Berger VLD

[Speed3]

Anyone shooting these and having good results? Potentially using this as a match/hunting bullet and wondering if they do perform well for hunting deer? Well be loading 270win 150gr....the ballistic coefficient of these seem really good.

Looking for first hand experiences.

 

[fa18hooker]

Very sensitive to overall cartridge length and bullet runout. My experience is with .224, 6mm and .308 Berger VLD's. If you can find the Litz/Berger Hybrid VLD's, they're much more tolerant to magazine-length loading...

 

[JamesBailey]

VLDs are simply awesome on deer. Drops them hard and quickly.
They can produce more "flyers" than bullets with more 'gentle' ogives. So you might have a nice .5" group going and get one that flys out an 1" or so. Not all rifles/loads will produce flyers w/ VLDs, but it is a compromise, a risk, that you take.

I would recommend you try them - buy 100pcs and give them a good load development. You get them going into nice groups at 100yds and you can be sure they will hit and kill deer hard at 500+...

 

[Jerry M]

Have you considered the Nosler 150 gain Ballistic Tip? They fly well and it should work for your needs.

Good luck

Jerry

 

[dist1646]

The Berger VLD's I have tried seem to have a sweet spot at about 0.040" off the lands. I have used .22, 6mm, 7mm and .30 cal. VLD's. I'm currently using the 7mm 168gr. VLD in my .280 rem. They will fit in the mag. box of my model 700 at 0.040" off and shoot ragged holes on target. If it's brown, it's down.

 

[Speed3]

Thanks for the input was hoping for double duty, foremost deer hunting but secondary midrange match bullet.

 

[Uncle Duke]

I have never used any of these bullets in any caliber, but I just picked some up for my .260 Remington. From what I've read, these bullets can take a lot more experimentation than most to find a sweet spot in relation to seating depth. But I hear that if you can get them right, they can be REALLY right. I'd be curious to know if anyone else is shooting these in .260, or any other thoughts relating to these bullets generally.

 

[JamesBailey]

I have never used any of these bullets in any caliber, but I just picked some up for my .260 Remington. From what I've read, these bullets can take a lot more experimentation than most to find a sweet spot in relation to seating depth. But I hear that if you can get them right, they can be REALLY right. I'd be curious to know if anyone else is shooting these in .260, or any other thoughts relating to these bullets generally.

If you are talking about the 6.5mm 140gr weight class, Berger has a relatively new type of bullet design that they call "Hybrids" and they make one in the 140gr (but not in 130gr). The "Hybrid" nose design combines the front end of the VLD profile and the ogive/bearing area of a tangent bullet profile. This results in the best of both worlds: outstanding aerodynamics and lower sensitivity to seating depth. As such, I would strongly recommend the 140gr Berger Hybrid over the VLD.

I don't use a Hybrid in 6.5mm but do in 7mm and it is outstanding. Love them.

 

[Uncle Duke]

If you are talking about the 6.5mm 140gr weight class, Berger has a relatively new type of bullet design that they call "Hybrids" and they make one in the 140gr (but not in 130gr). The "Hybrid" nose design combines the front end of the VLD profile and the ogive/bearing area of a tangent bullet profile. This results in the best of both worlds: outstanding aerodynamics and lower sensitivity to seating depth. As such, I would strongly recommend the 140gr Berger Hybrid over the VLD.

I don't use a Hybrid in 6.5mm but do in 7mm and it is outstanding. Love them.

Thanks for the info, and I'll have to give these hybrids a try also. I found it both interesting and very unusual that Berger's own manual devotes literally pages to their VLD design. Short version of their discussion seemed to be this.....great bullets potentially....but very tempermental, and for the reasons you mention. Curious to find out more about both of these bullet designs.

 

[JamesBailey]

For more on the Hybrid vs VLD design, see here:

http://www.accurateshooter.com/ballistics/tangent-vs-secant-vs-hybrid-ogive-bullets/