Federal Nosler Ballistic Tip...

[OutPhaze]

I will be using my M1A for deer hunting this year. What do you guys think of the Federal Nosler Ballistic Tip Hunting round in 150 grains?

 

[saddlebum]

i use the fed. premium 150 b.tip in my ruger 77rl. it puts them down fast if you put the bullet in the right place. saddlebum

 

[critter]

Unless you are hunting deer the size of moose, there is none better.

 

[HankB]

Nosler's Ballistic Tip bullets are meant to open fast. I used 180 BT's in my .30/06 when I got involved in some impala cropping some years back, and found I had to place the bullets carefully to avoid destroying too much meat. (Impala are the size of small whitetails) Still, most dropped right in their tracks.

I've heard that in the last couple of years, Nosler has "hardened" the bullets a bit, but they still expand quickly.

Hit a deer right with one, and he won't go far.

 

[BLUEDOT72]

Don't know how they would workin your m1a but the Nosler Partition bullets are awful hard to beat for deer and elk!

 

[Matt G]

Using a borrowed rifle and load about 10 years ago, I shot a ~120 lb buck with a 150 Ballistic Tip (out of an '06, but it was a short carbine, so there's really not enough difference between it and a .308 to worry about). I was astonished at the rather spectacular results. Through and through the chest from 4 o'clock to 10 o'clock, it kissed a rib entering and when it exited behind the off shoulder on a deer at a run at about 90 yards. The buck went tail over teakettle, DRT. Upon post mortem, I was a little concerned that it had expanded a little too rapidly-- it had given me an exit wound big enough to drop a quarter through without touching hide (no exageration!). That was around '93 or so, and word was getting around about the over-quick opening of the Ballistic Tips.

In the late '90s, I understand, Nosler really moved to harden them up. While the 150's are still far faster to open than the 180's or even the 165's, they're reportedly much "harder" now than the old breed. That's good. They've always given good accuracy. I wouldn't hesitate to shoot a whitetail with one, though I would choose a behind-the-shoulder shot, rather than a through-the-shoulder shot even now (having not tested them).

I've also been extremely impressed with the accuracy of the Federal Premium line of cartridges, loaded with the premium bullets. I've yet to find an accurate rifle that didn't perform with them. My biggest shock was when I picked up a box of their Federal Premium .257 Rbts Nosler Partitions. I'd bought into the lore that the Partitions were incapable of being accurate, due to the dual core concentricity problem. From field positions (out on the ranch where there was no proper range and no bench), the stuff was giving us 1" or better groups!). As a reloader who's always prided his hand-rolled stuff as untouchable by anything factory, I was blown away by the concept that this "less accurate" hunting bullet loaded in new cases that had not been neck-sized after firing in my chamber was giving factory groups that were only a 1/4" larger than my good handloads with a super accurate bullet! That was 5 years ago, and I'm sure it's only gotten better. Federal's got something right.