Berger Bullet Tip Clearing

[Gargoyle]

For those who shoot Bergers. Do you clear the tips? What do you clear the tips with? How deep do you clear?

 

[Tremain4414]

Ok I have no clue what’s happening here and don’t really care to be honest but if you’re actually looking for a way to clear the tips on Berger bullets I’ve found a small jewelry hand drill works well for me. You can find them on amazon for around $15-$20

 

[ButterBean]

Ok I have no clue what’s happening here and don’t really care to be honest but if you’re actually looking for a way to clear the tips on Berger bullets I’ve found a small jewelry hand drill works well for me. You can find them in amazing for around $15-$20

That's what we used back in the day

 

[realunlucky]

Really your wasting valuble Sunday, just stop. I've bent over backwards to allow everyone point of view to get posted and have avoided banning anyone over this nonsense but this ridiculousness has reached its limit.

It really is **** around and find out time.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

 

[fngTony]

Really your wasting valuble Sunday, just stop. I've bent over backwards to allow everyone point of view to get posted and have avoided banning anyone over this nonsense but this ridiculousness has reached its limit.

It really is **** around and find out time.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

I cleaned this up but leaving this as a reminder incase anyone was thinking about repeating their behavior.

 

[Gargoyle]

Ok I have no clue what’s happening here and don’t really care to be honest but if you’re actually looking for a way to clear the tips on Berger bullets I’ve found a small jewelry hand drill works well for me. You can find them on amazon for around $15-$20

Yeah, I broke all my drill bits small enough to fit the holes. The 6mm were brutal, lol! 30 cal not too bad. There is definitely a bullet profile difference between the Hybrids and the VLDT series!

Do you drill to the lead?

 

[ButterBean]

Yeah, I broke all my drill bits small enough to fit the holes. The 6mm were brutal, lol! 30 cal not too bad. There is definitely a bullet profile difference between the Hybrids and the VLDT series!

Do you drill to the lead?

I always did

 

[Tremain4414]

I reload the 215 hybrids and I only clear the tips. I did push them a little too far when I was first figuring it out though but haven’t had that issue since

 

[Gargoyle]

I reload the 215 hybrids and I only clear the tips. I did push them a little too far when I was first figuring it out though but haven’t had that issue since

Ok, so you clear/push, but not drill?

 

[Tremain4414]

The hand drill allows you to use your fingers to turn the drill bit so I just “drill” out the opening and leave it at that

 

[Gargoyle]

Ok, I would drill till they "popped" and the drill bit would slide back and forth inside freely.
Is this really helping? I like to rainman out on stuff and did find it soothing to my OCD brain!

 

[Tremain4414]

I don’t really know as I don’t have any experience with drill vs not drilled bullets. When I started reloading Berger’s and was researching them I read about the tips being “clogged” or whatever as a potential issue and read that some of the more well known reloaders talked about drilling out the tips so I started doing it. To be fair though I only do this on my hunting bullets but I have not noticed a difference in accuracy between the drilled/undrilled

 

[Gargoyle]

I don’t really know as I don’t have any experience with drill vs not drilled bullets. When I started reloading Berger’s and was researching them I read about the tips being “clogged” or whatever as a potential issue and read that some of the more well known reloaders talked about drilling out the tips so I started doing it. To be fair though I only do this on my hunting bullets but I have not noticed a difference in accuracy between the drilled/undrilled

Yeah, I don't see a need to do it on bullets I'm ringing steel with.

 

[30338]

Killed a few truck loads of stuff with Bergers in the last 15 or so years. Never even looked at a tip of one of them. Pretty much settled on 140 VLD in 6.5, but also shoot 135 classics and a few 156 EOL. Also ran 196 EOL fast in a 7mm. 100% no issues.

As a side note, the most meat damage I ever had on an animal was an antelope quartering towards me. I shot it with a 100 grain TSX. The bullet broke the front should spreading bone bits all over, penetrated to the opposite hindquarter and busted the femur. Again bone bits all over the meat. Sort of needless penetration and waste of meat. Never shot another animal with a solid copper bullet.

Well that and I like the high BC on the Bergers for 500 yard plus shots.

 

[zrodwyo]

There is a lot of stuff written out there on this but It doesn’t make any difference. Open tip match bullets don’t expand like a hollow point pistol bullet.

 

[Gargoyle]

Killed a few truck loads of stuff with Bergers in the last 15 or so years. Never even looked at a tip of one of them. Pretty much settled on 140 VLD in 6.5, but also shoot 135 classics and a few 156 EOL. Also ran 196 EOL fast in a 7mm. 100% no issues.

As a side note, the most meat damage I ever had on an animal was an antelope quartering towards me. I shot it with a 100 grain TSX. The bullet broke the front should spreading bone bits all over, penetrated to the opposite hindquarter and busted the femur. Again bone bits all over the meat. Sort of needless penetration and waste of meat. Never shot another animal with a solid copper bullet.

Well that and I like the high BC on the Bergers for 500 yard plus shots.

So what your saying is just like I used to put Xs in my 22lr bullets as a kid thinkin it was doing something more...LOL!

 

[ID_Matt]

I am not sure how much it matters but just to be safe I run a a small welding type drill bit through the tips just to make sure they are open and not plugged.

 

[TxLite]

There is a lot of stuff written out there on this but It doesn’t make any difference. Open tip match bullets don’t expand like a hollow point pistol bullet.

I haven’t had a chance to use them on game yet, but I’ve had 3 bergers (2 215’s @ 550 yards and 1 140 vld-h in 7mm-08 @ 100 yards) pencil through milk jugs filled with water. I know that animals aren’t made of plastic and water but I found it interesting. By pencil I mean we couldn’t even tell if we hit the jug or not until the water level slowly lowered. Typically they will completely explode and send plastic shrapnel flying. This was before I started checking the tips so I’m not sure if they were clogged or not. Not entirely sure what happened with them but after I started verifying the tips weren’t clogged I haven’t seen it happen again. Just my experience

 

[wapitibob]

It matters, I watched back to back shots pencil thru a little Deer.

 

[Ucsdryder]

So what your saying is just like I used to put Xs in my 22lr bullets as a kid thinkin it was doing something more...LOL!

Wow! I totally forgot about this. I used to do this all the time when I was a kid. That brings back memories.