DITTO to everything that 'JBabcock' had to say. Lawdog

All-

I thought long and hard before replying to your post. The main deterrent for not replying to your post is that in .300 Wby, I am not shooting 180 grain bullets but, 150's. Couple that with the fact that I am shooting 150 grainers at +3600 fps chronographed.

I will relate to you my experience. For a couple of seasons, I used custom controlled expansion bullets and I thought that they did not expand enough. For example, 30 caliber entrance wound, a dime sized exit wound.

I went to the other end of the spectrum. Nosler Balistic Tips. Probably 50% exit wounds. Of those shots that did not exit, the animal looked liked a grenade went off inside of them and no exit wound.

Therefore, I would opt for a bullet somewhere in between. Today you have the Nosler Accubond and the Hornady Interbond.

Bottom line, I would opt for a bullet that is moderately tough.

Well not me. If you read my post carefully, 50' can often times be a BIG difference. That shoulder shot animal you mention was probably shot with a soft bullet, hence the tracking job or was shot at an acute angle. YOu shoot an animal with a Barnes, Swift, etc and center punch the shoulder and he's done. I don't want to get into a "penis-envy" chest thumping here, but I've taken enough animals to substantiate my findings.

50feet you say? My best friend shot a hell of a mulie once that ran TWENTY FEET, right over a cliff into a ravine that we had to spend six hours pulling him out. There's no way around it Stubblejumper a premium bullet has it all over a Ballistic Tip and you court disaster when you push a BT at the speeds you do, but that's your business. jorge

I've had nothing but great luck using them (core-lok's)on white tails. I almost always use a .270Win or a .308Win when I deer hunt. If John Ricks ever finishes my .375H&H I'm gonna poke one with it this year. I can't wait to hear the cat calls when I bring that to deer camp HA!



Terry

TC1,

Funny that you mentioned the Core Locks. I have had a real problem w/ Core locks not exiting even when hit behind the shoulders (Mostly 30-06 and 7mm Rem Mag) but, the Ballistic tips go on through every time on broad side shots.

I'm not the only one having that problem w/ the corelocks either, they have a real bad rap in some areas down here.

I hear alot of praise towards the corelocks but, they seem like terrible bullets in anything over 30-30 velocities.

Reloader

I used Hornaday SST's and had great luck for 2yrs with them. Last year all that came to an end. When things don't go ecxactly as planned, it's good to have a bullet that will hold together no matter were it hits the animal. No more BT's or plastic tipped bullets for me, at least not while I'm hunting anyway. I'm sticking with core-loks and partitions from now on. They just work, what more can you ask? Dead is dead.

Terry

I've never shot a deer with a B.T. in my .300 Weatherby, but I've shot them with a similar bullet, the 165 gr. Hornady SST, and it performed really well I thought. However, no heavy bone was ever hit since I always try to go for the ribs if possible, so I don't know if that's a real test. I never recovered any bullets as they were all pass-throughs.

To be on the safe side, though, since I can't always count on having a broadside shot where I can go behind the shoulders, I now use tougher bullets like the Barnes TSX in the .300 Wby for deer hunting.

The above poster's comments are worth examining. He's had great luck with them out of a "barn burner" but also admits he limits himself to lung shots. I NEVER take lung shots unless I have to or by mistake. I aim for the shoulder which gets the lungs also, breaks the animal down and they usually drop on the spot. Even with deer sized animals a 50' "death run" can mean the difference between an easy recovery and an all-day/night cluster-coitus becasue the damned thing ran into a ditch, ravine, etc. You get my point.

Don't bother with soft bullets like the BT for the BIG animals, use a good premium that you rifle likes and if that trophy of a lifetime presents you with a difficult shot, you don't have to worry about your bullet turning into chaff. jorge

I wouldn't put a BT on any caliber at MVs in excess of 2800fps. I know there are some who use them in fast stepping magnums, but I just don't like to gamble with the kind of many I have to pay for hunts nowadays. jorge

I have taken five elk,two moose and one whitetail with the 180gr ballistic tip out of my 300ultramag at 3300fps muzzle velocity.All were quick clean one shot kills.I do use lung shots and damage is not excessive.Only one bullet did not exit and that one travelled through the chest of a mature bull elk and then through the offside shoulder before stopping against the hide.