Anyone used these or have opinions on them? They have a pretty good BC, hybrid ogive, in that mid 130's class I am attracted to for some reason. How's their performance on game? The only downside I can see right now is being $.50 apiece...
Range Report Berger 135 gr Classic Hunter
- Thread starter MarkLeupold
- Start date
I use them in my Tikka ctr 20” barreled 6.5 Creedmoor. They are very accurate but I have not taken any game with them.
I am very happy with these bullets. In my 6.5 saum they have taken 4 bears plus several coyote. Typical Berger performance on game. They seem to be very easy to load for and still retain a good bc.
Imho $.50 per bullet is nothing compared to the cost of a rifle, scope or a hunting g trip, not to mention a lost trophy.
Imho $.50 per bullet is nothing compared to the cost of a rifle, scope or a hunting g trip, not to mention a lost trophy.
I am not working up anymore new loads with Berger bullets. Their ability to supply the market is not near stable enough. I am in a bad way right now with an elk hunt in October and no bullets. I've emailed Berger 3 times in the last 6 months with no response about an ETA.
Last edited:
Some big time sales rep from berger was in my local shop a few weeks ago. He stated that they were tooled up for 6mm bullets atm, then will tool up for 6.5's.....after they get caught back up on the 6mm's.
Whats funny, is that he said they were like 1.5 million backlogged.
I love bergers, but hate how they never have mine in stock for months at a time. When I get some extra cash, I am going to try and make a big order for some JLK's I think.
Whats funny, is that he said they were like 1.5 million backlogged.
I love bergers, but hate how they never have mine in stock for months at a time. When I get some extra cash, I am going to try and make a big order for some JLK's I think.
What Bergers are you looking for that you can't find?
Yeah, and the 1.5million is underestimated because a lot of places are so far behind they are not allowing backorder.
6.5mm 140gr VLDH
Sorry for the thread derail OP. I am a huge Berger fan, but I am slowly moving everything to Hornady because I can get them when I need them. If you only shoot a few hundred a year, Berger bullets are great. They fly great and kill great but can be a bitch to get.
Hey, it's no problem. I'll probably order a box or something to do load development with but unless they outperform my other options by a long way, I'll have to be looking for something else. $50 a box is a lot for me, especially when I want to be using these as my PRS round too and the round count could get high. Which really disappoints me because they really look like a great round for what I want to do with them.
EDIT: The Classic Hunters do seem to have better availability than many of their target offerings, though.
First, let me say that I am a huge berger fan....the bullets just flat shoot. Maybe a little harder to tune, but well worth it. I shoot VLD-H's only. It seems they are always hard to find. It does not matter if you have the money or not...if they are on the shelf...well you had better buy them.
To the OP, you might want to look at the RDF, there are lots of guys shooting those with success from what I hear.
On your question of 130's they are very good to shoot with. I run them in my 6.5x47L @ 2916.
Are the JLK bullets worth shooting ? I bought 1k of them from a guy, but I have not shot any of them yet. I also have a friend that has 2k of them....which he said he would sale me. It would actually give me enough to burn out a barrel if they are accurate.
To the OP, you might want to look at the RDF, there are lots of guys shooting those with success from what I hear.
On your question of 130's they are very good to shoot with. I run them in my 6.5x47L @ 2916.
Are the JLK bullets worth shooting ? I bought 1k of them from a guy, but I have not shot any of them yet. I also have a friend that has 2k of them....which he said he would sale me. It would actually give me enough to burn out a barrel if they are accurate.
What barrel length are you shooting?
I've heard very good things about JLK's. The guy that makes them is active around the MoST series and seems like a good dude. I'd say jump on those if they shoot for you.
JLK's are very good, while I have not shot them in the 6.5 size the 308 180gr long boat tail will turn your 308 into a creedmoor... just with more recoil. I am unsure if they are still using the same jacket supplier now, but in years past Berger and JLK bullets use (or did use) the same jackets and remained with the thinner jacket when Berger switched to a thicker one for their target line. So unless something has changed JLK could be useful at hunting as well. This was all back before Berger bought out J4 Jackets. After the buy out they started charging more and JLK;s prices went up to reflect that, so it is very possible that JLK may be using a different supplier now.
The bullets are for my 6.5 saum build. My smith just texted me and and said he is starting it right now....hopefully he will finish by the end of the day. The barrel is a sendero 26" on the saum.
24" with suppressor on the 6.5x47L. I originally had them tuned for 2980, but primer pockets were taking a beating when it warmed up, so I slowed them down. I''m 11 thou off the lands with them, I do not jam anything. With a 130 class bullet, your not really giving up much of anything, and they are a small bit flatter to 1k, given you run them with enough speed. This barrel is on a Defiant action.
What gun are you shooting ? for high round count shooting....if you cannot find 3k to burn the barrel out, then I would try the RDF/ELD, since they are so much cheaper. I only shoot local matches/steel, so I never change bullets. I may change this, since berger is dropping the ball all the time. Every gun I shoot them in makes small groups.
The deer I have shot with my 6x47L (105's) @ 360 yards just passes thru with a nice exit wound. I would assume the hunters would do the same injury. What ranges are you going to take a shot at ? I really don't think it would matter what weight you shot inside 500 yards. If your going to try a 700+ shot, then I would want all the weight I could get.
If your dying to try some 130's.....I will sell you one box of 130 HVLD's. It would give you enough for a tune and hunting this year....just look for something else for steel.
24" with suppressor on the 6.5x47L. I originally had them tuned for 2980, but primer pockets were taking a beating when it warmed up, so I slowed them down. I''m 11 thou off the lands with them, I do not jam anything. With a 130 class bullet, your not really giving up much of anything, and they are a small bit flatter to 1k, given you run them with enough speed. This barrel is on a Defiant action.
What gun are you shooting ? for high round count shooting....if you cannot find 3k to burn the barrel out, then I would try the RDF/ELD, since they are so much cheaper. I only shoot local matches/steel, so I never change bullets. I may change this, since berger is dropping the ball all the time. Every gun I shoot them in makes small groups.
The deer I have shot with my 6x47L (105's) @ 360 yards just passes thru with a nice exit wound. I would assume the hunters would do the same injury. What ranges are you going to take a shot at ? I really don't think it would matter what weight you shot inside 500 yards. If your going to try a 700+ shot, then I would want all the weight I could get.
If your dying to try some 130's.....I will sell you one box of 130 HVLD's. It would give you enough for a tune and hunting this year....just look for something else for steel.
IMO, the best alternatives to bergers are the JLK and ELDX. The 135 JLK is a beast and stupid accurate and do everything a berger does on game. I just picked up 100 of the new Sierra Game Changers in 90gr 6mm. I'll give those a go in my BR, as I already have a stock pile of the 95 TMK's for match use. There are other options to bergers out there. IMO, berger might be getting left behind a little, after being on top for so long in the hunting and precision world. Other's are at least catching up, if not passing berger.
No rifle built yet. It'll be an ARC Nucleus with a Criterion prefit, Standard Palma @ 22", possibility to suppress in the future.
Matches are typically inside 1000, game won't be over 400 unless a coyote presents a prime opportunity. Definitely not past 400 on deer.
I probably won't have super crazy round counts. I may shoot 4-500 rounds in the three months of summer, but the other 8 months I spend at school, so no real opportunity to reload and shoot.
This will be my first 6.5x47 barrel and I want to see what works, so I'll probably do load development on 4 or 5 different bullets anyway. I ordered a box of the 135's this morning (found a good price) so they'll be here when my rifle is finished. Probably the first things I'll put through it.
I had bought some 130 gr Norma Golden Targets and I was super excited about those. USPS lost them (255 of them!!) but I'll probably find another box of those somewhere to test. Hornady and Sierra bullets are always in the mix for me, so there will be some of them get tested too.
Advertised as .584 G1 and .303 G7. Should work pretty well out of a 6.5 SAUM.
Soon I will be running them in a 6.5wssm AI 40* hoping for 3100 FPS.
I found this thread while attempting to get some more information on the 135 6.5 burgers… Which I can’t find anywhere right now let alone verify that the VLD-H is the same bullet:
These were shot out of a 24 inch 7.5 twist bartline stainless steel barrel.
The 135 bullets were a ragged hole (1/2 in 10 rounds). The 153.5 bullets did not group at all… (though they did really well as far as their consistency was concerned.)
These were shot out of a 24 inch 7.5 twist bartline stainless steel barrel.
The 135 bullets were a ragged hole (1/2 in 10 rounds). The 153.5 bullets did not group at all… (though they did really well as far as their consistency was concerned.)
Last edited:
The Berger factory ammo with the 135 CH shot bug holes in my rifle too
Similar threads
Reloading Equipment Berger 338 Bullets - 300 Gr OTM Tactical + Elite Hunter
