Berger Elite Hunter Series Projectiles.

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Berger - New Hunting Projectiles

Berger Bullets has announced that they will be releasing a new range of hunting projectiles.
The Berger Classic Hunter Line of projectiles and the Berger Elite Hunter line of projectiles. These are two very distinctly different designs.

The Classic Hunter is designed to comply with SAAMI specifications in factory rifles.

The Elite Hunter is designed with an optimised Hybrid shape to maximise long range performance.

Both lines of bullets are designed to have performance on game similar to Berger's VLD line of hunting bullets.

Berger Bullets has been quietly working on several new projects and some of these are getting ready to be launched.

The first is not likely to excite the avid long range hunter but should interest the shooter who owns a factory sporter.

They are introducing a new line of hunting bullets which are designed by Bryan Litz to comply with SAAMI specifications in factory hunting rifles. This line will be known as the Berger Classic Hunter line.

Following extensive testing on media, these bullets were recently tested on game in New Zealand. Some 71 animals were taken, apparently all of which expired either where they were hit or within yards of that spot.

A lot of hunters like how Berger bullets perform on game, but some hunters have had trouble getting the VLD line of projectiles to shoot accurately in factory rifles, with the bullets seated to magazine length COAL. This is due to the short magazine lengths that most factory rifles have and the long jump that the projectiles have to make to contact the lands.

The Classic Hunter line of bullets is designed precisely for this purpose. You should be able to load them to a COAL that fits into your factory magazine and also get excellent accuracy. The downside is that the B.C. will be lower than some of the other Berger hunting bullets.

The new Berger Elite Hunter line of bullets is designed with a optimised Hybrid shape. These are not like the Hybrid bullets mentioned above because these have been designed to achieve the highest BC possible with no regard for SAAMI dimensions. These bullets are designed for the precision long range hunter and will be a welcome addition to the line as most of these bullets have a higher BC than our current VLD Hunting bullets. All optimised Hybrid hunting bullets will be known as the Elite Hunter line.

One of the first bullets to be released is the new .338 cal, 250 gr, Elite Hunter bullet. This bullet is the same shape as the current .338 cal 250 gr Hybrid OTM Tactical. The difference is on the inside. They changed the jacket so that it doesn't have the same high velocity/pressure performance issues as the Gen 1 (300 gr) bullets, but will retain the same terminal performance as the Gen 1 bullet. Resellers are now accepting orders of this bullet and a few lucky shooters already have them.
I will be testing these 250gn bullets over the next few weeks.

A 300 gr bullet is also planned to be released some time after the 250 gr bullet.

The 30 cal Hybrid Hunting bullets (which will also be called Elite Hunter) will not be available until roughly October. The 30 cal Elite Hunter will come in the 230 gr weight for sure. They haven't decided whether they will go with both the 215 gr and 200 gr or with just the 200 gr. If you want a particular weight then contact Berger and let them know as they welcome feedback from customers. Berger also intends to make .30 cal, Elite Hunter bullets in other common, lighter weights as well. This should be welcomed by Aussie hunters that target smaller feral game.

These heavy bullets will be available in new 100 count boxes. The first of these is the 338 cal 250 gr Elite Hunter bullet which may become available in the US in about 3-4 weeks.

Pictured left is a sample of various .338 calibre match grade projectiles.
Left is a 300gn Sierra Matchking. Centre is 250gn Berger Elite Hunter and right is a Berger 300gn Hyrbrid OTM.

The ballistic performance of the 250gn Berger Elite hunter is expected to be superior to the 300gn SMK given that the lighter projectile can be fired at much higher velocity, especially in rifles with standard length barrels such as a hunter weight .338 win mag.