Bullet Heads for deer

[OneEye]

I've recently tried some Hornady SST bullet heads in my .308 and 6.5x55 rifles, on the advice of Brian at The Sportsman, and am very pleased with the result. There's one area where I shoot reds at up to 300 yards on a regular basis, and tend to favour the .308 for it. In the Summer I shot a roebuck that came diddy-bopping across my sights, with a Nosler 150gr ballistic tip. Lovely engine room shot, but the exit wound, although it missed the meat areas, was in the ribcage and the size of a football, taking a fair bit of the gralloch with it, presumably from a large splinter that deflected off a rib into the guts.

 

Same thing happened later with the SSTs, and this time the exit was the size of a tangerine and the gralloch untouched.

[njc110381]

Ballistic tips are certainly a poor tool for deer, they make too much mess and it's very easy to spoil a lot of meat with them. A good soft point that holds together is much better. How much do the SSTs cost and what weight are you using in the 6.5? I'm just looking into making up a good load for that calibre myself, but only have good reports on Speer 160grn softpoints so far.

[OneEye]

129grn in the 6.5, and 165 grn in the .308. I was using 150s in the .308 before, but wanted something to use against boar too. These give very good groups, 3/4 at 100, 1.5 at 200, but don't take the mick with meat damage the way the Nosler ballistics do. The SSTs have a nice boat tail which makes them easier to load than some of the flat-based heads.

[Sako7mm]

Ballistic tips are certainly a poor tool for deer, they make too much mess and it's very easy to spoil a lot of meat with them.

 

Well, my experience with the 100 or so Roe, Muntjac and Sika I've shot with 70 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips from my 243's is that the damage is considerably less than from Hornady 100 grain SP's. In fact, I'm reluctant to shoot deer, apart from hill Red deer, with any other .243 bullet- and I've tried a few.

The 130 grain BT's in 270 certainly mince them up a bit, though!

Have you shot many deer with Nosler BT's?

[mry716]

Ballistic tips are certainly a poor tool for deer, they make too much mess and it's very easy to spoil a lot of meat with them.

 

Well, my experience with the 100 or so Roe, Muntjac and Sika I've shot with 70 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips from my 243's is that the damage is considerably less than from Hornady 100 grain SP's. In fact, I'm reluctant to shoot deer, apart from hill Red deer, with any other .243 bullet- and I've tried a few.

The 130 grain BT's in 270 certainly mince them up a bit, though!

Have you shot many deer with Nosler BT's?

 

SAKO

That is surprising as the 243 B/Tips are not deer suitable bullets being Varmint style and explosive whereas the 270 are Hunting bullets and therefore Deer suitable as they have a thicker jacket and 'controlled expansion'.

 

One eye.

 

I have used 30cal 150grn B/tips for 20 odd years now on Fallow and have had very few occasions of high expansion although for the most part I do neck shoot. I like them and also use them in my 325WSM in 180gr format with equally good results. Whatever else I have always found them accurate so at least they hit the spot aimed for.

 

Re 30 cal I also use Speer 150 grn SP in both BT and Flat format with excellent body shot results.

[Sako7mm]

M,

I certainly wouldn't describe the Nosler 70 grain BT as 'explosive'. Mine are the 'solid base' style and hold up very well- far tougher than the Hornady V-Max, for example. I'm down to my last couple of hundred now. I wish you'd had more when I cleaned you out of them!

[mry716]

M,

I certainly wouldn't describe the Nosler 70 grain BT as 'explosive'. Mine are the 'solid base' style and hold up very well- far tougher than the Hornady V-Max, for example. I'm down to my last couple of hundred now. I wish you'd had more when I cleaned you out of them!

 

They are still a thinner jacket than the 90/95 grn ones which are classed as Hunting rather than Varmint.

 

243:- 55grain 70grain and 80grain Ballistic Tip bullets are....................

Nosler Ballistic Tip® Varmint

The World's Best Varmint Bullet

 

http://www.nosler.com/index.php?p=11&b...;s=17&t=6mm

 

 

Go ahead, drive ‘em out of that Swift as fast as you can. You won’t find any speed limits on these bullets to slow you down. Nosler Ballistic Tip® Varmint bullets thrive on ultra-high velocity loads. Even if you’re loading for a Hornet, Zipper or WSSM, these hot little devils will go the distance with spectacular results all the way down to the lowest practical velocity level. To order online click here.

1. Nestled in the jacket mouth is the streamlined polycarbonate tip, color-coded by caliber.
   
2. The Ballistic Tip® Varmint bullet's ultra thin jacket mouth assures violent expansion at either end of the velocity scale.
   
3. The uniform, gradual thickening of the jacket wall at the bullet's mid-section is designed to keep the Ballistic Tip® Varmint bullet together until impact ­ at any velocity.
   
4. The heavy jacket base prevents bullet deformation during firing.
   
5. Nosler's unique Solid Base® boat-tail design, combined with the polycarbonate tip, dramatically increases long-range ballistic efficiency.
   
6. Minimum Impact Velocity: 1600 fps
   Maximum Impact Velocity: Unlimited
   

243:- 90grain and 95 grain bullets are ................

 

 

Ballistic Tip® Hunting

Hunting's Deadliest Deer Bullet

 

http://www.nosler.com/index.php?p=11&b=5&s=5

[tulkyuk]

Ballistic Tip® Hunting

Hunting's Deadliest Deer Bullet

 

http://www.nosler.com/index.php?p=11&b=5&s=5

Hi M

 

do you know of anybody doing these in a factory load???

[mry716]

Ballistic Tip® Hunting

Hunting's Deadliest Deer Bullet

 

http://www.nosler.com/index.php?p=11&b=5&s=5

Hi M

 

do you know of anybody doing these in a factory load???

 

Actually using Nosler products are the following but others use plastic tipped bullets from Swift, Hornady etc etc

 

http://www.winchester.com/products/catalog...st.aspx?type=13

 

http://www.nosler.com/index.php?p=11&b=3

 

http://www.federalpremium.com/ballistics/A...earm=1&s1=1

 

I also believe PMC and Sellier & Bellot also do some rounds using Nosler bullets

[Paul223]

Ballistic Tip® Hunting

Hunting's Deadliest Deer Bullet

 

http://www.nosler.com/index.php?p=11&b=5&s=5

Hi M

 

do you know of anybody doing these in a factory load???

are we still talking .243? if so

Winchester ballistic silver tip 95g ( nosler / Winchester 'combined technology') and probably your best bet

 

hirtenberger nosler ballistic tip 95g

black hills nosler ballistic tip 95g

[Devilishdave]

Ballistic Tip® Hunting

Hunting's Deadliest Deer Bullet

 

http://www.nosler.com/index.php?p=11&b=5&s=5

Hi M

 

do you know of anybody doing these in a factory load???

are we still talking .243? if so

Winchester ballistic silver tip 95g ( nosler / Winchester 'combined technology') and probably your best bet

 

hirtenberger nosler ballistic tip 95g

black hills nosler ballistic tip 95g

 

 

I use the .243 Nosler Balistic silver tip and my only criticism is that they dont seam to expand enough and I get quite a few runners on well shot deer. Never had a significantly large exit hole on a deer with them.

 

dave

[casts_by_fly]

We've used noslers BT's since they first came out in the early 90's. We've used both 150 and 165 gr at first, but settled into the 165's out of a 30-06 for american deer. Always had great results from <20 yd out to over 400. Granted, the deer are a bit bigger than roe or fallows. Our loads are in the 2800 fps range. Sometimes you get an exit, sometimes not. Over 200 yd you usually don't get an exit if you hit solid, though through the ribs you'll make 2 holes. A couple deer we've found the bullet lodged in the farside shoulder. They have expanded down to the base, just like you see from shooting gelatin. One bullet had the lead core still attached to the copper base. About the only part of the head we didn't find was the plastic tip. It was near 90% retention on that one (about 300 yd shot).

 

I'm happy with the BT's and will keep using them. Prior to them we shot 150 gr hollow points with compressed loads (2.5 gr powder over max). They packed quite a wallop on your shoulder and did a lot of damage. Never had deer run though and my dad shot quite a lot of deer with those ones.

 

Thanks,

Rick

[OneEye]

Really, I regard the SSTs as a way of using a heavier calibre on roe than I otherwise would, the Nosler BTs seem fine when I've used them on reds. A roe usually pops along when all the reds take the day off, a nice compensation but I'd prefer not to blow them all over the field.

[njc110381]

Ballistic tips are certainly a poor tool for deer, they make too much mess and it's very easy to spoil a lot of meat with them.

 

Well, my experience with the 100 or so Roe, Muntjac and Sika I've shot with 70 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips from my 243's is that the damage is considerably less than from Hornady 100 grain SP's. In fact, I'm reluctant to shoot deer, apart from hill Red deer, with any other .243 bullet- and I've tried a few.

The 130 grain BT's in 270 certainly mince them up a bit, though!

Have you shot many deer with Nosler BT's?

 

I can't really argue because I haven't shot any Deer at all. In fact, I'm very new to the sport (Deer anyway). I was under the impression that a ballistic tipped varmint bullet wasn't ideal for Deer, and the legality of it is also questionable. Guidelines state that a "controlled expansion" bullet should be used, and varmint bullets aren't exactly controlled in their expansion are they? Do you get a good exit wound with 70grn ballistic tips on larger Deer?

 

I could well be wrong, it wouldn't be the first time!

[casts_by_fly]

njc,

 

I hate to be the bad guy, but let me get this straight. You made a direct, bold statement that BT's are 'certainly a poor tool for deer', yet you have not shot a deer yet with anything? I think you may want to consider your experiences before you give advice where you have none.

 

Yes, varmint bullets are typically poor choices on deer. I wouldn't use a 40 gr hollow point moving at 3800 fps from a 22-250 on any deer, no matter how good of a varmint bullet it is. While kills are likely with good shot placement, there is little room for error. The varmint V-max heads have thinner jackets, especially at lower bullet weights. They are designed to expand quickly with minimal mass resistance. That's why you see fox with massive holes in them from 40 gr ballistic tips. The hunting bullets have thicker jackets and are designed to expand reliably. They are meant to take heavier mass resistance with less expansion. The heavier the bullet and the larger the caliber, the more they are designed to take.

 

With proper weigh and load selection, ballistic tips are appropriate heads for almost any game on the planet.

 

Thanks,

Rick

 

Thanks,

Rick

[mry716]

Nic

see my post above and take a look at the Nosler site.

 

Ballistic Tip bullets come in two types - Varmint and Hunting. The Hunting has a thicker Jacket and a different thickness progression from base to tip and tends to do as is required for an animal such as deer - expand controllably. The Varmint style is thinner jacketed and tends to 'explode' rather than expand so on thicker skinned game you can find a larger wider wound channel and often no exit wound.

 

It is most unfortunate the two type of bullet - so different in design yet so similar in looks were all 'lumped' together under the same name. It would have been far preferable to have two totally different style names really.

 

There is no overlap of bullet weights but all bullets of one cal have the same colored tips whatever the type.

[njc110381]

I've always been told that the Nosler ballistic tipped ammo opens up faster than most soft point ammo, so can make more of a mess. Just because I've never shot anything doesn't mean I don't have a good idea of the experiences of people who have. I'm very new to this, but will always try to pass on info I've been given by other experienced shots. Each shooter has his own opinions on a subject, either through experience or advice of others. What I stated was my opinion, I'm sorry if some of you don't agree! I've ordered some of these SSTs to try, and if I'm right I'm pretty sure they're ballistic tipped too. I should have written Nosler in my statement, but as we were talking about them in particular I didn't see the need

[OneEye]

I've ordered some of these SSTs to try, and if I'm right I'm pretty sure they're ballistic tipped too.

 

They are. However, they have a cup halfway down the lead core, which controls their expansion - same principle as a Partition, but made in one core rather than two, which brings down the price whilst increasing the stability (as the two halves are not always perfectly balanced in a Partition).

[mry716]

In order to ensure everyone can understand the differences and do not get confused by different folks examples please lets just try to use correct terminology and then everyone will appreciate bullet differences whatever the manufacturer being mentioned.

 

Ballistic Tip is a registered trademark of Nosler and is used for two types of bullet. The Hunting Ballistic Tip and the Varmint Ballistic Tip.

 

No other manufacturer can make or call their bullets Ballistic Tip so please refer to other makers bullets by their correct name / terminology and then we will all appreciate exactly what any post is talking about.

 

All bullets with a polymer tip insert have their own makers nomenclature please try to use it then there will be no misunderstandings.

[OneEye]

And don't refer to vacuum cleaners as 'Hoovers' unless they are manufactured by Hoover. And don't call rotary mowers 'Flymos' unless they are made by Flymo, and don't call nylon-cord grass trimmers 'Strimmers' unless they're made by Black and Decker.

[Sako7mm]

And don't bother to share an opinion about what's suitable to shoot deer with until you've shot one, maybe.... :lol:?

[OneEye]

And don't bother to share an opinion about what's suitable to shoot deer with until you've shot one, maybe.... :lol:?

 

If that's aimed at me, you're way off target mate. More range time required...

[njc110381]

And don't bother to share an opinion about what's suitable to shoot deer with until you've shot one, maybe.... :lol:?

 

If that's aimed at me, you're way off target mate. More range time required...

 

 

I recon I have a good idea who he's referring to

[henry d]

Season of good will chaps

[njc110381]

In all fairness it wasn't an unreasonable comment so I didn't take it too badly. I can't argue with a pro!