speeds.

 

[Fordnutter]

I wouldn't rule them out just yet if this was based on one or two results. I've found the hybrids heavier jacketed than the conventional hunting VLD"S. I have problem with VLD's over penetration so are very surprised by Hybrids doing the opposite. It may be just one of those "freaky" bullet occurrence that happen every now & then that you can't explain

 

[dkhunt14]

Are you sure he didn't he didn't hit something before the deer? Was the deer really close because at 3000 feet the bullet would be like a grenade at probably anything under 200 yards especially if you hit shoulder bone. Was there a bad stress mark or wrinkle in the jacket? There could be a lot of reasons for this to happen.

 

[dkhunt14]

Re: 2http://forum.accurateshooter.com/index.php#c100 grain Berger hybrid

Hey dennisinaz did you get to talk to the guy about the details? I would be interested in seeing the wound channels and pieces of bullet; plus where it hit; how far; what angle the deer was at and if the bullet could of hit a twig or something. Once I shot a deer with a 243 and a sierra 85HPBT and the deer ran away like it wasn't hit. When I found the deer the entrance hole was over an inch. Next morning I went back to where the deer was standing when I shot and found the pine limb I hit. Never saw it in the scope.