SwampCollie

Definately, I can't even see 300 yards down here for the humidity and mirage....and most of our deer inhabit the big swamps when its light outside...so you have to go in and get them... hence I'm primarily a bow hunter.

And even though y'alls deer are much MUCH larger than the 150# mature bucks we have down here (some of which do get near 200" gross on their heads....now thats a sight to see), a deer is still a deer. A bullet that does crater on the rib cage of a buck is still going to take the lungs, be that with bullet fragments, or rib bone fragments. What will hurt you bigtime, is if you hit something before hitting the animal, and the bullet explodes, but thats a concern with nearly EVERY bullet, not just the BTs.

On larger game like elk and moose, if a bullet craters ON the shoulder blade itself and doesn't break it....then you are going to lose that animal. An elk scapula can stop a broadhead like a concrete wall, and it takes quite a bullet to punch through it. If you do break it, those bone fragments are like schrapnel though, and there is nothing but lung behind it. But thats easy enough to fix... just put your bullet behind the shoulder...instead of shooting through it. Unless you are shooting a bullet made to make it through that sort of bone.

tempehunter

Thx. I think I'll go with my gut and work extra hard to shoot straight!!!!

Pioneer2

No thanks for the ballistic tips on anything larger than deer and not under 100yards.They have blown up prematurely on deer and antelope with exit wounds head sized.[football shaped]out of a .270 win 130gr.Sierrra game kings are another bomb At 3000fps.People are attracted to the ballistic tips because they are so accurate but they even destroy coyote pelts.If you can afford a Weatherby or Ultra-Mag you can also afford premium bullets.Not the time to go el-cheapo.Like buying a Ferrrari and going to Walmart for rubber.The only thing foolisher is a cheap scope..........................Harold

White-tail-deer

True!! I had a TSX in my 7mmRUMdo just that when I shot a doe two years ago. I must have hit something before the deer and it had a hole the size of a volleyballat the entrance. That was a mess!

I use the BT in my 7mm-08 and .270 but do not care to use them in myhigher velocitycalibers like the 7mmRUM, .270WSM and.300WSM.

Chris_H

My friend Craig uses these rounds on his 22-250; but they are supposed to fragment on impact, like any varmint round. As for larger calibers, I wouldn't know.

Chris

stubblejumper

I have killed big game animals such as elk and deer from 20 yards to well over 400 yards,and I have never experienced any cratering.In fact,even at close range,the 180gr ballistic tip out of my 300 ultramag has been known to penetrate both shoulders of an elk.The muzzle velocities that my cartridges are developing range from 3380fps to just over 3500fps.

Pioneer2

If they're working for you by all means keep using them .I've seen too many failures to trust them .I use mostly Partitions and Hornady Interlocks from antelope to grizzly .I have a early Barnes X 130gr .270 bullet that failed to expand in a 7x7 mulie buck and looks like a fired FMJ.Randy Barnes offered to replace them but I declined and went back to lead...........Harold

SwampCollie

The original X bullets were fairly notorious for that. I have yet to see or hear of a TSX not opening up. I used the regular X bullet for years out of a 30/30 AI. With that big hollow point, it couldn't do anything but expand. Sweet shooter.

stubblejumper

The reports of failures seem to be much more common with certain bullet weights and calibers.There seem to be far more reports of failures with the 130gr .277" ballistic tip than with any ballistic tip that I am aware of.On the other hand,the 180gr .308" ballistic tip is quite tough by comparison.Unknown to many people,Nosler has modified several ballistic tips over the years,thickening the jackets and making them tougher each time.There are as many as four versions of some particular calibers and weights.As a result,many of the new versions behave entirely different than the older versions.

Pygmy

My results with Ballistic tips have been similar to Stubblejumper's although unlike him I don't run them at magnum velocities...Most of my personal experience has been with 7MM 140 grainers in my .280 and 7mm08... They have worked well from point blank to 400 yards, and most of my shots have resulted in pass throughs, on game as large as bull caribou...