Hunting with the Berger hybrid?

anyone tried the hybrids for hunting rounds?

Haven't tried the hybrids on game yet, have used the target bullets on hogs with good success and really liked the results as good or better than what I have experienced with the VLD hunting bullets. Have some hybrids loaded up for the Grendel and will try them on hogs if I get the chance.

105gr in 6mm did not do to well for me on a couple of does I shot small entrance small exit both ran a ways but were recovered
Now the 168gr Classic 7mm has been very good from my .280 on elk
I have some 215gr Hybrids to try in the 300 win but no data yet

I've heard mixed reviews on the 105's...either like DStroud says or wburke has used them and said they do great?

The hybrids are a target bullet. The target bullets have a thicker jacket on them, which will make them harder to expand and open up. I've talked to friends and customers who have taken animals with the hybrids, and shots have been fine. Berger does not recommend them on game, but they will work. When you slow them down, they will have a more difficult time to open up.

FWIW

I shot and axis doe and a nice 8pt whitetail last weekend (pic's coming) with my 6.5 Weatherby, 140 VLD Hunting bullets, both were shot at about 75 yards . Oxymoron...6.5 Weatherby at short range. Anyway, they both ran about 20 yards and croaked. Upon further review, neither bullet exited . Both shots were at different angles, not straight broadside. I didn't do an autopsy, bullets seemed to expend all energy in the animal made them very dead!!!

The 105s are what I plan on running in a 6mm Creedmoor. I've got 500 of them and was hoping to use for both target and hunting. On these thicker jacket bullets would shoulder shots on game help promote some expansion?

Guy I ask at Berger said the hybrids should be fine on shoulder shots. I like high shoulder shots so may try them on a game. Hogs are not cooperating for bullet testing

I hear you on that!!!

what's up with the hogs? have the all been eradicated?

I use the hybrid for hunting but only in my ultra mag so far. I do not know how they do up close, but everything Ive shot has dropped without taking a step. The closest animal I have shot with them was a mule deer buck last year at 475 yards, and the bullet exploded inside the deer.

They are getting smarter...y'all are edumacating them

On the 105' s I was shooting them from a 6mm Creedmoor at about 3075fps and these shots were out there 400 yards give or take. They maybe fine at closer ranges where the velocity is high but I would be wary at longer ranges when speed has dropped off. When you think about it you run the high BC to possibly shoot farther out but it may not be best bullet for game. AMax maybe .....have not tried that particular AMax on game although they shoot great from my gun.

I can say the bigger caliber Hybrids are very effective on hogs. I shoot the 7mm 180 gr. at 3097 f.p.s. and they have no problem from inside 100 yards to just beyond 700 yards. That is a spread in impact velocity from 2960 f.p.s. to around 2200 f.p.s.. Only once has the Hybrid been a complete pass through and it left a small entrance and just slightly larger exit wound. The pig still balled up within 20 yards and the bullet seemed to hit just a couple of ribs.

That being said, the Hybrid is a target bullet and wasn't design to perform on game animals. It's main purpose is to give the shooter a very high BC bullet for a given caliber and weight that is less sensitive to seating depth than the VLDs.

I think the results I've personally seen with it are due to being able to push a very high BC bullet at a pretty respectable velocity. In my .243 and 6.5x47 I stick with the VLD for that very reason.

On another forum with a lot more hunters up north the hybrid version have more negative reviews than positive for performance.

In my 6mm I stuck with regular vld

I would agree with that statement about the high BC being pushed fast, I push the 230 gr hybrid at 3000fps with good results, also alot of the long range hunters I know also use the hybrids but they are all shooting 7mm mag or larger at high velocities as well. I have not heard of many people using the hybrids for hunting in the smaller calibers like 6.5 or 6mm, for those I hear most people shooting the VLD's for hunting.

I hunt with the 105 ft hybrid in 6mm running 3050 fps. Killed a ram at 150 yards or so and it took three steps then piled up. Shot a spike at around 100 yards and hit right behind the shoulder and came out center of shoulder on other side. Broke the should and exploded the heart drt. Also shot my buck at around 80 yards right behind the shoulder ran 30 feet and piled up. They have worked for me so far but shot placement doesn't hurt no matter the bullet.

Walter

105gr Hybrid worked this weekend for me on2 pigs.