Greetings from down under....I am currently experimenting with new 308 loads in my Remington 700 tube gun - some friends of mine highly recommended using Nosler 155gn Custom Competition bullets for hunting medium game (feral goats, pigs and some species of deer). They swear by them even though they are supposed to be target bullets.

I have seen videos of them easily taking out feral goats at 250 -350m using these bullets with devastating effect. They even an took Elk without any problems.

I want to try them on medium game, but before I do I wanted to get some other feedback from our US cousins (and others) as to their experiences. I believe they are super accurate which is great, but do they open up reliably ...?????

They are target bullets NOT hunting bullets. Of course accuracy is great. THAT is what they are designed for. NOT for reliable CONTROLLED expansion.
Use a hunting bullet for hunting and a target bullet for targets other than living things.
The BT or accubonds will give you both accuracy and expansion. "I" have found the BT will expload sometimes when pushed over 3000FPS so the bondaded bullet is better then.

"Do they open up reliably?" Short answer is NO!

quote:

Originally posted by sevenmil:
Greetings from down under....I am currently experimenting with new 308 loads in my Remington 700 tube gun - some friends of mine highly recommended using Nosler 155gn Custom Competition bullets for hunting medium game (feral goats, pigs and some species of deer). They swear by them even though they are supposed to be target bullets.

I have seen videos of them easily taking out feral goats at 250 -350m using these bullets with devastating effect. They even an took Elk without any problems.

I want to try them on medium game, but before I do I wanted to get some other feedback from our US cousins (and others) as to their experiences. I believe they are super accurate which is great, but do they open up reliably ...?????

Rifle Magazine maybe 20 years ago had an article where the guy tested every 180 grain 30 caliber bullet in a standard test medium.
There were about 40 bullets tests each at 3 velocities and there were either 3 or 5 bullets per test that were recovered and photographed.

The match bullets were uniformly crappy. They either flattened into a boomerang or they came completely apart.

There were not so many botique bullet back then.
The top performers from the photos I saw were the Swift A-Frame and the poor lowly Remington 180 gr RN Core Lokt.
There were some of the early bullets like the first generation Barnes X bullets and the Win Fail Safe. Even their performance was shabby compared to the Swift and the Remington.

I have experimented with the fasion of "target rounds for LR hunting" and tried the 155g Nos CC as a hunting round - results are that 2 Thar ran off presumably to die a lingering death elsewhere.. Never again for me! There are a lot of accurate suitable hunting bullets available and the CC is not one of them. Tiny HP and thick jacket = bad news.

A friend did successfully take some feral sheep with them, but as above - there are a zillion better options.

Thanks guys, they were my thoughts too. I have been using AMAXs - I know they are also a target bullet, but I have used them quite a bit now and they are both accurate and good for hunting, at least medium game. I think I'll stick to them and Nosler BTs ( which are really awesome).

All one shot kills and good knock down power with both Amaxes and BTs

7,

I can relate from personal experience that not all target bullets are created equal - to hunting bullets that is.

I've also used the NCC in both .224" & .308" and they are very accurate bullets indeed.

You'll likely end up with a super accurate load and perhaps initial success(es) which will evetually erode to disppoinment as they fail to perform in situations that a hunting bullet is designed for.

I'm sure there are those who will Poo-Poo such and claim they've a life-time of solid target bullet perfomance on live game ..... but I'd offer up the Nosler Ballistic Tip as a much better option.

Here's a waterjug test done on the 168's:

http://www.noslerreloading.com...pic.php?f=50&t=20504

Definately NOT a hunting bullet.

@ 25 yard's?
I wonder how Nosler Partitions and Nosler Accubonds would hold up @ 25 yards???

A 155 grain projectile made of lead and copper striking the thorax of most any game animal at ~2500 fps will almost always kill that animal, and do so fairly quickly, regardless of its design or construction.

That said, target bullets are not designed for terminal performance and the way they act when striking flesh can be capricious. A piece of rock weighing 155 grains which strikes at 2500 fps will also almost always be fatal, but you don't want to depend on it when there are other, much better choices available.

Berger VLD ?

Thick jacket is a great asset, in many situations.

Think a varmint or small deer isn't going to die when hit correctly with a 6mm 107gr or 6.5 140?

The "hollowpoint" is a design feature in all BTHP match bullets, that shifts weight rearward for better ballistic coefficient.

I load 75gr hornady bthp in 223. Recover these in the rock backstop on my place. The bullets may bend like pretzels, but they do not shed their jackets or come apart. A deep penetrating bullet is a fine game-killer.

My theory is that if you hunt with BTHP bullets, you are likely fairly experienced with them and know how to control your bullet placement. Maybe you actually "hunt" and don't take 1st shot presented?

Sierra bullet tech once told me their smk heavies were fine for hunting, IF penetration and heavy construction is your goal. I would rather have a good supply of these bullets than any premium game bullet.

Just finished a weekend of goat hunting and to emphasise the point of selecting the right projectiles, I am going back to Nosler Ballistic Tips!

Not using Amaxs ever again - on three different targets (goats), it took 2 -3 rounds to put them down. Mind you they were all good hits (chest area), so very disappointed with them. Damn accurate target bullets though (am getting 0.3" at 100m consistently), but rubbish on game.

Lesson to be learned: There are just too many good, accurate HUNTING bullets available. One should not dick around with target bullets.