The bad rap on Ballistic Tips
#21
RE: The bad rap on Ballistic Tips
ORIGINAL: RugerMike
That's not what I said. If the short mag BT bullets are shot in moderate distances (@75yds or less) and don't impact something like bone and hit only skin area(no ribs) They will expand very little if at all and will only leave small holes on both sides of a deer. There will also be very little trauma on the lungs as well. This is not myth as some may thing? If they had hit a shoulder it would have been a different story on the expansion and trauma sustained. But everyone has a title to their own opinion.
That's not what I said. If the short mag BT bullets are shot in moderate distances (@75yds or less) and don't impact something like bone and hit only skin area(no ribs) They will expand very little if at all and will only leave small holes on both sides of a deer. There will also be very little trauma on the lungs as well. This is not myth as some may thing? If they had hit a shoulder it would have been a different story on the expansion and trauma sustained. But everyone has a title to their own opinion.
So if a lightly jacketed, plastic cone tipped hollow point will only "expand very little", what do you submit would do the job any better?
I'm a follower of the "any bullet in the right place is better than a good one in a bad place." A deer that takes a 30 caliber bullet in the air tanks is going to be in just as much trouble as one that plays chicken with a semi on I-84. Although, the latter will no doubt produce a more impressive blood trail, and I suspect that it will be short, depending on if the trucker hit the brakes or not.
I digress. Most of the rifle wounds you see, when investigating the hide, look as through they did not expand at all. Hide stretches... its what's inside that counts.
The biggest deer I have ever killed sported such a wound. Taken with 150gr Power Points from a 30-06 at 105 yards. Entrance and exit holes looked identical inside. On the skinning pole, you could have put a fair sized grapefruit through the offside shoulder. Appearances can be deceiving you know.
#22
RE: The bad rap on Ballistic Tips
ORIGINAL: stubblejumper
You can't be insinuating that the bullets were going too fast to expand?Does anyone still believe that myth?
If you are both using short mags that is the reason for no expansion. Remember you get what you ask for. A flat shooting bullet that is fast, oh wait I want expansion too!!! LOL
#24
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: fort mcmurray alberta canada
Posts: 5,667
RE: The bad rap on Ballistic Tips
If the short mag BT bullets are shot in moderate distances (@75yds or less) and don't impact something like bone and hit only skin area(no ribs) They will expand very little if at all and will only leave small holes on both sides of a deer. There will also be very little trauma on the lungs as well.
If the short mag BT bullets are shot in moderate distances (@75yds or less)
#25
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location:
Posts: 1,813
RE: The bad rap on Ballistic Tips
I like abit "tougher" bullet than the BT's are, but used within the speed they were designed for, they workquite well...
I took 3 big bull caribou one day with BT's and here's one of them...
He looks dead to me...lol
Anyway, i'm always amazed when i see someone posting that a bullet went so "fast", it didn't expand... How do people come up with things like that???
DM
I took 3 big bull caribou one day with BT's and here's one of them...
He looks dead to me...lol
Anyway, i'm always amazed when i see someone posting that a bullet went so "fast", it didn't expand... How do people come up with things like that???
DM
#26
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Blissfield MI USA
Posts: 5,293
RE: The bad rap on Ballistic Tips
ORIGINAL: The Rifleman
JMO
But an educated person a long time ago set me down and told me that Ballistic Tip Bullets are not intended for hunting.
Their main design was to be used for target practice only.
Most educated people would agree with me on this one.
The lead on the tip of the bullet, usually burns off while it travels through the air after it leaves the barrel.
Ballistic Tip Bullets should NOT be used for hunting purposes.
JMO
But an educated person a long time ago set me down and told me that Ballistic Tip Bullets are not intended for hunting.
Their main design was to be used for target practice only.
Most educated people would agree with me on this one.
The lead on the tip of the bullet, usually burns off while it travels through the air after it leaves the barrel.
Ballistic Tip Bullets should NOT be used for hunting purposes.
Nosler came up with the concept of polymer tipped bullets in order to give the hollow point hunting bullets a better B.C. And it really only comes into play at longer distances. They are also believed to promote quicker or more reliable expansion on varmint and controlled expansion large game bullets. From what I can tell no one has actually proven that they work any better than the same bullet without the tip.
You can't judge the performance of a bullet simply by the type of tip it has. It is in the bullet design, like how the bullet is constructed. The amount and type of jacket it has, what the core is like and other factors. Some controlled expansion large game bullet have plastic tips on them as do some rapid expansion varmint bullets. Doesn't really have anything to do with the tip, but rather how the bullet was designed to expand. You have to pick the proper bullet for the job. Just because it has a plastic tip doesn't mean it will explode violently when it hits the target.
The thought of a lead or plastic tip burning off the bullet in flight is relatively laughable to me. If that were the case it wouldn't make it out of the barrel and there would be no sense of even having them.
My opinions anyway.
Paul
#27
Spike
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location:
Posts: 24
RE: The bad rap on Ballistic Tips
Well I use a 100 gr bt with my 25-06 and have shot whitetails at less then 100 yrds and out to 250 yrds with the same results perfect transfer of energy an entry wound and no exit, and a dead critter .
#28
RE: The bad rap on Ballistic Tips
I don't care for the ballistic tips either as they can and do go to pieces prematurely on bone at under 100yards.Seen several large bodied deer with a busted shoulder resulting in little more than a surface wound.My buddy even quit using them on antelope 100gr/25-06 due to excessive meat damage.Exit wounds in the ribs you could stick your arm in.The earlier Nosler solid base was even worse.If you collect fur don't use these on yotes either.Bullet expansion relies on 3 things ,velocity,what is struck and jacket thickness[bullet integrity]....................The reason people like them initially is that they are scary accurate.On the other hand I have 2 early Barnes x 130gr .270 one that could be reloaded and fired again and another picture perfect expansion recovered from a 6x7 mulie buck.This is a case of too hard.............Harold If they are working for you that's fine but I now use Hornady interlocks for everything antelope -grizzly with no failures todate.20+years
#29
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: fort mcmurray alberta canada
Posts: 5,667
RE: The bad rap on Ballistic Tips
Bullet expansion relies on 3 things ,velocity,what is struck and jacket thickness[bullet integrity].
If they are working for you that's fine but I now use Hornady interlocks for everything antelope -grizzly with no failures todate.20+years
#30
RE: The bad rap on Ballistic Tips
Genreally speaking the heavier bullets per caliber are made for big game and the lighter ones for varmints or real thin skinned game. The 120 grain 7MM would be a Varmint bullet where the 140 and up are intended for big game. The 150 grain 30 caliber would be fine in the 308, 300 Savage speed range where the 180 in the 30 caliber would be a better choice in the 300 Mags. Of course range and remaing velocity would play a factor. The 165 Grain 30 caliber might be about perfect for deer hunting in all the 30 calibers.