Berger 95grn VLD for my .243.....??????

TReX300

TReX300

New member
Been thinking about trying some 95grn VLD's for my .243. Anyone shoot them? What kind of results do you have? What kind of velocity? My gun is an older Winchester-Canada Cooey model 71 (Win Mod 70) with a 22" 1-9" twist barrel. I'd like to set it up as my windy day Coyote and all around deer rifle. Are these a decent choice in bullet for that?

Thanks
Tim
 
all berger are great bullets imo. 9 twist will do the job according to berger. my 9 1/4 twist wont stabilize them. bottom line, if they stabilize for you they should be a great bullet for the job.
 
I saw that Berger says I 1-9" will do it. My does 95grn Noslers with great result but I was wondering about the Bergers because of the length and them taking somethign a bit faster to do it. How fast were you pushing them in your 1-9 1/4" barrel? JBP......know anywhere with Retumbo data for the .243 with that bullet weight? I don't have any, only for 105grn+.

Thanks
Tim
 
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I've tried Retumbo down to the 87gr V-max but the velocity was sub-par. My favorite load uses H1000 and CCI 250's with the 87gr'ers. With Retumbo you'll run out of room in the case before you over pressure 85-95gr bullets.

I haven't tried the Berger 95 VLD's yet. I tried the Sierra 95 Matchkings when they first came out. They shot well but didn't expand on varmints to my liking.
 
I'll check what the 95's were usually at. I remember we shot the 105's at Hodgdon's max load of 49gr. The max will be a grain or so higher for the 95 but remember every rifle is different so start low
 
Use the data for 105's and you'll be fine with the 95's. If anything, you'll be able to go a grain or two more with the 95's vs the 105's.

To answer your original question, I would think it would be a decent all around bullet for yotes and deer, you'll just have to shoot a few of each and come to your own conclusions based on your results. I say "decent" because I've not had the best luck with 168's or 180's VLD's on deer from my 7 RM. The 168's blew up at 600+ yards, and the 180's penciled through at 100 yards. Not exactly the kind of performance I'm looking for in a deer bullet...

Dont get to caught up on "recomended" twist rates either... My 7 RM is a factory barreled 700 BDL custom deluxe with a 1 in 9 1/4" and it shoots everything up to the 180g VLD, 168g VLD, amd 162g AMAX where they say it requires a 1 in 8" or 1 in 9" and they were all stable out to 1200 yards, so go figure....

Only way to really tell if they'll work for you and your rifle is to get some bullets downrange...

I"m going to be trying some 95g VLD's or 105g AMAX's from my stevens in 243 shortly for some 1K shooting myself. We'll see how it goes...
 
Shot a muley buck at 618 yards few years ago with the 168g vld at 2950fps, on point of shoulder. He dropped on the spot but was far from dead. Bullet didn't even make it halfway through the chest cavity. I couldn't finish him off from that distance because he kept trying to get up and falling down the hill. I eventually made my way across the canyon and finished him off with a neck shot. Upon skinning is where I found "pieces" of the 168g VLD barely making it past the shoulder of where I hit him.

I switched to 180's the next year to see if that would solve the problem and thats where I ran into an entirely different problem. Shot another muley buck about 100 yards behind the shoulder and he just stood there like nothing even happened. After about a minute, I put another one in his shoulder this time. After about 30 seconds, he finally fell over. Upon retrieving this one, it was very very hard to find the exit holes. Upon gutting and skinning him out, internal damage was nill and the exit holes were the size of needles. No more VLD's for me from my 7 RM on deer...

Also have had my issues with the 162g AMAX. These are only going 2850-2900fps. Wacked a very very nice 4x4 muley at 790 yards behind the front shoulder and that bullet totally blew up as well. At least it made it halfway through the chest cavity, turned the insides to mush, he went about 25 yards before expiring. I would have liked to seen an exit at 790 yards [beeep]. Worse yet, what if I had hit his shoulder?? Would have turned out exactly like the 168g VLD where the buck would have not been dead and flopping all around trying to get back up.

I"m going to give the 162g AMAX 1 more try this year, that is if I even take it...My 338 EDGE w/300g SMK"s is now my dedicated LR deer/elk/bear rifle. The 7 RM is just used for a lighter weight back up rig for when I dont wanna pack my 12 lb EDGE.

Have never lost an animal with a target bullet, but I've definately had my issues with them. Really the only target bullet I trust on game anymore is the 338" 300g SMK where it can lose all the weight it wants, its still got some serious power and with that kinda SD, it gets the job done everytime no matter what.
 
My Rem 700 would not stabalize the 95g Berger VLD's. I gave all that I had left over to Skeet Lee. Remember Skeet? He may still be lurking here...I never heard if he got them to shoot or not.

However, the 95g Noslers C/t's with 44g of IMR 4350 and a Win primer shot a single ragged hole. This is an excellent deer bullet.

Your rifle may have a preference of one bullet over another one and your rifle may prefer a non coated 95g Bullet better in which case you will have to lower the above powder charge for your rifle.

Don't forget the Hornady 95g SST, great deer bullet.
 
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Tim,
both of my daughters shoot .243 and I shoot .243 WSSM in Rem 700, Savage 11, and Oly Arms AR-15 respectively. The savage is 1:9.25 and the others are 1:10 twist. We have experimented with lots of different bullets for the combination of targets, coyotes, and deer. I really like the Berger 95 gr VLD Hunting Bullets because they buck the wind much better than the next best Sierra 85 gr Game King HPBT. We load Varget Powder and the primers don't seem to make much of a difference. I'm guessing that our velocity is close to 3,000 fps based on the load data we have been able to find. These bullets are very accurate in our rifles and work great on deer and coyotes. Call Berger and they will give you the load data for the powders you want to try. As always, work up your loads carefully and have fun!
 
Originally Posted By: 1str8outdoorsmanTim,
both of my daughters shoot .243 and I shoot .243 WSSM in Rem 700, Savage 11, and Oly Arms AR-15 respectively. The savage is 1:9.25 and the others are 1:10 twist. We have experimented with lots of different bullets for the combination of targets, coyotes, and deer. I really like the Berger 95 gr VLD Hunting Bullets because they buck the wind much better than the next best Sierra 85 gr Game King HPBT.
How does the Berger 95gr VLD do in your 1:10 twist WSSM Oly Arms AR-15?

How did the Sierra 85 gr Game King HPBT do in the Oly AR.

Thanks
 
Tim,
the Berger 95gr VLD Hunting Bullets shoot consistent 5/8" to 3/4" groups with 5 shots at 100 yds--measuring from the center of the holes. The Sierra 85 gr GKHPBT were consistent at about 5/8" with 5 shots at 100 yds. Have fun with your experiments!
 
I shoot repeated 1/2 to 3/4 MOA groups with the 95g Nosler Ballistic Tip over 44.0g of IMR7828SSC in my rebarreled Savage Model 10 (1:10 twist).

Fitch
 
I have loaded 95gr VLDs for both my Cooper M22 (6mm Remington, 26" 1:10 barrel) and my AR-X Industries AR (6mm AR Turbo 40, 24" 1:8 barrel). I get about 2900 fps from the AR and 3300 fps from the Cooper. In both rifles, it is the most accurate hunting I have yet found. Both rifles will shot well under 1/2 MOA with these bullets. Only game I have shot with them so far are ground hogs. Terminal results were more than satisfactory. I was surprised at how much damage they did on such small game.
 
they will definetly stabilize, even in a 10 twist. will they shoot good groups? depends on the barrel. is it a kreiger?? my hart 12 twist shoots the 88 into very very small groups. will try the 95's soon. roninflag
 
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