Nosler Ballistic Tips at over 3200FPS

[leeelmer]

Does anyone have some real world experience with Nosler Ballistic Tips at over 3200FPS? My 270bee is putting them out at over 3400fps
Not looking for stories that you personally have not witnessed. But actual experience.
My 270 weatherby loves them and shoots them better than anything, but not sure at there speed if I want them or not. I tried some Berger's but she doesn't group them well, and I am not a big fan of paying the ridiculous price for partitions.(I know they work, but $65 for 50 seams terrible) Also don't really want to go to barnes unless I absolutely have to, as they have been very copper fouling in my other guns, and have been delayed in killing as well.
I have run Swift Scirroco11 in my old 257bee and they seamed not to open up unless you hit bone, had three different deer, run along bloody ways(pun intended) before they died, and found about a identical in and out hole. So sometimes to hard of bullet is not great either.

[dave99]

The only animal I’ve ever lost rifle hunting was shooting BT at around 3200fps. It was a quartering away shot and I made the mistake of aiming too far forward on the animal. The BT basically failed to penetrate the shoulder of the deer.

If I had aimed further back, I’m sure that animal would have dropped. Hard lesson learned.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[elkhunter11]

The thing about the Ballistic Tip, is that they perform very differently, from caliber to caliber, and weight to weight. I have taken several deer with the 140gr .284" BT launched at 3500fps, and it works fine, as long as you avoid heavy bone like the shoulder. The same for the 100gr .257" BT at 3500fps. I would not use either on larger game though. I have launched the 180gr .308" BT at 3380fps to take several elk, and two moose, and they held together very well , even on elk shoulder. A hunting partner used the 130gr .277" BT on deer at 3100fps, and it seemed much softer than any BT that I have used, fragmenting worse on ribs.

[Smokinyotes]

The only ballistic tips I’ve used are .243 55gr. At almost 3900 FPS I was very surprised at what little damage they do to a coyote.

[270person]

Imo BT's are best for varmints. Have you played with Accubonds at all? For me they seem to be the sweet spot between monos and PT's.

[ctd]

I would contact Nosler to find out what the performance of the bullet grain you are using. For example if they recommend a shot under 300yards on large game or not.
I lost a elk a couple years ago due to using a BT in a 30-06. After lots of professional advice on this site . I finally got ahold of the Noslers tech rep. He told me the bullet grain I bought was not designed to nor built to hit large game. Especially under 300 yards as it was travelling to fast to work properly.

You can look on the side of the box and it will have pictures of recommended game to use the bullet with. That is another good Indication if it will suit your needs.

[birdseye]

We changed to accubonds after we had BT blow up on mule deer,the BT actually blew the hide of a big mule buck,we did harvest the buck but what a day of tracking on our hands and knees looking for drops of blood,the accubond is better for big game even at higher velocity’s then 3400 FPS just my 2 cents good luck with whatever you choose

[honda610]

Years ago I shot a 300 win at a Wt doe about 90 yards away. I was loading 180gr Bt at 2950 from the muzzle.
The entire front shoulder was literally blown apart and fragments only made it into the first lung. The front leg was only attached via fur. I would not load these in anything over 2750fps in my opinion. As stated try accubonds or even scirocco.
Good luck

[elkhunter11]

And to further complicate things, there are as many as three or four versions of some Ballistic Tips. The first 180gr .308" BT was very soft, but I have driven the later versions through both shoulders of a bull elk. I sectioned a couple of different versions, and the jacket was almost twice as thick in the latest version.

[Lefty-Canuck]

My brother had a 165gr BT blow up on an elk shoulder from a .30-06 at 140yrds. We caught up to the elk and finished it but it didn’t penetrate into the chest.

Lcm

[huntingfamily]

Had a 165 grain BT blow up on a mule deer shoulder. Range about 125 yds, 300 win mag. Never used them again.

[silver lab]

Originally Posted by leeelmer

Does anyone have some real world experience with Nosler Ballistic Tips at over 3200FPS? My 270bee is putting them out at over 3400fps
Not looking for stories that you personally have not witnessed. But actual experience.
My 270 weatherby loves them and shoots them better than anything, but not sure at there speed if I want them or not. I tried some Berger's but she doesn't group them well, and I am not a big fan of paying the ridiculous price for partitions.(I know they work, but $65 for 50 seams terrible) Also don't really want to go to barnes unless I absolutely have to, as they have been very copper fouling in my other guns, and have been delayed in killing as well.
I have run Swift Scirroco11 in my old 257bee and they seamed not to open up unless you hit bone, had three different deer, run along bloody ways(pun intended) before they died, and found about a identical in and out hole. So sometimes to hard of bullet is not great either.

I have tipped over a few elk and deer with the 130gr BT with a 270wby with a full dose of IMR 7828. Never had a problem. My Winchester M70 loved them too.

[32-40win]

I think Elk pretty much nailed it, different jackets on different calibre/weight bullets, some adequate for larger game, some not, some adequate for fast guns short ranges, some not. BT seems to be one bullet you have to check out as to what it was designed to work at and with. Trouble is, it shoots well in a lot of guns on paper, and it is a decent priced bullet. I'm kind of inclined to believe Sierra & Hornady had the same issue with some of theirs, see varying reports on some of theirs as well. Picking a bullet for paper vs animals vs price is something that needs to be researched. And it doesn't seem there is a bullet in the non-bonded cup & core crowd that is immune to "failure" reports, even though the bulk of them killed what they hit, or disabled it enough to take a second shot.
And some of the 'Premium" bullets are maybe too well built for certain situations, and some are not necessarily "good" target bullets.
Need to research them and see what compromise works for you, as to what you want to accomplish with them.

[Quest206]

The only hunting application I would use Ballistic Tips is if the velocity is 2700 or less. The BT's and SST's are great for plinking and paper but after seeing the damage caused with high velocity I prefer the monos or accubonds for hunting.

[whiskeywillow]

Three of us were dedicated ballistic tip shooters for about 15years or so, we shot the 140's through 7.21firebird 7mm's @3675fps if I recall correct and liked them alot to +/-450 yards... hunted everything from coyotes to moose with 'em and put plenty in the freezer over the years. On big animals like moose, (unless through ribs perfectly broadside) they wouldn't exit. Through ribs though even on moose they'd leave a hole you could stick your fist into. On any game smaller than that including whitetails & mulies both, even shoulder shots normally gave pass throughs.

By & large they perform alot like a Berger only have a tougher jacket than Berger AND because of that the BT withstands harder, faster velocities than any Berger will. We personally switched away to Barnes ourselves for guaranteed penetration and weight retention because of the time we spend in grizzly country.. but not opening that book in this discussion. Point in case, the barnes we shoot are extending our range some and guaranteeing bullet integrity vs what the Ballistic tips can ever do. #1 reason we switched. The Ballistic tips were otherwise excellent hunting bullets for us... still keep some on hand for certain applications

[270person]

Originally Posted by Quest206

The only hunting application I would use Ballistic Tips is if the velocity is 2700 or less. The BT's and SST's are great for plinking and paper but after seeing the damage caused with high velocity I prefer the monos or accubonds for hunting.

Yep. Definitely wouldn't be the best choice for tough skinned game. Their forte isnt staying together.

[Dubious]

My father Knocked down a cow moose with nosler 120 ballistic tips in 7mm08 the core separated from the jacket I asked him to switch to a more applicable bullet for his game size and he replied with why they worked. He’s older and retired sees nosler on the box and thinks he’s getting the same quality of a partition or Accubond at the ballistic tip price point. One of the old fellas that always said it’s made by the same company that makes x product so it can’t be bad.

[Don_Parsons]

Nosler ballistic tip boolitz are approved by Chuck Norris... Ha

https://www.americanhunter.org/artic...ballistic-tip/

Don't get them confuses with the other BT boolit ...

They say they have 25 years into this bullet as it holds its own in the big game hunting thing all around the world with good sales....

https://www.nosler.com/bullets

👍

[Pathfinder76]

What are boolitz?

[6.5 shooter]

30-06 BT 125 gr. speed unknown (but it is fast ~3100 fps. )... neck shot on a Antelope at ~ 275 yds went down so fast I thought I missed.

6.5x55 BT 120gr. ~ 2900 fps. 35 yards one shot, done deal. White tail.

.243 ~ 3300fps 55gr. BT. smoking good gopher round. not so good for coyotes.

.222 ~ 3200fps 50gr BT. awesome gopher round.

Having given you these results I still feel there are better choices in bullets out there, UNLESS you willing to wait for the perfect shot..and you hit where you aim.

JM2$W

[HunterDave]

What are you hunting? I use 165gr BTs in my .06 for deer. Not sure of the exact muzzle velocity offhand but it’d be in the 3200fps range. I’m a boiler room shooter so I have no info on what they do hitting big bone. At 100 - 150 yds there’s an audible thump and the bullet basically grenades into the lungs turning them into mush. No exit and no bullet to recover but I didn’t really search through the mess. A lot of deer drop on the spot but some might bolt about 50 yds max before piling up.

Further out up to 300 yds the bullets open much slower and remain intact. Still no exit wound and i’ve Found bullets inside the hide on the exit side. Lots of damage to the internals and deer don’t go very far. I don’t have any experience shooting past 300 yds with them.

For moose I use accubonds which are pretty much interchangeable with my BTs.

[Don_Parsons]

Yuppers,,, the big game Ballistic Tip Boolitz are of a gliden design,,, lots of manufacturers make them since there frugal priced and get the job done...

Game King,,, ELD-x,,, Sp,,, Power point and 100's of others in this list...

Next up from that is the Bonded Boolitz,,, Nos PT,,, GS,,, Inter Lock with about 10 to 14 others if not more in that category...

Another brand that has been around for the longest time is the semi pointed and Round nose,,, there not the long distance flight rockets like today's high tech rock ships,,, what they lack in distance they make up for in frontal impacts... Ha

We call them the Wack and Pack boolitz... Simple-ly smashing booltiz they are... Ha

Good luck finding what works,,, that's what really counts...

Got to run since its darn near a go time time for arrow stick'em time... Oh Yha.

Cheers from the North

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by chuck

What are boolitz?

Just nonsense made up by people who don't know any better.

[Pathfinder76]

I must be getting old. It’s annoying.

As my Grandfather used to say, it takes effort to make things crooked so you might as well make them straight.

[6.5 shooter]

Originally Posted by Don_Parsons

Yuppers,,, the big game Ballistic Tip Boolitz are of a gliden design,,, lots of manufacturers make them since there frugal priced and get the job done...

Game King,,, ELD-x,,, Sp,,, Power point and 100's of others in this list...

Next up from that is the Bonded Boolitz,,, Nos PT,,, GS,,, Inter Lock with about 10 to 14 others if not more in that category...

Another brand that has been around for the longest time is the semi pointed and Round nose,,, there not the long distance flight rockets like today's high tech rock ships,,, what they lack in distance they make up for in frontal impacts... Ha

We call them the Wack and Pack boolitz... Simple-ly smashing booltiz they are... Ha

Good luck finding what works,,, that's what really counts...

Got to run since its darn near a go time time for arrow stick'em time... Oh Yha.

Cheers from the North

WOW......So many things wrong with this post.....

[whitetail Junkie]

I hunt with almost nothing but Nosler ballistic tips out of Weatherby cartridges and a 7mm STW....from antelope to bull moose No issues except the carnage/blood damage on the meat is sometimes excessive however I like it when they drop in there tracks so it don’t bother me.

[Double Dropper]

Used 165 grain BT,s in my 300 Win Mag at 3250 fps for years. Recovered a few and some were inside 100 yards. Average weight on the recovered bullets was around 100-120 grains, big mushroom, lots of damage on the animals and usually dead in its tracks! The hardest hit with one was a B&C Alberta Ram and it destroyed the 165 grain bullet (stocky lil bastard) but he was dead instantly. The new ones appear to have a heavier jacket. I have since switched to Accubonds but honestly unless Bears or Elk are always on the menu they will keel lol and they shoot.

[marky_mark]

Originally Posted by chuck

I must be getting old. It’s annoying.

As my Grandfather used to say, it takes effort to make things crooked so you might as well make them straight.

The only thing that is getting annoying is your know it all attitude

He’s having fun
Trying to make a joke
And you have to be a dick about it
The more I hear you talk the more you sound like your one of those guys who goes to church every Sunday. And yet your going to have to buy your way into heaven.
Classy man you are 👎

[huntingfamily]

Originally Posted by marky_mark

The only thing that is getting annoying is your know it all attitude

He’s having fun
Trying to make a joke
And you have to be a dick about it
The more I hear you talk the more you sound like your one of those guys who goes to church every Sunday. And yet your going to have to buy your way into heaven.
Classy man you are 👎

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
For saying what I've been thinking for a long time.
He's the "thread wrecker" for sure...

[Salavee]

Originally Posted by marky_mark

The only thing that is getting annoying is your know it all attitude

He’s having fun
Trying to make a joke
And you have to be a dick about it
The more I hear you talk the more you sound like your one of those guys who goes to church every Sunday. And yet your going to have to buy your way into heaven.
Classy man you are 👎

Amen !