The Berger 140gr VLD will penetrate as good as any other bullet out there save for a FMJ. I know this from over 13 kills using them in my 6.5 Rem Mag. I suppose the excellent penetration is do to the very high sectional density.
Now the Berger "Hunting" VLD will come to pieces when it hits, but not until it has penetrated a good 4", even through a shoulder. However, almost all (except for 2 animals) of my kills with that rifle have actually been with the "Target" VLDs. The Target VLDs don't have the same shock value as the Hunting VLDs when aiming for the traditional kill zone (heart or lungs), but they allow you to take odd angle shots through shoulders and such because they penetrate much better through heavy bone and muscle with the thicker jacket. And the terminal damage to vitals is still very devastating.
For example with the Target VLD; I shot an antelope doe dead center of the front shoulder at 465 yards one year. Complete pass through. Entrance hole was straight through the thickest parts of the shoulder blade and about the half the size of a dime. Exit was directly center of the opposite shoulder as well and about the size of a 50 cent piece. However, the lungs and top or her heart were turned into soup! Complete mush! And the best part was that there was almost no bloodshot meat around the entrance or exit.
An example of a closer shot using the Target VLD in the same rifle; I shot a decent 135 B&C class 5x5 whitetail buck on a run at roughly 110 yards. Put it high on his shoulder, swung with him and squeezed her off. He dropped like God dropped a 10 ton dump truck on his back and came to a skidding halt in the grass and dirt. Got up to him and found that the bullet had completely blew his spine in half while also taking out the top muscles of both shoulders.
So when talking about heavily muscled bears being your quarry and you being partial to Berger and ballistic tip style bullets, I would definitely have to recommend using the "Target" VLD and not the Hunting version. I wouldn't recommend the A-Max or Nosler Ballistic type at all "in that caliber".
But a bear with a 6.5x47L at 800 yards??? mmmmm...I don't know if that is what I would call ethical.
I would question it with my 6.5 Rem Mag and I push that same 140gr VLD at 3130 fps to 3200 fps depending on which load I use. The reason for that is because the 6.5mm calibers don't have the massive amounts of energy to compensate for shot placement that is slightly miscalculated at long range and still provide good vital damage like a big 30 or 338 cal can.
So like "raythemanroe" stated, "a good hunter is one that knows his limitations". Those definitely are words of wisdom to live by if you want to be successful in the field and ethically harvest game
