Nosler ballistic tips too much for thin skinned game?

[scythefwd]

All,
Getting into reloading and I am strongly considering using Nosler Ballistic Tips for my .30-30 and .308. First, are deer tough enough to cause good expansion on the noslers, or are they for "thicker skinned" game? Second, will they open up at the 2100-2300 fps that my .30-30 is doing?

Yes, I know pointy bullets in a .30-30 is generally a bad thing, but this one has a box magazine... not a tube mag.

 

[R.W.Dale]

in my experience with the 30 cal b-tip offerings is they are too fragile for my tastes at impact speeds over 2500fps BUT this makes em an excellent choice for 30-30 class cartridges. In fact Nosler advertises the 125g b-tip to expand at impact velocities as low as 1600fps

For more read my sig link for the x39 doe

but your concern about these bullets being too tough- not a chance

 

[wgp]

I shoot a lot of Ballistic Tips for practice, but hunt with Partitions of same weight (150 gr in .308, 165 gr in .06). I had one experience shooting a deer with a BT and it appeared me that the bullet broke up and did not penetrate as I wanted. Penetration has never been an issue with the Partitions. I see the BT frequently recommended as a hunting round so perhaps my experience was not the norm -- still, the Partition has never failed me so I go that way.

 

[hillbillydelux]

I am sure you will get many different opinions. My favorite deer load is .30-06 with 150 grain ballistic tip. I have used partitions and like them very much but also cost about 1 dollar per bullet. But for whitetail I find the Ballistic tips do a wonderfull job.

 

[wyohome]

150 grain BT at 160 yards from a .308. The large hole is the entrance, the lungs were in 4 pieces. The last four deer shot with that rifle have been with BT and only one didn't die right there. The one below ran 20 yards.

 

[lost river rat]

Yep, thats a BT hole

Balistic Tip are soft and expand easily. The deer pics are typical. Notice how the entrance hole is bgger than the exit! A friend is shooting the 120 BT from his 30-30 pistol and the bullets are not exiting or have enough left to find. Nosler says about 65% weight retension. That would have to be at low velocity.

For a lot less money per bullet, I prefer the Hornady Interlocks. Still soft bullets, but a little less "explosion" when they hit. Shot a lot of wt deer with the 30 cal 150 interlock loaded at about 2750.

The 150 BT will expand in your magazine fed 30-30 and quite devistating in your 308.

 

[Arkel23]

Well, I have "Magnumitis" along with a few friends, and we try to stay far away from ballistic tips. I have one friend that says his ballistics tips tore up alot of meat either with his .270 or his .243 I'll try to find out, how far will your shots be?

 

[lost river rat]

I have seen the 130 0.277 BT blow at 300 yards. That is why I don't like then.

 

[wyohome]

I have one friend that says his ballistics tips tore up alot of meat

That's why you don't shoot them in the 'meat'. You shoot them in the heart and lungs.

 

[jmr40]

I've killed a few deer and 1 bear with 165 gr ballistic tips out of a 30-06. Have not recovered a bullet yet. All have had complete penetration and left a 1-2" exit hole and the animals have been DRT.

 

[Arkel23]

You shoot them in the heart and lungs.

He's not the greatest hunter, but I'm not completely sure where he shot it, I also know of someone who just this season had ballistic tips bounce around in the deer.

 

[Kernel]

wyohome, do you ever recover a bullet? If so, what does it look like?

 

[wyohome]

wyohome, do you ever recover a bullet? If so, what does it look like?

I have one right next to me. I have to be at work in 15 minutes and don't have time to take a picture. It is the one from the picture above. It is almost void of lead and is an off center piece of copper. The lead made the exit wound in that picture. I'll snap a picture when I get home in the morning and post it.

 

[atblis]

That's why you don't shoot them in the 'meat'. You shoot them in the heart and lungs.

Absolutely. An NBT in the chest cavity will lay a deer out. So far, I've had the most bang flops with NBTs. At close range where people say the NBT is too explosive due to velocity, a heart/lung shot is cake.

I want to say that Nosler toughened them up a little, but I can't find a reliable reference for that. If true, perhaps some peoples opinions are based on the old bullets.

Thing is, if you're using a 30-06, 280, 270, 308, etc. = moderate velocity and decent sized bullets--> guess what? You don't need exotic bullets. Corelokts, Winchester Power Points, etc. etc. will bang flop deer all day long.

 

[duvalhunter]

I recently harvested a buck with a 7mm-08, 150gr Nosler BT and got absolutely no expansion. It was disturbing to say the least seeing the entrance and exit to be smaller than a pinky circumference. Yet the next day I harvested a 150lb hog and got plenty of expansion, causing a good deal of damage (entrance wound was larger than the exit). I'm still not sure what to make of it, I've been shooting BTs for years with no issues.

 

[ga red clay]

I had a buddy shoot a little 6 point with a NBT out of his .270 at about 50 yards. Shot it in the neck and it did some nasty stuff. But it didnt kill the deer outright.

Shot it from about 3 yards in the chest cavity and we scooped handful after handful of heart/lung pudding out of the chest while dressing the buck. Ends up, we werent able to process the front shoulders because of damage caused by the explosion inside its chest. It was pretty impressive.

 

[scythefwd]

Thanks, right now I have two boxes of identifiable ammo. 1 - 168gr Winchester Supreme ballistic silver tip, says on the box that it is the work of nosler and winchester. The other I plan to sight in with (whichever shoots the best group) is a box of 150 gr federal vitalshok ammo with a Nosler ballistic tip. I also have a box of reloads my grandfather did before he passed... know nothing about them except that they are hollowpoints. I suspect gamekings, but I could be way off. I'll shoot em, his and my fathers reloads are about the only ammo I trust, but I won't hunt with them.

I'm mostly going to be using them at 100y or less, but there is a chance of 3-400y shots sometimes. May have to download them a hair (2600 fps out the muzzle or so).

 

[R.W.Dale]

TRUE STORY

I shot a buck at around 120isg yds with a 16? CT (black b-tip) from a 300wby. Shot went into the shoulder and DID NOT enter the chest at all. Yet the shock was so great it still killed the deer DRT.....granted the buck in question was so old he had no teeth and was covered with Grey hair. The shoulder was pretty much unedible

 

[scythefwd]

Krochus - I have heard of that too, where people shoot deer at 10y with a uber magnum only to have the bullet explode on contact because the velocity was too much for the distance.

 

[RDA 226sig]

They are not as tough as I would like them to be and the rapid expansion prevents a clean exit wound at shot angles that include the near or far shoulder. Generally a well placed BT will do a fine job.

 

[X-Rap]

Krochus - I have heard of that too, where people shoot deer at 10y with a uber magnum only to have the bullet explode on contact because the velocity was too much for the distance.

I have too on the internet.
My personal experience with 25-06 and 338-378 which I load NBT in 120gr and 210gr both perform well and expand in a reliable if not impressive way. For Antelope and Mulies the 25 does a spectacular job out to well over 400 and the big Roy has taken deer and elk to a couple hundred yds with performance that keeps me drinking the kool aid.
To date those are the only big game cartridges I load the BT in so I can't comment on others reliably.

 

[flipajig]

Go to Nosler home page and look around. Acording to Nosler the BT needs 1600FPS at impact and no more than 3100FPS for the BT to perform. I think that the ones that are shooting them and they blow up are from higer RPMS. Used at the speed that they are desind for you should be fine..

 

[scythefwd]

Flipajig - a 1 in 10 twist will get those rpm's way up there. Using a slower load might be advisable. I have heard of .223's self destructing due to speed/rpm's, so I could see it happening. Just hoping it won't till I get a good game load.

 

[wyohome]

I'll snap a picture when I get home in the morning and post it

Work is the curse of the hunting class.

 

[MCgunner]

I shoot the 150 BT in both a 12" .30-30 Contender and a 20" Remington M7 in .308. I'm very impressed with its penetration and expansion from both guns. This bullet will readily expand. I'd read that it over-expanded, but I've shot lengthwise with complete penetration on a good sized 8 point buck with it in the .308. It penetrated 6 feet of that deer. My Contender shoots just under 2100 fps MV and I've killed deer DRT at 90 yards with it with a high lung hit.