anyone shot deer with the 120 ballistic tip 7mm

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Lloyd Smale

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Ive got a pile of them left from the 7waters i sold and just read an article in handloader where barness (spelling) claimed hes used them in the 280ai on deer elk and even moose with good results. he claims that nos made them a bit stouter then normal bts because of silouette shooters demands. Im not a big fan of his writtings but it sure would make the 280 and even the 757 reach out a bit farther. Ive been shooting 120 bts in the 264mag this year and cant say enough good about the way theyve worked so far. I posted this in the hunting section vs the reloading because im not looking for load data but some real world experiences with them on deer. Please to post that a guy needs a 160 grain bullet in the 7s to make them kill and to penetrate. Sorry guys but ive killed a truck load in 280s and 7mags with 140s and have yet to loose a deer hit by one.
 
I just loaded up some 120 Bal. Tips for a friend of mine who went Antelope hunting after 13 yrs of applications.
He sent me a pic. on sat. eve. of a nice buck he took at 430 + yds with one shot through the lungs and taking some of the off shoulder.
Later he said the bullet was devastating and took the buck down without a step.
I hope this helps, he was shooting an A Bolt with VXIII in 7mmMag. and said he is looking forward to using it on a Mulie later this month and maybe even an elk.
I hope this helps and I myself am looking forward to what others have done as well. I am sceptical on using the 120 for elk but then I prefer 30's in 180gr as a minimum but have taken them with less.
 
I shoot the 150 grain 7mm ballistic tips quite a bit for deer, but there is no way I'd go after an elk with any of the ballistic tips. I shoot most deer in the neck, and at times have had the bullets completley shed it's jacket. granted, the deer drop in their tracks, but that's not the bullet performance I would look to for game larger than 400 or 500 lbs.
 
I have used 200 gr. 338 BTips on half a dozen elk and they all performed well, the shots have been fron 50 to 350yds. Most have been shot through. Never tried one smaller on an elk so I can't say but the 200 works fine for me.
I have loaded 150's in my own 7Mag and plan on using it as a deer round, I did 120's for 264 that my dad owns and it is pretty much a dedicated deer/antelope gun. They are all very accurate loads and I think the BTip plays a roll in that.
 
Probably work fine from a .280 at long range. I don't know about 'em close up, though. I load a 150 Sierra Game King in 7mm Rem Mag, work fine out at 350 on mountain mulies, but I shot a doe whitetail up close at 50 yards and ruined the whole front, both shoulders. Oh, she didn't go anywhere, that's for sure! :D A 120 at 7 mag velocities, I think I'd take a pass on that. For antelope at slower MVs and longish ranges, might be just the ticket.
 
Never tried the 120's - I have killed quite a few deer and pigs w/ the 140 BT's out of my 7mm-08. I finally swapped to the 140 accubonds because I had a couple of "failures" with BT's. The "failures" were DRT, bang flops, but I found the BT's had blown up and all I found were pieces.

Stupid, I know - DRT is DRT. Thinking of swapping to light for caliber TTSX's;).....

David
 
so you're going to compare results from 200 grain 338 ballistic tips and translate that into 120 grain 7 mm ballistic tip performance? perhaps some have had success, and it depends on your definition of success, but when a bullet completely sheds it's jacket on an animal smaller than 200 lbs.. I don't think that is a bullet intended for that job.
 
I shoot 130 gr .277 tsx at elk and haven't lost one yet. The only time I have had to track one is when I make a mistake. The barnes round always seems to do the needed damage. I have also used the 130 gr MRX whick has Ballistic tip and it worked perfect.
 
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I shoot the 150 grain 7mm ballistic tips quite a bit for deer, but there is no way I'd go after an elk with any of the ballistic tips. I shoot most deer in the neck, and at times have had the bullets completley shed it's jacket. granted, the deer drop in their tracks, but that's not the bullet performance I would look to for game larger than 400 or 500 lbs.
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so you're going to compare results from 200 grain 338 ballistic tips and translate that into 120 grain 7 mm ballistic tip performance? perhaps some have had success, and it depends on your definition of success, but when a bullet completely sheds it's jacket on an animal smaller than 200 lbs.. I don't think that is a bullet intended for that job.
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All I am doing is giving real reports and comment on bullet performance. You said you wouldn't use any BTips on elk and I feel otherwise, I don't feel good about using the 120's that's for sure but the 150? well maybe, I do know that the 200's perform from 50 - 350. I'm thinking if I was looking for a Muley and happen to have a cow tag in my pocket too that 150 would probably do the trick if I picked my shot.
 
I know how the 150s's perform on ~200 lb deer, and can't imagine using them on elk... as a matter of fact, we highly discourage the use of them when shooting nilgai in south texas, which I believe are fairly close to elk in body stature. I've seen 700 lb nilgai bulls take multiple shots with 300 -180 grain noslers in the shoulder, and not get a full penetration.

no exit hole = no blood trail. You better hope the animal drops where you shoot it, because it will not be easy to trail. To each their own, but if your plan involves shootign a lightly jacketed bullet at a 700lb + animal, because it shoots .01" better at 100 yards, I don't feel you're looking at the big picture.
 
I also use the 120 gr BT in my 14" Contender 7-30 Waters barrel and have excellent results with deer and hogs. The majority of the deer have been with 125 - 160 yd shots, but the hogs have been 15 - 219 yd shots. All were one shot kills, about 50% were instant drops and the others never traveled farther than 20 yds. The Hornady 120 gr SP performs almost the same in my pistol.
 
well ive never shot elk with a balllistic tip but have shot a truck load of deer with 300 win mag using 165 bts and the 300wby using 180 bts and have never lost one yet. In just about every case ive had exit wounds and deer dead in there tracks. Now before anyone gets up in arms not many of them were at less then 200yards so im not going to claim to be an expert on them at close range but have shot alot of deer at closer ranges with smaller calibers using ballistic tips and cant recall ever loosing one of them either. Personaly i would hesitate for a second to go on an elk hunt with a 300 mag loaded with 180 bts. If a shot presented itself and id didnt bring home meat it would be because of a failure of my own not the bullets. Id bet a dime to a hunderd bucks that most of the bad reports you get can be traced back to either bad shot placement or just bs thats passed on the internet by guys who havent really give them a chance. Way to much store these days is put into preimum bullets. If you cruised the internet youd think that cup and core bullets are junk and about bounce off of animals. Its amazing that your fathers and grandfathers put meat on the table using them for years. I guess maybe they spent more time hunting an shooting and less on the internet getting sucked in by the bullet makers into believing if they didnt buy there high dollar bullets they were just inhumane hunters.
 
just for the record, the poor bullet performance i have had with BT's have been at close ranges... 100 yards or less. I shot a doe at 400 yards, and had a clean pass through. It stands to reason the bullet just doesn't hold up at higher velocities, which is what my concern would be with a 120 grain 7mm round...
 
My experience with lighter weight BTs has been that impact velocities above say around 2900 fps. will cause the bullet to come apart. For close range shots they need to be throttled back.
 
Not all BT's are created equal. The 7mm 120 BT is an outstanding performer both near and far, including high velocity near. Nosler modified the 7mm 120 BT a few years ago to appease the Silouette shooters who complained the 120 BT was too frangible for long distance steel targets. So, Nosler beefed up the 120 jacket which is now thicker than the 7mm 140 BT jacket. It's my go to bullet in my 7mm-08 for deer and hogs...no blow ups, excellent penetration and expansion, excellent terminal performance. I've seen numerous pics of similar results at close range from higher velocity cartridges such as 280 AI and 7mm Mag.
 
Guys the difference between a 7-30 waters and 7-08 is rather larger when stepping up to the 7 mags, Velocity could be 3200fps or several hundred more. That will change how that bullet will react. I would want a more weight and a tougher bullet for elk. Let your buddy load a few rounds and try them on some deer to see how they work out.
 
No but I shot deer with a 120 grain HP in 7mm RM. It's awful to see what it does to a poor deer and very little penitration. But the wound cavity is about the size of a grapefruit.

J.B.
 
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