i used the 7mm 120gr b/t in my t/c encore 7/08 pistol (15" bbl.) @ 2700 fps muzzle velocity and i was very dissapointed with the meat loss!! i'll never use them again!!
use the corelokt! the difference in accuracy is irrelevant!!
They are varmint bullet, don't shoot a deer anywhere you think you might want to eat the meat from, if you do and especially if you hit bone you'll see first hand the "M-80" result!, I won't use them any more!
I guess Deer and Pronghorns are big varmints then. I've killed an awful lot of them. They are very accurate. I do prefer the Accubond on deer, but the Ballistic Tip works quite well.
The BT's are great for accuracy, and I have a wonderful 30-06 load with the 165's. They make fine groups and I shoot them for practice. I'd use them on deer if I had to, but since I don't have to, I use the partition, or others. If I were to use a BT for big game, it would be a medium-to-heavy-for-caliber; 180 in the 30-06, for example.
I guess Deer and Pronghorns are big varmints then. I've killed an awful lot of them. They are very accurate. I do prefer the Accubond on deer, but the Ballistic Tip works quite well.
LOL! I wonder what Nosler would say to people calling the BT a "varmint" round? How long has Nosler been in this business again??
BTW, the only deer I have ever lost with a rifle was shot with a Nosler Partition from a .270. I saw the deer recovered by another hunter and my Partition had nice, perfect .270 caliber hole clean through with no expansion. I have no idea what happened, as I know the Paritions are great bullets too.
I have never used Nosler Ballistic Tips on game but hope to pretty soon. I have shot opportunities ranging from 10-200 yards. How does this bullet perform on whitetail deer at these ranges?
You shouldn't have any problem with them. I've used them in .244 through .284 and they all worked well. If I reload, I much prefer flat base bullets for accuracy, but the BT's work
I could never get them to shoot worth a ****. Best I could do was 3 inch group at 100 yards with a 24 in SS "match" Heavy bull barrel. I Weighed 10 150 grain NBTs today from a new box of 50 and the weights spread from 149.5 to 150.6 So I never got a chance to try them on game. I tried them again today in my 16 inch AP4 barrel and could barely keep them on a pie plate @ 25 yards. Both rifles were 308 win BTY.
Sorry to hear of the bad groups. I know all bullets don't shoot good in all guns, but this is the first time I herd that the BT's shooting so poorly. Out of two of my customs they shoot well under 1/2MOA. Hope you found a bullet that works well in your gun!
I am tying a new powder just to shoot the rest that I have. I have good luck with Hornady SST and believe it or not remington bulk 165 PSP. My rifle only seems to shoot the heavier bullets. 168 and bigger. The hornady A-MAX is amazing in it.
Yea I know, they can get pretty obnoxious around here too. I lost a little bit of one shoulder this year due to the explosiveness of the Ballistic Tip, but I also had a deer down instantly. Overall, I'm very happy with the accuracy, I've never been let down by the BT, and I'll freely admit that the Partition and Accubond hold together better and I've harvested game with them as well. My new #1 is not happy with the 115 BT that I have worked up for my other 25/06s, I look forward to trying Noslers new 100 grain ETip.
Years past I've had excellant results from BT use but for whatever reason this year was not good. Finally threw in the towel and used Remington CoreLoks in the 308, Nosler partiations and Speer SP's in the 325. All performed as I had come to expect of the Nosler BT's in years past. My main reason for using them in the past has been there extreme accuracy compared to other bullets. Guess accuracy isn't everything if they wouldn't reliably kill game in terminal performance. Lost very nice buck with the BT which my renter run into his corn head couple days later half way across quarter section from where it was shot.
mike g and matt. -yes you are right. they kill like thors hammer.--just meat damage.--very similar to accu-tips.-for meat -core lokts for me at short range-cheers.
i will agree that they are very accurate as a rule and usaully very dependable when it comes to putting deer down but i just don't like to have to throw away as much meat as i had to this past fall.
i am really looking forward to working with the hornady GMX bullets!
After hunting for some seasons now with the Hornady SST's, I use them in a bunch of different chamberings and find the effectiveness on game and accuracy to be very satisfying. The shelf in the gun room still has BT's, Partitions, TXS's, Grand Slams, ProHunters, etc., gathering dust as the SST's get hauled down and stuffed into cases. Have yet to have a case of bullet failure or blowup with them.
I have found with the BT'S with shots 250 yards or less on deer they are fine if you load them from the lightest loads to the mid range loads
max loads should not be used for deer at less than 250 to 300 yards.
Then you don't loose the meat.
I also always try to make the shot above the sholder and up to the back bone if you knock out the front legs they don't ever go any where.
A buddy of mine shot a bobcat with the Federal Accubonds a week or so ago. It did a number on it. They are tipped like the ballistic tips but wont ruin as much meat (and they drive a lot deeper). You may want to look into them...
The most outrageous meat damage I ever incurred was from a Nosler Ballistic Tip out of my .300 ICL. I shot a smallish mule deer at about 125 yards. The deer was quartering away, and the bullet hit the very top of the shoulder blade just before it hit the neck. It was very well developed by the time it hit the neck bone. It looked like an unseen hand had jerked the feet out sideways from under the creature, much like a bulldogged steer. The entire neck was blown out, and it appeared that about 4 vertibrae were gone into vapor. The neck was attached to the body by a 2" piece of hide, and the head was turned backwards lying alongside the deer looking back at me. There was a spray pattern of meat and bone all across the snow behind it. The hole in the shoulder would have easily fit a softball, and that was the ENTRY wound. I swear that at least 7-8 pounds of meat were unaccounted for. That was the first, and the last time I used those bullets on game. The last one of those loaded rounds is in my wife's purse, where she has kept it as a "charm" for going on 20 years. (Don't ask).
Effective? **** yeah! Practical? Probably not, unless you are hunting very large varmints.
Twenty years ago, the BT's were thin jacketed. Today's BT's in the heavier weight per caliber are thicker jackets appropiate for hunting. That's why Nosler lists them as "hunting" bullets.
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