Loaded some 165 bal tips and 45 gr varget, they shot great in my old 20" bbl sako. Shot 159 # deer and the bullet blew up inside the deer. I was really surprised. I chose the 165 so that would not happen.
the shot was slightly quartering from me, shot just behind near shoulder and only a very few fragments reached off shoulder.

Has anyone tried the Barnes triple shock in 308 win and if so what did you load.

gi, You are using the right bullet for the intended game, and the load may be slightly stiff, but should work very well. Between the wife and I, more than 100 deer and assorted big game have fallen to this combination.

Was your buck close, or a bone hit on entry? Perhaps a small branch before the deer iniatiated the expansion? Shoot a few more deer and then look at the Accubonds or Swifts in that same weight.

I hope your 20" Sako is the Mannilicher stocked version as as mine.

308 sako, yes it is the mannlicher version, but I hunt with fiberglass stock. That rifle will shoot around 1" with everything i put in it, except 150 partitions. it is really my favorite rifle.

it was a buck about 100 yards away, 1 1/2 year old buck not really large deer. I was really shocked at the performance of the bullet. I never shot it over chronograph, but is is very safe in my rifle.

The ballistic tips shot great, but I can't use a bullet that acts like that. I think I will try the accubonds or a hornady bullet.

The buck was angled slightly away, not much, hit behind near shoulder and just fragments reached off shoulder.
I knew ballistic tip was soft but I thoght the 165 would give me complete penetrtation

gi, slow the bullet down and you should have better results. I've never recovered a btip. they've always passed through.

2700 fps and under is good for btips. saves powder too.

Personally, I have had several disappointing incidents with Ballistic Tips in my .308 - all with whitetails at under 75 yards. I have gone back to Nosler Partions for all my deer hunting, they never fail to perform (35 plus kills). I use partions wether hunting whitetails around home or muleys out west and I don't have to worry if my target is 40 yards away or 240...the partion will do it's job!

Now I have used the Ballistic Tips with good results on antelope - and for those longer shots at the less 'tough' antelope (IMO), I feel the BT's work well. But deer, and anything under a couple hundred yards; the partion gets my support!

Another option is to load the 180 Btip and keep it slow. If most shots are 200 and under, you can set it for 2" high at 100 and at 200 it may only be a couple, maybe 3" low at 200.

Keep them in the lungs and they should work great.

quote:

Originally posted by gi:
308 sako, yes it is the mannlicher version, but I hunt with fiberglass stock. That rifle will shoot around 1" with everything i put in it, except 150 partitions. it is really my favorite rifle.

it was a buck about 100 yards away, 1 1/2 year old buck not really large deer. I was really shocked at the performance of the bullet. I never shot it over chronograph, but is is very safe in my rifle.

The ballistic tips shot great, but I can't use a bullet that acts like that. I think I will try the accubonds or a hornady bullet.

Gi, Try 44 grains of IMR 3031 with the 150 partitions, Winchester cass and Federal 210M primers... that was my best load for accuracy!

I wouldn't pass judgement with one example. I use the same bullet at around 2800 fps in my 30-06 and have yet to recover one, getting quick kills every time. Most shots are under 150 yards and some very close. If you just have to change Sierra makes two very fine bullets in 165 grain, the BTSP and the BTHP. My favorite is the BTHP as it gives fine accuracy and is slightly tougher than the BTSP.

quote:

Originally posted by gi:
Loaded some 165 bal tips and 45 gr varget, they shot great in my old 20" bbl sako. Shot 159 # deer and the bullet blew up inside the deer. I was really surprised. I chose the 165 so that would not happen.
the shot was slightly quartering from me, shot just behind near shoulder and only a very few fragments reached off shoulder.

Has anyone tried the Barnes triple shock in 308 win and if so what did you load.

I switched to Accubonds for the same reason the BT's blew up on 2 deer using my 300 Win Mag at 3200fps the Deer were running at more than 150yards. I shot a nice broadside standing 7 point last year at 311 yards with the Accubond complete pass through in one shoulder and out the other with a 2.5 inch exit hole.

Good luck

quote:

Originally posted by gi:
the shot was slightly quartering from me, shot just behind near shoulder and only a very few fragments reached off shoulder.

What was the deer's reaction to the shot?


For years I used a 270 with 130 grain ballistic tips. I killed over 10 deer, from 10 yards to 340 yards. I think every deer hit with that combo dropped immediately, dead.
Last year, I started using bigger slower cartridges, with heavier for caliber bullets. In the past year, I have killed deer with 30-06/180 grain, 35 Whelen/250 grain, and 458 mag/400 grain. Of the 5 deer I have killed with those combo's, 4 have run out of sight and needed tracking. I don't think I ever had to track a deer with a Ballistic Tip/270.

The only failure of a Ballistic tip I have ever seen was with a .308 165 grain from a 30-06. At 20 feet, shot in the butt, the deer got away. Don't shoot deer in the butt.


Your bullet's performance sounds good to me.

I also switched to Accubonds due to too rapid expansion of the BT's. My Dad and brother have both lost deer due to no exit wound/blood trail using BT's. My son and I have killed SEVERAL deer and hogs with Accubonds in 270 and 308, and all have passed through.

Jeff, I feel your Dad and brother lost deer due to poor bullet placement. I have had many bullets exit and less than 1/3 of those exits contributed much to tracking. If you put a proper weight Ballistic Tip bullet in the chest of a game animal he won't travel far enough to lose even with no blood trail. I have never had to spend much time tracking if the hit was good however poorly hit animals require some work to find. Poorly hit animals seldom bleed much exit hole or not.

try 165gr accubonds

I have shot 3 deer with balistic tips 270 2900 fps 130 gr this year.

At 500 yards, a lung shot is great.
Stagger a few steps with the blood coming out the mouth

At 400 yards, up the spine and out the nose make a mess no one should have to gut.

At 400 yards, through both hind quarters, most of the meat back there was lost.

What bothers me is that the bullet was only going 2000 fps when it hit the animal.

I need to get some less ballistic bullets for next year.

Ballistic tips at close range in my son's 270 wreck a lot of good meat. They do kill though and not much tracking required.

I'm at the 'doe for the freezer' stage in my deer hunting career. Too out of shape for much tracking. I prefer Accubonds in 270, 308, or 30-06. They usually drop within sight.

These days, I reserve the BTs for 'yotes.

I had similar experience with the Ballistic Tip from a .308 Win at 65 or so yards. Switched to good old fashioned 165 gr PP Core-Lokt's. The work fine. Probably not the best bullet for long ranges, but I don't see those here.

Tnekkcc, seems to me your shot placement sucks and you must be doing something wrong if you can't get any closer than 400 yards. If you are going to keep shooting those overly long ranges then a destructive bullet is what you need. A wounded animal hit at 400 yards definitly has a head start.