I have a thread going over in (medium bore) about 270 bullet choices on long range mule deer. Have any of you any experience with the Berger .277 140 grain VLD hunter...expansion, weight retension?

The Berger must not be very popular around real hunters. I have never shot a berger myself....I have always considered them to be match grade target projectiles.

Jim,
I've seen a few Bergers used but usually in 6.5 never in the .277. I've used exactly one (1) 6.5 on big game.
I shot an elk last year at longer-ish ranges and wasn't impressed with the performance. The expansion/fragmentation was more than I like even at the extended range. Some say that this is the correct performance for this bullet. Maybe so, but for elk I like a controlled expansion bullet.
VLD might work great on deer but why use them when a Barnes or AB Nosler will expand AND penetrate? I've used both Barnes and Nosler AB with great success on many, many big game animals.
On game, I'd rather sacrifice a few B.C. points in favor of penetration.
There's my 2 cents for free!
Zeke

yeppers I will be loading and testing both 140 TSX and Nosler AB 140 for best accuracy out to 600 yards at the NRA Whittington Center in two weeks. Let the most accurate win because I have confidence in both of them for performance after all the commits and even some of my experiences.

I've been using the 150 VLD in one of my 270s since 2009 and have killed a few deer with it in Kentucky. It has impressed me in accuracy and trajectory. My load is 51 gr IMR4350 with a Fed 215 Magnum/match primer. I've not recovered any bullets, all pass through shots. All of these deer were killed with this combo and this is not a complete set of pics.













I'd say what impressed me most was how flat it shoots. I am 1/4" high at 100, and 1/2" low at 200. My first kill with this load was 289 yards on a Doe on opening morning. I knew with the given trajectory that the bullet shouldn't hit too much lower at that distance and that turned out to be true.

Going by memory I think it only hit 2" lower than my point of aim. I had a rock solid rest with a bipod and the stock was resting on my pack. I aimed two inches below her spine and hit about 4" below the spine, taking the high shoulder shot and she dropped. I had guessed that the impact would have been lower which is my past experience with Barnes and Nosler

The bullets are seated ten thou off the lands. My guess is that a 140 and 130 VLD would shoot flatter. I had intended to try them both but decided that the 150s shot to my satisfaction.