Would a 150 gr Ballistic Tip at 2,700 fps be too frangible in a 308? For South Tx whitetails. Would it mushroom and punch through or tend to seperate jacket and core?

Thanks for the thoughts.

Perry

I have never had one separate from my 308s. They have always done the necessary damage and pass on through. I think the 308 velocities are ideal for the Ballistic Tips.

quote:

Originally posted by larrys:
I have never had one separate from my 308s. They have always done the necessary damage and pass on through. I think the 308 velocities are ideal for the Ballistic Tips.

^^^^I feel exactly the same way!

I've used them on deer and pronghorn in a 300 WSM and they usually go through but it's much more violent at 3250 fps, as expected..
Zeke

I think they are perfect for Texas whitetail. Most will be bang flop and you can collect your deer in the same spot you hit it at.

Thanks guys!

Original Ballistic Tips were very fragile as my hunting buddies and I found. Nosler has since redesigned the BTs in deer viable calibers to expand and penetrate better. I've gone over to Nosler Accubonds which fly like Ballistic Tips but hit like Partitions. I'd not have any reserve if forced to deer hunt with modern Ballistic Tips.

Let me suggest that you try the 125gr Accubond in your 308. Think about it! How many whitetails have fallen to a 95 or 100gr bullet from a 243 WIN.

I love the .308. I use any 150 grain bullet my rifle likes. I try and get 2850 or so. I see no advantage to the suggested 125. But I bet works. Too.
...tj3006

quote:

Originally posted by perry:
Would a 150 gr Ballistic Tip at 2,700 fps be too frangible in a 308? For South Tx whitetails. Would it mushroom and punch through or tend to seperate jacket and core?

Thanks for the thoughts.

Perry

2700 fps is pretty mild. You should be fine.

The Nosler Ballistic Tip is a much tougher bullet than most give it credit for

It will punch thru on a broadside shot..Tend to be pretty distructive., but a shot in the ribs just off the shoulder won't hurt a thing..I used the Accubonds this year, and got about the same results on deer as the Accubond, The accubond was definatly superior on elk..

Keep in mind that a 150 gr. bullet at 2700 FPS in a .308 is shooting a 300 Savage in all respects, and the old 300 Savage has been and still is the most reveard caliber for Texas whitetail along with the 30-30 of course.

One thing I do to test a bullet is to shoot trough a gallon milk jug full of water with a piece of cardboard set several feet behind the water jug.
Multiple holes in the back side of the water jug tells if the bullet started coming apart and the hole(s) in the cardboard tell the expanded diameter of the bullet.

Set the cardboard back several feet or you will just measure hydraulic jet damage.

Water does not relate to bone/tissue, but you can test bullet performance relative to one of known performance.

Query to a site like this with many learned hunters can help support or not the water jug findings.

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
The Nosler Ballistic Tip is a much tougher bullet than most give it credit for

Ted speaks the truth!
I know a young lady who absolutely slays whitetails with a 125 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip going about 3000 fps out of a bolt action 300 Savage. Never seen a bullet recovered ( all pass throughs) and never heard of her having to shoot more than 1 shot, very effective.
With those results using a 125 grain BT I'm sure a 150 BT would be unstoppable.

quote:

Would it mushroom and punch through or tend to seperate jacket and core?

Yes. It will do both.

I've used the 150 B.Tip for a couple of decades on deer at 3,000 fps from a .30-06 and more recently at 2,800 from a .308. The bullet does rapidly expand, and you can expect some of the core to fragment as it travels through the vitals. This inflicts significant trauma on the heart/lungs/liver or whatever else it travels through. Trauma is what kills.

The solid base of jacket material holds half or more of the bullet's mass together, causing it to penetrate much further than bullets of similar rapid expansion/fragmentation. This portion of the expanded/fragmented bullet often punches through the offside of a deer, but if the angle has been steep may lodge in the elastic offside hide.

There is no deadlier bullet for game of 300 pounds and less. Shoot them through the ribs and you'll lose nothing but meat scraps, regardless of how expansive a bullet is.

I've seen animals shot with a variety of centerfire bullets. If I were to get shot with a centerfire rifle, well, the Ballistic Tip would be my very last choice to be hit with.

quote:

Originally posted by Snellstrom:

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
The Nosler Ballistic Tip is a much tougher bullet than most give it credit for

Ted speaks the truth!
I know a young lady who absolutely slays whitetails with a 125 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip going about 3000 fps out of a bolt action 300 Savage. Never seen a bullet recovered ( all pass throughs) and never heard of her having to shoot more than 1 shot, very effective.
With those results using a 125 grain BT I'm sure a 150 BT would be unstoppable.

Agreed on all counts.

Anything over .22cal with 55 grain cup and core is overkill. The .308 with 150's will do great.

NBT's, in my opinion, are too fragile -- and the accubond is a great alternative

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
NBT's, in my opinion, are too fragile -- and the accubond is a great alternative

These days in testing they seem to be nearly the same bullet

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
NBT's, in my opinion, are too fragile -- and the accubond is a great alternative

I depends entirely on which vintage, and the particular BT you're referring to. Some of the BT's I use (7mm 120, 150) are very tough nowadays. The only difference is that the Accubond is a bonded bullet and the BT is not.

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
The Nosler Ballistic Tip is a much tougher bullet than most give it credit for

I agree. They got a bad rap from some of the earliest adaptations. But after they revamped them to hold up for hunting they hold their own as well as most cup and core slugs. They are very destructive and make HUGE mushrooms, but otherwise they arent as bad as a lot of folks seem to think. Especially in larger calibers.

I did some torture tests on them as well as other slugs from an 8x57, shooting into jugs of water and jugs of dirt, and they were actually pretty impressive. The 180 grainer held together better than a 200 gn Speer at considerably higher velocity than the Speer and it held together every bit as well as a 185 gn core lock. That being said, I personally still prefer Hornady Interlocks for Big Game.

I have had nearly full length penetration in whitetails with these bullets from my .309JDJ at 2350 fps. They should do just fine out of your .308.

Works on Texas Mule deer. 150 NBT @ 2875 FPS.

140 Yards in the shoulder.



Entrance.


Offside



West Texas werewolf. 50 yards drilled in the shoulder.

I think the Ballistic Tips are excellent bullets. Accurate and sure killers. I generally run the heavier versions when hunting deer or anything else. The 150 7MM and the 180 in .308 are outstanding bullets. Nosler makes great bullets.

Nosler makes great bullets. The 150 BT is perfect for deer, accurate, flat shooting with excellent terminal performance.

Another excellent bullet I've used is the 150 Sierra Pro Hunter. This is a no thrills, flat base bullet that is accurate and deadly. Also a lot cheaper than the Nosler BT's.

The 308 is one of my favorite calibers.

I'd love to shoot them out of my 308 win, but for some reason they aren't very accurate.
Neither are the 150 accubonds.
Actually I haven't had much luck shooting noslers out of any 30 cal.
Barnes 150 ttsx are the go to for me. A bit pricey for plinking but they are the top hunting bullet for this guy
Noslers have been accurate enough in the 223 to 244 calibers though.

Additionally So. Texas Whitetail is a broad spectrum as to size..In the brush (the golden triangle) they sometimes weigth in excess of 250 pounds. right around the cornor they weigh 120 pounds and a tad up North around San Antonio some bucks weigh in at 55 to 60 lbs...

For a do all deer bullet to hunt all of that State I personally would opt for a 150 gr corelokt or WW Power Point, that would include far West and North Texas Mule deer. Nosler partitions and Accubond well worked well for me in any caliber over 6mm..Ive used them for years on both deer elk, and African PG in most calibers.

My problem with Bal. Tips is they tend to be too destructive, especially if you hit bone. ruin a lot of good meat..but about any of todays "deer bullets" bullet works on deer so were getting picky on a rather non problematic thread IMO..Hundreds are killed with Sierras and many more with the 222 and 223 with varmint bullets.

Only with the larger anmals and DG do I have concerns, and I know whats best for them and I use only those.

Thank you gentlemen for all the first hand experience!

Perry

I quit using ballistic tips years ago because they were too explosive.Nosler redesigned them and today they are a very good bullet.I have used them in recent years and have been very happy with their performance.I have yet to recover a single one on the numerous whitetail I've shot with them.I have used the 150gr ballistic tip in my 308.My load is 46.5grs of Varget with a velocity of 2900fps.I'm running 165 and 168gr ballistic tips out of my 30-06 right at 3000fps and 150gr ballistic tips out of my 7mag at 3100fps and they are absolute hammers on deer.Don't worry about all the bad things you've heard about them,shoot them and you too will like them.

quote:

Originally posted by Snellstrom:

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
The Nosler Ballistic Tip is a much tougher bullet than most give it credit for

Ted speaks the truth!
I know a young lady who absolutely slays whitetails with a 125 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip going about 3000 fps out of a bolt action 300 Savage. Never seen a bullet recovered ( all pass throughs) and never heard of her having to shoot more than 1 shot, very effective.
With those results using a 125 grain BT I'm sure a 150 BT would be unstoppable.

I think I know that young lady quite well!

The older Bal Tips were explosive, I blew and 8 inch entrance hole in a Muley buck and the lungs looked like peppered meat, like a shot gun wound...total bullet destruction..Nosler some years ago fixed that problem and todays ballistic tip is better although I did blow up a 150 Bal. tip on a deers shoulder three years ago found bone and blood for 25 yards went near a half mile finding only a drop now and then, heard a shot and found a hunter gutting my buck..I helped him get to the top of the ridge where he could get his 4 wheeler and I went hunting with no mention of the extra wound,

Im still a bit skeptical because of that incident so I like the Acccubond or the Partition on deer size game, and mostly because I want a bullet capable of taking a Texas Heart Shot and giving me complete or near complete penetration on the game Im hunting...