Peregrine VRG3 Bushmaster - RSA Manufactured Bullet

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Hi Phoenix.
The first shipment of PEREGRINE BULLETS should be in the U.S in August/September. Our agent is based in Gilbert, Arizona. Initially not all the bullets will be available in the U.S but can be shipped from SA.

Maybe some order can be combined to save some on the shipping fee.

Well now that's ironic. Gilbert is right next door to where I live, walking I could be in Gilbert in about 60 seconds. Please PM me the contact information for the agent.

 

[JWB300]

@Adriaan, thanks for the welcom.

@JWB300, we can ship directly to you. Were in Aus are you?

Gday Kristof,

Welcome to the forum!

I'm in the Hunter Valley in NSW.

Cheers,
JWB300

 

[Kristof Aucamp]

Well now that's ironic. Gilbert is right next door to where I live, walking I could be in Gilbert in about 60 seconds. Please PM me the contact information for the agent.

Hi Phoenix. I have sent you an e-mail with his detail.

 

[Desperatezulu]

Peregrine Bullets do it again!! These points were recovered from a buffalo cow. 375 270gr Peregrine VRG 3 Bushmaster. The first point broke the left leg and was found in the opposite shoulder. The second point was an insurance shot and went through both side's ribs and was recovered under the skin on the other side.

The mushrooms are decent for a monometal but obviously nowhere near a bonded lead-core... I am surprised (disappointed?) that they didn't penetrate completely on what was a rib-cage shot from the description. Especially as the small mushroom wouldn't have caused major resistance. The fact that these bullets were recovered from 416s and 375 which have reputations for excellent penetration makes me wonder a bit.

Of course, dead is dead at the end of the day.

 

[petrusg]

The Giraffe went through the one rib, through the vitals, through the other rib and suck under the skin on the other side, can't get any better penetration than that?

One buff was a front vital shot, through a rib and stuck under the skin, looked like a golf ball.

The other buff was a box shot, through the shoulder on the other side and also under the skin.

All perfect penetration, and those results are what you want from a soft.

 

[matt85]

id be willing to try these in my 505 Gibbs if I could get my hands on them. Barnes doesn't make a .505" bullet heavier then 525gr so id welcome an expanding 600gr projectile.

-matt

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

That looks great. I like it Bernard.
All the best.
Witold

 

[Kristof Aucamp]

I'm with Adriaan on this. That is more than sufficient penetration for an expander bullet no matter the caliber. A solid is a another story.

@matt85 we do make a 600gr expander BushMater for the 505 gibbs. You can send me a e-mail and I could put you in touch with our U.S agent. kristof@peregrinebullets.com

 

[Amon458]

This bullet looks impressive but I wished they made there bigger bullets to full size.

 

[Velo Dog]

It's perhaps no secret that, due to my life's experiences, I tend to distrust hollow point bullets (rifle and handgun alike).
However, with as much of an open mind as any grumpy old man can possibly have, I am looking forward to the results that various hunters and PHs post on this bullet.
So far it looks like a good one, in spite of it's reliance on a hollow point to facilitate the desired "mushroom" affect, combined with deep penetration.
It looks promising.

 

[Bernard de Lange]

Hi Guys.

We have hunted a couple of buffalo this year with the Peregrine VRG3 - Bushmaster and they just keep on performing. Attached is some photo's of buff that our clients took this year with VRG3 and recovered points.
I have also added a schematic of how the point was designed.

 

[matt85]

i now have a few 600gr VRG3's and VRG2's to test in my 505 Gibbs. my rifle is currently being refinished and have some modifications done but when it gets back ill see about finding a load for these. if they shoot well then i may give them a try on a live critter.

hard to say if the VRG3 would replace my 570gr A-frame though... those A-frames are just awesome!

-matt

 

[Velo Dog]

i now have a few 600gr VRG3's and VRG2's to test in my 505 Gibbs. my rifle is currently being refinished and have some modifications done but when it gets back ill see about finding a load for these. if they shoot well then i may give them a try on a live critter.

hard to say if the VRG3 would replace my 570gr A-frame though... those A-frames are just awesome!

-matt

Hi Matt,

I agree.
Likewise, even though, right out of the starting blocks the Peregrine bullet is doing well, it will take quite an awful lot to pull me away from the Swift A-Frame as my favorite premium extra tough soft, quite an awful lot indeed.
Not saying I will never try Peregrine, because I might at some stage, just saying "show me" a few years with relatively few well documented complaints.
So far, so good, great reports being posted on the Peregrine bullet.

The Barnes-X looked pretty good in their advertisements as well when it first came out but it seems like they keep having to make periodic "design improvements" to their line of mono-metal expanding bullets.
My best guess as to why would be that they fail to expand a bit more often than desired, as is typical of hollow point bullets in general, especially spitzer shaped ones made of hard metal, in my personal experiences of varmint hunting before I moved to Alaska.

The only complaint I have ever heard about A-Frames was from someone who used them in his 7mm Magnum and said they blew apart smaller animals like genet or porcupine or some small animals anyway, whatever they were.
I expect mean old Mister Excess Velocity was the problem, not as much the bullet.

If it isn't enough that the A-Frame seems to work well at most normal hunting rifle velocities / close range and long range velocities, etc., it is also widely available here where I live and that cannot be said of every bullet brand, especially the premium types.

Cheers,
Velo Dog.

 

[Hermann Weidemann]

Thanks for the discussion. I've been busy helping some guys develop loads for 270 Win (130 gr VRG-4), 7mm Rem Mag (150 gr VRG-4) and 300 Win Mag (180 gr VRG-4). I'm happy to report that on Friday, 16 October, the first two Peregrine-shot elk in North America were taken in Arizona, Unit 22N. In addition I got this report from an American PH friend who runs a hunting concession in Northern Namibia.

Hi Hermann, I went to AGRA and bought some of the 9.3 x 62 Bullets in the 286 gr (VRG-3) variety. They performed well on Blue Gnu, Eland, and Hartmann Zebra. I did not recover any of the bullets as all passed completely through the animals. All were shot on the point of the shoulder and in each case the bullet exited the off shoulder leaving a large wound channel and a "dead right there" animal. The eland was taken at about 200 meters and I fully expected the round to remain in the off side shoulder....but it did not. I will load the round down just a bit next time and work on optimizing the energy transfer. I would not hesitate to use these bullets on any African Plains game....very nice performance.

Thanks again for the info. Monty

Sent from the Namibian Bush

 

[Bernard de Lange]

That is a great report from Namibia. We mainly used the VRG3 & 2 for dangerous game in SA. On dangerous game they are amazing. The weight retention is brilliant and the straight line penetration (through major bone) is great. Our team hunted two more buff 4 days ago and recovered the points. Excited to see the weight retention and what the expansion looks like.

A total of 8 Buff had been taken this year from our side with the VRG3 and all performed great.
For thick skinned animals they definitely get my vote.

 

[Jono Joseph]

We have just hunted another 2 buff cows, both frontal shots and the bullets were recovered all the way back in the rumen 375H&H with 300gr VGR-3 and they preformed perfectly.
I will have the pics posted asap.

Shot

 

[matt85]

i finally got around to trying the 600gr .505" VRG2 in my 505 Gibbs today at the rifle range. the initial accuracy results are very promising! load data is pretty scarce so I had to use a conversion table and found IMR 4350 to be a suitable sub for Somchem S365 and it so happens I have 1 pound layen around.

I used three loads at the range 121gr, 122gr, and 123gr with very good results from 121 and 122 grains and not so great results with 123gr. 121gr yielded 3 shots touching at 50 yards and 122gr grain was about the same with a slight space between the hits. 123gr was terrible and all over the place so I suspect these bullets don't like being pushed that fast. unfortunately it was raining so I couldn't chronograph my loads but given the recoil I can sorta guess compared to other 600gr bullets ive fired in the past. im guessing 121gr is around 2050, 122gr is around 2150, and 123gr felt like it was at least 2250. there was a noticeable jump in recoil from 122 to 123 grains. IMR 4350 is a rather fast powder for the Gibbs cartridge so its not a surprise that such small changes in amount changed velocity/recoil so much.

I will play around with these some more and hopefully get them over a chronograph. if I can consistently get them to group like I did today with 121gr of IMR 4350 then I will happily give them a shot as a hunting bullet.

also, for those interested I just checked my barrel for copper fouling. im pleased to say there is little to no sign of copper fouling how the range session. but I do admit to have only fired nine of the VRG2's and six 600gr Woodleigh SP's so this is hardly a final test. but they do appear to foul at least less then Barnes 525gr TSX bullets.

-matt

 

[WildRose]

I have limited experience with them. On both my Black Wildebeest and Kudu shot with the .300wm the Peregrine bullets did an outstanding job.

Thankfully they will soon be available in the US. They are just waiting on finalizing their permits and as soon as that is finished there will be a full pallet of them on the way to the US.

Hermann Weidemann is their rep here in the US and he strikes me as a great guy.

He's going to let me know as soon as the shipment is on the way.

 

[matt85]

i finally chronographed my loads, i was very wrong on the speeds! my recoil senses must be broken because the 121gr load yielded 2250fps and the 122gr load yielded just under 2300fps. that 121gr load still shoots great though!

now if i could only get my hands on more of these.

-matt

 

[doodsangel]

Not sure about exporting this, but if anyone is interested, I can do some research. The guys at peregrine are usually very helpful. Maybe after proper research on the restrictions for exporting these bullets, we can make up a combined order. Should be much easier exporting bullets as opposed to full rounds containing powder.