mcseal2
WKR
- Joined
- May 8, 2014
- Messages
- 2,737
I shoot both Bergers and Accubonds in different rifles. I use accubonds in more of them, but Bergers in the one I use the most. I personally prefer the terminal characteristics of the Accubond but have been using the Berger for whitetail and antelope since 2012 and never had a problem. I've never seen either bullet fail to kill anything I hit well quickly and cleanly, and the Berger shoots better from my 264 win mag at longer ranges. I've only used Bergers in 6mm and 264, but have used Accubonds since they came out in 25, 264, 277, 284, and 30 cal.
I have a question for the Berger guys though, have you used them on real tough angled shots and how did they perform there? I have taken some deer over the years on less than ideal shot angles because I was confident in the Accubond still getting the job done. My best muley, a 200" buck of a lifetime, was heading out of a creek into a whole maze of little cuts when I shot him at 180yds. The only shot I was likely to get before he dropped off into the cuts and was gone was quartering away hard, the 140gr Accubond from my 264 hit behind the last rib and came to rest under the hide on the opposite side of the buck near his chin. Another time I finished off another hunters buck he crippled up raining lead from further up the mountain. He broke the buck's back leg below the knee and the buck was headed toward a face covered in dark timber. When it became apparent he wasn't going to hit it again I yelled up the mountain to see if he wanted me to finish it and he yelled yes back. I got prone over my pack with my 270 WSM and dropped it at 400yds on and even worse shot angle. The bullet again was recovered in the neck. That hunter slinging lead from 800yds or more ( I talked to him, not a long range shooter just slinging lead) didn't deserve that buck, but I didn't want to see it cripple off to die that winter. His leg bones were broke but there wasn't much blood and he wouldn't have been found had he hit the timber. All the Accubonds I've recovered weighed 60-65% of their original weight. Most recovered bullets were from elk, those are the only two I ever kept in a deer.
I still use Accubonds in most of my rifles but have went to the Berger in my 264 win mag I do most of my hunting with outside the mountains. It's a heavier rifle that I don't like to pack in that country. I haven't shot them all but my rifle has been used for 3 antelope and 6 whitetail with the 140gr Berger and all have dropped very quickly and the bullets performed exactly as advertised small entrance wounds and massive internal damage. On some fragments exited but most stayed in the animal. 4 deer shot with the 87gr Berger when I was picked as a field tester for it all showed the same performance.
Anyway, all this brings me to my question. I have never had to take a hard quartering shot with the Bergers yet. All but one animal has been broadside. My buck this year was facing me on a flat below the hill I was on with light fading fast at 300yds, feeding with his head down. I shot him through the neck just in front of his shoulders and the bullet went down into the vitals. It didn't exit but entered through the spine and did massive damage, the buck never took a step.
I'm not trying to love or hate on either bullet, I use both and both have done very well for me. I'm just curious if anyone has field experience with how the Bergers work when you have to penetrate more of an animal to get to the vitals because I have not tried it myself. I always want the perfect broadside shot and try to wait for it, but it just doesn't always present itself.
I have a question for the Berger guys though, have you used them on real tough angled shots and how did they perform there? I have taken some deer over the years on less than ideal shot angles because I was confident in the Accubond still getting the job done. My best muley, a 200" buck of a lifetime, was heading out of a creek into a whole maze of little cuts when I shot him at 180yds. The only shot I was likely to get before he dropped off into the cuts and was gone was quartering away hard, the 140gr Accubond from my 264 hit behind the last rib and came to rest under the hide on the opposite side of the buck near his chin. Another time I finished off another hunters buck he crippled up raining lead from further up the mountain. He broke the buck's back leg below the knee and the buck was headed toward a face covered in dark timber. When it became apparent he wasn't going to hit it again I yelled up the mountain to see if he wanted me to finish it and he yelled yes back. I got prone over my pack with my 270 WSM and dropped it at 400yds on and even worse shot angle. The bullet again was recovered in the neck. That hunter slinging lead from 800yds or more ( I talked to him, not a long range shooter just slinging lead) didn't deserve that buck, but I didn't want to see it cripple off to die that winter. His leg bones were broke but there wasn't much blood and he wouldn't have been found had he hit the timber. All the Accubonds I've recovered weighed 60-65% of their original weight. Most recovered bullets were from elk, those are the only two I ever kept in a deer.
I still use Accubonds in most of my rifles but have went to the Berger in my 264 win mag I do most of my hunting with outside the mountains. It's a heavier rifle that I don't like to pack in that country. I haven't shot them all but my rifle has been used for 3 antelope and 6 whitetail with the 140gr Berger and all have dropped very quickly and the bullets performed exactly as advertised small entrance wounds and massive internal damage. On some fragments exited but most stayed in the animal. 4 deer shot with the 87gr Berger when I was picked as a field tester for it all showed the same performance.
Anyway, all this brings me to my question. I have never had to take a hard quartering shot with the Bergers yet. All but one animal has been broadside. My buck this year was facing me on a flat below the hill I was on with light fading fast at 300yds, feeding with his head down. I shot him through the neck just in front of his shoulders and the bullet went down into the vitals. It didn't exit but entered through the spine and did massive damage, the buck never took a step.
I'm not trying to love or hate on either bullet, I use both and both have done very well for me. I'm just curious if anyone has field experience with how the Bergers work when you have to penetrate more of an animal to get to the vitals because I have not tried it myself. I always want the perfect broadside shot and try to wait for it, but it just doesn't always present itself.
