Although I don't shoot a 7mm Mag, I do shoot a lot of Ballistic tips on game, primarily the 270 Winchester. Velocites are close enough to compare, for me the BT'S have always worked perfectly, never had to chase any game, never had one blow up and destroy a lot of meat, and every critter I have shot with BT'S is DEAD and dropped! Maybe, I can place all my shots just exactly right, no? Well maybe I am just lucky, and any of the factors that one may encounter in the field, just never happen to me, could be! Varmint bullet only? Well I use them for both, because if it is real windy, I get my 26" Sendero in 270 Winchester, and shoot P-dogs at 500yds or more, with 130's. Oh one more thing on ballistic tips, I use them on elk also, what a sacrilege!! The last elk I shot with a 225 Ballistic Tip out of my 35 Whelen @2750fps, the recovered bullet weighed 206 grains thats 91% weight rentention!!

I guess they really work for me.

Jerry

I noticed a couple of posters are using Sierra Game Kings. I don't know why Sierras are not flavour of the month.
For most of my hunting I have used a 7x61 loaded with 160gr Sierra Game Kings SBT and running them at a chronographed 3000fps. Yes I have tried Noslers, Hornadys and others but never found anything as reliable and accurate as the Sierras. I could get high velocity at workable pressures and have shot hundreds of animals; goats, chamois, tahr and red deer from a few feet to hundreds of metres.

The Sierras invariably punched through doing a lot of damage on the way. I have found (like that great American hunter, Elmer Keith) that animals are dropped or pulled up quicker if the bullet punches through. Obviously not like a solid but it should mushroom rapidly, and hold the shank together to enable this to happen.

I know many like the perfect mushroom stopping in the animal but I can only relate to what I have found and have been fortunate enough to live in a country where I could shoot many many animals over the years under all conditions, starting while in my younger school years.

I don't really understand the fad for using the 7mm magnums, (I do prefer these myself) and then loading them with bullets down around the 120gr to 150gr. The proven classic is the 160gr SBT for the 7mm Magnum.

The 7mm08 and 7x57 are the perfect cartridges for the 140gr-150gr bullets at around 2800fps-2900fps.

I don't have a ton of expirence in this and I almost stayed out of the my bullets are better than yours kind of debate.

But I have personally seend NBT fail in two instances. Both were on Elk. While I agree Deer are not Elk, I think the point stands. The first one was a quarter away shot at about 150 yards on a cow elk. The bullet hit a rib going in and all that was found were bullet fragments. Shot from a 280 Rem. The Cow took the kill shot broadside perfectly in the lungs. This bullet did not exit either but held together enough. The damage was severe but luckily only rib meat was lost.

The second was from a 300 win mag broadside at about 175. The shot was to far forward and the shoulder blade. It did not penetrate past it. two shots later it went down.

For deer they maybe good enough for you but my confidence in them is not. NBT were designed not to be pushed very fast and I think that may have led to the issues I pointed out above. I do not know what the loads were or velocities.

If I was just doe hunting maybe I would use them. But anything else I want the bullet bonded such as AB, or Scirroco's. On Elk I want a partition or a-frame. Why, because if I have to make that hip or shoulder shot, I want it to penetrate.

I have personally taken two Cow Elk with Sierra Game Kings, one with 270 WSM and the other with 06. Both performed well but the bullet only had about 40% weight retention. The cow died and did not go more than 20 yards.

I have no confidence in the NBT's so I would not use them. But I would concede that in the instances I wrote about that the velocity was probably faster than what Nosler recommends.

Not in the 7mm mag. The fastest I run them is in a .280 rem. 2850 fps? Then I get seperation and lots of damage. SST's are even worse. The 2700 fps range seems to do best. But then who wants a 7mm-08?