tempehunter

I have heard some bad reviews about the nosler ballistic tip bullet. It is said to "blow up at high velosities" when hitting the shoulders or any bone for that matter. Any personal experiences with this bullet or it's performance would be appreciated. I would love to use it because the ballistics are wonderfull but don't want to bother if it dosn't produce in the field.

thanks

stubblejumper

I have taken over three dozen Canadian whitetails,several pronghorn and bighorn,as well as eight elk and two moose with various calibers and weights of nosler ballistic tips.To date,I have not experienced one bullet failure.The deer sized game was taken with the 100 gr out of my 257wby and the 140gr out of my 7mmstw.The moose and elk were taken with the 180gr out of my 300 ultramag.

goos_blues

The only time it will blow up is if the animal is pretty close. I shot a deer in the chest at thirty yards with 140 grain bst and it was pretty messy. but it dropped harder than anything ive ever seen

whitetaildreamer

I have also used the Nosler balistic tip and have never had any problems as you described. I used the 150 gr. out of my 7 mm mag and it always performed excellent. I also use the Sierra Game King BT 150 gr.(also out of my 7mm mag). It also has great ballistics and excellent hitting power at almost half the cost of the Nosler.

tempehunter

Thanks for the responces, so far they are very encouraging!! I will be useing them mostly out of my 257Wby shooting a 115gr bullet, but also purchaced the ballistic tip bullet in 150gr to shootout of my semi-auto 30-06, and 180gr to shoot out of my 300Wby. I can't wait to get them out into the field and "give them a dance"

Is the accubond worth spending the extra money for?

Thanks again

mauser06

lots and lots of people believe that. ive seen more "explosion" from soft point bullets than ballistic tips. ive shot and seen ALOT of deer killed with ballistic tips from 308s and 3006s and all went down quick and the bullets did their jobs.

now...the varmint version in the light bullets DO explode. but they are designed to do so and have a very thin jacket. i hit a groundhog between the eyes with the 22-250 and only a few slivers of fragment passed through. but thats what i want in a varmint bullet...

SwampCollie

I'll throw a wrench in the gears.

I don't have anything againest Ballistic Tip (BT) bullets. And I have shot plenty of deer and hogs with them.

What goos said is pretty dead on the money. At higher velocities, mixed with close range, thats when you get cratering. Also, the smaller the caliber, the thinner the jacket, and the faster the speed, gives you an increased likely hood of a crater.

The BT was designed as a varmint bullet by Nosler. Called for the most part now-a-days a VMAX as its made by Hornady, an Accu-Tip by Remington, or a Ballistic Silvertip from Winchester, it has a platic cone which covers up a hollow point, lead cored, thin jacket bullet designed for rapid expansion. Fantastic on varmints and predators, and as lots of folks have found out, medium sized game too. Now, for big game, espeically at longer ranges, BTs are great because at those lower velocities out around 300+ yards, they still expand quickly, but don't blow up.

StubbleJumper is shooting some pretty hot rounds on some mighty big targets, and no doubt, dropping most of them where they stood. He didn't list his ranges, but even if a bullet like that does crater, the effect will still be pretty much the same. Some of the shots in Canada can be a fairly decent ways off...so the BT is a good performer.

Me, I'm a southern boy, and my average shot is under 100 yards. I shoot my deer high in the shoulder to take the spine, so I am shooting through bone. I prefer copper solid TSX bullets for this. Just how I do things, there is no one right way.

Out of my prefered 7mm-08, I haven't noticed any real serious cratering issues on game shot. I have had a couple not exit on larger pigs however, but the effect is the same...a big mess and a dead animal.

Accubonds are little more than BTs with a bonded core, and a thicker jacket. Same idea, only they don't expand are rapidly. Made for deeper penetration on heavy boned or larger game. I don't think a deer would noticed the difference if you hit him right, but ideally, if you are shooting behind the shoulder on deer, there are better choices than Accubonds.

What sort of area are you hunting? Whats your intended game, and what caliber are you using? What bullet weight?

tempehunter

I will mostly be hunting in the southwest, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico.
I could be hunting everything from javalina to deer up to elk (if I can ever get drawn). I have used interlocks mostly in the past but like I said the ballistics for these bullets are superb. I will use a 115gr in a 257wby, a 150gr in a 30-06, and a 180gr in a 300wby. (if i hunt javalina I will obviously use the smallest bullet i can fire from my 257, 87gr i think)

hope this helps, also thanks for the detiled responce

SwampCollie

Well, I guess we are just going to have to take this in bite sized pieces.

Since you have three rifles to choose from, you are probably going to want to have a different load for each, maybe even two. If I was going to use the BT in any of the three rifles you have listed, I'd use a 150-165gr BT in the 30-06, and I'd use it on Javelina and deer. I don't suspect you will be going out "whatever" hunting too much like I used to do a lot when I was a kid (I used a shotgun). So you should be able to plan accordingly.

With your new .257, I'd use those Interlocks, or GameKings, with a BT, thats just the sort of character to blow up at close range. Again, it really won't matter... but I hope you like Hash . At longer ranges, that BT (and I'd use a 115gr) will be a death knell on deer or pigs. Its a good bet.

The Accubond (or my favorite TSX) would be great on Elk from either the '06 or your 300 Weatherby.

whitetaildreamer

Well said SwampCollie. There are a lot of times we may be shooting 200-300 yards up here in Canada. Not because I nessesary want to take those shots, it's just what I'm presented. An average sized buck up here is usually 200 lb. plus on the hoof so flat trajectory bullets are of great assistance. What ever bullet I choose I always look for the BT design. They are definitely a plus.