Woke up just after 3:30 this morning and knew I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, so I decided to grab my 7mm Bullberry, step outside and see if any creatures were stirring.

The heavily-overcast conditions made the viewing a bit tough, but I spotted what I thought to be a good-sized hog near the creek. I watched through the binos for perhaps a minute to make sure I knew what I was looking at and then confirmed it through the 3-12x56 scope. I turned on the illumination and proceeded to place the tiny red dot where I thought it would do the most good and touched of a shot.

The soft breeze was blowing into my face and made the impact sound unusually loud -- even to a guy with very little hearing left. The 120 grain Ballistic Tip flew true, ripping through the boar's lungs and breaking the opposite-side shoulder before exiting, dropping him instantly. The range was right at 160 yards.

On a side note: I think this may have been the first hog I shot using blue-tipped 7mm BTs. The Shooters Pro Shop had factory first over-runs a while back but sold them as seconds due to the blue tip. After being so accustomed to the red for all of these years, this is taking some getting used to as it just seems odd to me to see those blue tips in my 7BB shell carrier. But it didn't seem to make any difference to the hog...

Congrats another nice piggy Bobby.....you must have a walk-in freezer.

Curious, how are you processing most of them ?

Ike

Ike-

Unless I have help (or if a very small pig and I am having an unusually good day), I have to give most of them away. But the kids are out of school now, so I can put them to work ha ha! With the exception of the backstraps, pan sausage is the most likely end-result for this one...

We don't have a walk-in freezer. Sure would be nice, though. We do have 2 freezers and large ice chests.

Another job well done Bobby. Congratulations.

Nice work on that hog Bobby. I'm curious on the bullet. Nosler ballistic tips?

I was using the 120 grain Ballistic Tip at app. 2650 fps MV. It actually uses the jacket of the 140 grain BT shortened to the appropriate length, so it is a rather robust bullet and penetrates exceptionally well, particularly at the pedestrian speeds I launch them at from the 7BB and 7-30 Contender barrels.

Bobby, if you are not on the T/C pro staff, you sure ought to be!

Bobby, Nice shootin', good to see another one bite the dust! Looks like the perfect eatin size too!

Z

Thanks for that interesting reply. You got the wheels turning again on ballistic tip bullets.
I run 130 grain NBT in my .270 Winchester and they just blow up on heart and lung shots on WT deer. Couldn't find any fragments, like they turned to powder. I'm guessing speed could be a factor at 3050 fps. But, it's hard to tell sometimes if it's the speed or the bullet design that won't allow a pass-through even on soft tissue.

I'll keep the 120's in mind if I ever need to go 'light' in a .284 bullet. Sounds like a damn tough bullet.

quote:

Originally posted by Bobby Tomek:
I was using the 120 grain Ballistic Tip at app. 2650 fps MV. It actually uses the jacket of the 140 grain BT shortened to the appropriate length, so it is a rather robust bullet and penetrates exceptionally well, particularly at the pedestrian speeds I launch them at from the 7BB and 7-30 Contender barrels.

If you slow them down a bit or simply move up to the 140/150 grain BTs, you'll likely see a difference in performance. At the velocities I launch them at, the BTs -- including the 6.5/120, 7mm 120/140 and .30 cal/150 -- perform very similarly to the Accubonds in terms of depth of penetration. The only notable difference is that the ABs generally penetrate slightly deeper before maxing out with the wound cavity.

I've shot completely through some rather large hogs with the BTs and have no qualms using them on this sort of game, which features heavy, mud-caked hides, a layer of dense cartilage (on older boars) that can reach nearly an inch in thickness and a stouter bone structure than our local whitetail. Some of the very early BTs were indeed fragile, but that is no longer the case.

The BTs at modest velocities are also much milder on predator pelts than typical high-vel smallbores.






A 7mm 140 grain BT launched at app. 2450 penetrated nearly the entire length of this whitetail buck taken at 230 yards.




I am extremely picky when it comes to optics, accuracy and bullet performance, and the BTs -- used within their design parameters and preferably started out no more than 2800 fps -- certainly get my nod of approval and have earned my trust with their performance over the years.

A plethora of information. Much appreciated.

Bobby,

Comparing the 2 Nosler 140's (Nosler is my favorite bullet) was quite interesting. I assumed the spitzers are Partitions. I can see how BTip Noslers might reach that point of disintegration a bit sooner than Partitions or AB's at much higher velocities.
BTW, have you medium speeds cost you any accuracy over hotter loads?

CB

It's not a Partition. The lead-tipped Nosler is the Solid Base predecessor to the Ballistic Tip. It is constructed similarly, shoots/groups identically, and its terminal performance falls right between the BT and AB.

As long as properly stabilized, I have found the BTs to be exceptionally accurate at virtually all speeds. About 8-10 years ago, I loaded up a batch of 140 grain BTs for mt father-in-law's .270 WCF. At just under 2700 fps (2691 if memory serves), the load is mild, cloverleafs 3 shots at 100 yards with monotonous regularity and has killed quite a few deer and hogs for him -- and at ranges from 40 to nearly 300 yards. He has yet to recover one from game as each has exited.

quote:

I am extremely picky when it comes to optics

Say it isn't so!!! :-)

Thanks for the .270 info and the minimal variations of the above Nosler bullets. Good stuff.
Now I wonder if a barrel could have more than one "sweet spot".
Might end up trying some medium loads after these hot ones run out. IIRC We loaded them in 1 grain increments and book (no chrono) was in the 2900 (3/4" group) to 3100 fps range and at 3100 they started to open up a bit from a best 1/4 inch group at 3050 to 5/8".
Git 'em.