Where do these fit in the pantheon of hunting bullets? Are they just for thin skinned game? The 150's seem to shoot quite well in my 7x57
Peter.

Opinions on the balistic tips very greatly.
I loaded some 180s for a buddies 300 win and he loves them for elk.
he has killed 5 of various sizes and will not think of using partitions or acubonds.
I have another frend who uses them in lots of cartridges for deer and antilope hunting.
I am taking the 140s after mule deer in my 7X57 at about 2825. They shoot about .5 MOA in my #1. I think at that speed they should be great.
However with my .257 Roberts, I plan to use the 100 gr partition. The B-tip shoots great , but at 3100 I want a more solid bullet.
I think your 150 grain balistic tip should be a great deer bullet for you 7X57.
...tj3006

They work outstanding for medium game. Lopes, Whitetails, Mulies, Hogs, etc.

Good Luck

Reloader

Deadly accurate but so-so performance on Black Bears in my observation. I'm talking about 300 or more lb'ers. And don't hit bone.

I can assure you that you have no endemic game around Florida that is too large/tough for Ballistic Tips. If you're going on an out-of-state (or country) hunt for something larger like elk then you'll likely want a more appropriate bullet. NOT that B Tips won't take elk, particularly in the larger calibers with heavier bullets, it's just that they are not designed for game of that size and unless your shot is into the "soft" areas of the thorax or the head itself, then the Ballistic Tip, excellent bullet though it is, may not do what needs to be done. In the Nosler line the Partitions and Accubonds are made for the more formidable game. If hunting something larger than mule deer, consider using a somewhat less rapidly-expanding bullet.

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
I can assure you that you have no endemic game around Florida that is too large/tough for Ballistic Tips. If you're going on an out-of-state (or country) hunt for something larger like elk then you'll likely want a more appropriate bullet. NOT that B Tips won't take elk, particularly in the larger calibers with heavier bullets, it's just that they are not designed for game of that size and unless your shot is into the "soft" areas of the thorax or the head itself, then the Ballistic Tip, excellent bullet though it is, may not do what needs to be done. In the Nosler line the Partitions and Accubonds are made for the more formidable game. If hunting something larger than mule deer, consider using a somewhat less rapidly-expanding bullet.

Excellent post.....dead on!

And the Accubonds shoot just as well in both of the rifles I have tried them on.

Our PH in South Africa has one ammunition rule "No Ballistic Tips". As for Ballistic tips in the USA, they are accurate as can be (so are Accubonds), and we don't have many game animals as tough as you will find elsewhere. Use the Ballistic Tips and enjoy their accuracy.

LLS

quote:

Originally posted by Peter:
Where do these fit in the pantheon of hunting bullets? Are they just for thin skinned game? The 150's seem to shoot quite well in my 7x57
Peter.

They work very well on whitetails. The only other animal I have shot with them is a Javalinas and both I shot went right down. I did have a streak going where I shot 15 out of 16 white tail one shot bang flop kills the only one that didn't I hit 5 times in close cover and he got about 200 yards but that wasn't the bullets fault. The caliber is 7-08, very close to your 7x57

BT's in hunting calibers are the best bullets made for whitetails if impact velocity is less than 3000 fps. Go with the accubonds for impact velocities above 3000 or for elk, etc.

BT's are my go to bullet for whitetail.

Prairie Dogs is all I will use them on.

I have mixed feels with the BT. I had them work well, and not so well, So I don't use them any longer. For Deer and Antelope, the Sierra Gameking, works for me.

6.5 SWEDE.

Balistic tips will work very well on thin skinned game(deer etc)provided impact velocity is kept below about 2800 fps.

I've never had a problem with their lethality. The only problem I've had is the amount of meat damage that they do. Shoot a whitetail at 200 yds or less in the shoulder with 270, 7 mag or 30-06 and you're going to lose a quarter to bloodshot meat.
GWB

I loaded some 165gr for my M-700 .30-06 and I could not find a load that would shoot those bullets accurately, yet the much cheaper Hornady 165gr BTSP will print MOA 5-shot groups out of that rifle.

That M-700 is the only rifle I have ever tried them in and based on that experience, the last...

I have used 150, 165, and in Winchester factory ammo the 168gr Ballistic Silver Tip in 308 on deer, antelope and on a few hogs with excellent results.

I have shot a few antelope with the 165gr Ballistic Tip in the 300 WBY Mag, it did knock BIG holes in them.

And I have killed 2 pigs with factory Remington 180 Ballistic Tips in a 300 Win Mag.

They have always been very accurate for me, in factory or handloads.

I would not use them for elk sized game.

quote:

Originally posted by Geedubya:
I've never had a problem with their lethality. The only problem I've had is the amount of meat damage that they do. Shoot a whitetail at 200 yds or less in the shoulder with 270, 7 mag or 30-06 and you're going to lose a quarter to bloodshot meat.
GWB

I have shot deer in the shoulder with other bullets and lost a quarter to bloodshot meat also. No need to hit the shoulder put the bullet right behind the shoulder in the ribs. No meat to lose thats worth saving there.

good target bullet , but i'll not hunt with em, to each their own. regards

Works well on Antelope/whitetail


Had a 200gr Ballistic Tip fail on me at 75 yards on a large feral hog from my .338wm. Shot was right where I wanted it and lost the animal with minimal blood trail...I do not think it even entered the body cavity

Have dropped many a whitetail with them though and will continue to do so, but I do not plan on using them on game above 200lb anymore

Jacobite,

Maybe I should have phrased my reply differently. I started out years ago reloading nosler ballistic tips exclusively. 15 years and and over a hundred hogs and whitetails later I find nosler ballistic tips as well as hornady sst's to be more frangible and consequently do more meat damage than say partitions, interbonds or tsx's. I typically shoot hogs behind the ear and does in the neck or head. Very little damage to the portions that I like to eat.
GWB

Ballistic tips are very accurate, but should be used at lower velocity on game around 180 lbs or less and thin skinned. They become extremely frangible at 3000 fps, at 3,400 they tend to explode on paper targets. People have downed elk, hogs, etc. but their reliability on game that size is iffy. Accubonds, interlocks, corelocks, etc or any of the super premiums are good for elk and the like.

John

quote:

Originally posted by Big Bore Boar Hunter:
Ballistic tips are very accurate... but should be used at lower velocity on game around 180 lbs or less and thin skinned. They become extremely frangible at 3000 fps, at 3,400 they tend to explode on paper targets. People have downed elk, hogs, etc. but their reliability on game that size is iffy. Accubonds, interlocks, corelocks, etc or any of the super premiums are good for elk and the like.

John

No, they are usually very accurate...

The way they sprayed painted the target, out of my M-700, I know that it all depends on the gun. I thought I had a problem with my scope or mounts. Nothing worked: IMR-4064, IMR-4381 and of course IMR-4350, the .30-06 standard powder.

So I loaded some of the underrated Hornady BTSP Interlock, and the problem was solved immediately (to my great relief). I can get 1" 5-shot groups out of it, with those.

In my opinion the Nosler Accubond has pretty much bested the Ballistic Tip in every regard. Those are extremely accurate in every caliber I have tried them in and they are about the next best thing to the Nosler Partition for terminal performance, plus reasonable price.

The other bullet that is superior to the Nosler Ballistic in my experience is the Sierra GameKing. It is more accurate and has just as good terminal performance.

IMHO, there is NOT a better bullet for thin-skinned game in any 2500-2900 fps-class cartridge. I've used the 150gr version exclusively in my 7mm-08 and wouldn't think of switching. What's more, I've never owned a rifle that wouldn't shoot NBT's under an inch with dilligent hand loading.

If you like bang-flops and don't have a dog at hand when hunting evenings close to thick cover, they are very good and cheap bullets. If you hit a leg (which I try to avoid) they make a mess I don't like because we either sell or eat our game.

When hit behind the front legs with a Partition, they tend to go some meters but are usually easy to find and basically no meat is destroyed.

Where I do like the BT for all our game are reduced loads from the .338 WM, at 2400 FPS for a 200 grain bullet (if I remember well), it behaves exactly as it should, kills well and destroys very little meat.

Most of the BTs I have seen in use were 130-140s out of a .270 and 140s out of a .280. No issues taking deer sized game with them. The earlies version seemed to be a bit more fragile, but the ones I've used in the last several years have gone straight through including several on pigs at close range. Couple years ago I was in camp where a guy took a moose with a .300 RUM shooting 180s. The bullet went through the rib cage and was nicely mushroomed in the offside hide.

-Lou

quote:

Originally posted by Demonical:

No, they are usually very accurate...

The way they sprayed painted the target, out of my M-700, I know that it all depends on the gun. I thought I had a problem with my scope or mounts. Nothing worked: IMR-4064, IMR-4381 and of course IMR-4350, the .30-06 standard powder.

So I loaded some of the underrated Hornady BTSP Interlock, and the problem was solved immediately (to my great relief). I can get 1" 5-shot groups out of it, with those.

In my opinion the Nosler Accubond has pretty much bested the Ballistic Tip in every regard. Those are extremely accurate in every caliber I have tried them in and they are about the next best thing to the Nosler Partition for terminal performance, plus reasonable price.

The other bullet that is superior to the Nosler Ballistic in my experience is the Sierra GameKing. It is more accurate and has just as good terminal performance.

Sounds like you had a bad rifle bullet combo for sure. I have loaded BT's in 308, 30-06, 7mm Rem Mag, 270 , 300 win mag, 223, and 243. I hadn't had any fail to print sub MOA. I would agree with the interlocks as being underated, and the accubonds are good performers, but the game kings don't have the best record.

I really think most people who comdemn a Ballistic Tip, really don't understand their optimum velocity ranges....

The Ballistic Tip is IDEAL for the 7 x 57 Mauser, because a B/Tips opitmal max MV is 2700 fps...to 2800 with the 120 BTip..

They will also open up at pretty low impact velocity...much moreso than many other bullets, premium and non premium...

People use them in applications where they push the bullet too hard, and end up the same explosive performance that you would see when used on varmints... explosive but not deep penetration...

However, even the varmint ones, when slowed down to an MV of 2700, one would be highly surprised with how much they penetrate thru media and to how low a velocity... anyone who calls BS on that statement, is also telling me that they haven't personally tested it...

I found out by accident, as I wasn't expecting it.. but that is exactly what I found, and extensive testing in a variety of calibers played it out, with the same results...

And why I HIGHLY agree with Stonecreek and VapoDog 99.9 % of the time.. this is one time I will have to deviate from their analysis of BTips on Elk....

Many guys will tell you that BTips suck on Elk, except at ranges of 350 to 400 yds and beyond...

Well what kind of Velocity are they doing at that distance?? Fact is, the core will stay together pretty darn well at lower velocity...

I have reported many times on here, of by default ( as the 16 yr old forgot the ammo at home, even tho he said he had it packed at least a dozen times... all we had for an 06 was 165 grain Ballistic Tips, with an MV of 2250s fps.. it was either hunt for the two days we had drawn or go home... we elected to hunt....)

30 minutes into the morning, in a group of cows running past us at about 175 yds, we shot a large one that in the end was 11yrs old and weighed 650 lbs on the hoof.....

The shot was placed behind the shoulder... the cow ran about 60 yds, like it had never been hit and then collapsed..

on field cleaing it, it had been shot on its right side... the BTip went into the right lung and put a half dollar sized hole in the lung, it can out the inside of the right lung turning an area about the size of my fist into hamburger...

it then cut the esophagus in half, enter the inside of the left lung, producing an area about 1.5 times the size of my ifst into hamburger, and then exited out the left lung, thru the top of the liver, and was bulged under the far side hide... the far left lung and the upper half of the liver, were pretty much like a bowl of spaghetti....

Then cow running another 60 yds considering the damage down internally by the B/Tip was pretty amazing....

When using a Ballistic Tip, to MVs of 2700, and limiting your range accordingly to its useful Teminal velocity range.. between 2700 to 1500 fps... it will serve you very well....

When you get into the velocity ranges of 2200 fps and lower, a Ballistic Tip will outpenetrate a Partition any day....

However, if you shoot them faster than 2700 fps MV, and their impact velocity is high, they will either produce shallow penetration on larger aniamls.. and on smaller ones, will produce a lot of blood shot meat, especially on the far shoulder...

But a 140 grain Ballistic Tip, with an MV of 2700 fps is exactly what I have loaded and ready to go for my 7mm Mauser, in my Win Featherweight...and I am using that ocmbo for Bear season starting this month.....and I am not undergunned in the least...

In my experience, BTs are usually very accurate but too frangible for my liking, producing too much blood-shot meat on close range shots. The only poly-tipped cup & core bullets I use are V-Maxes for varmint hunting (where I want explosive disintergration).

I use Hornady Interlocks in my "medium rifles" and found they were quite accurate, dispatching animals without excessive meat damage and are inexpensive. For loads generating muzzle velocities over 2800-2900 fps or where larger/tougher game is being hunted, I use Nosler Partitions for more controlled expansion and increased penetration.

For the hunting I do, I don't need more expensive premium bullets or extreme expansion of poly-tips and will continue to stick to Interlocks and Partitions for NA game. To each their own.

quote:

Originally posted by seafire/B17G:
I really think most people who comdemn a Ballistic Tip, really don't understand their optimum velocity ranges....

EXACTLY! If I didn't read it somewhere, I was going to post it.

If used properly, the btip is an optimal bullet for deer sized game and under. Example: In my 270, I pushed the 150 at 2650-2700 fps, the 140 at about 2750-2800 and the 130 at about 2900 top end. Most all of my shots were less than 150 yards. Never had a problem.

I wish Nosler had done a better job and reporting this to the public.

I think some of the problems are when you get a guy with a 300 WM, and loads up the 125 or 150 Btip with Re22, and trys for the max velocity achievable, then hunts in south, shoots a 90 pound Doe at 35 yards and wonders, "what happened?"

Gidday Guys,

Doc and Seafires experiences mirror mine exactly and these are two guys who talk a lot of sense.

Happy Hunting

Thanks gentlemen! You have answered my question!
Peter.

Optimum velocity range applies to all bullets.

What is important is IMPACT velocity [assuming the muzzle velocity is not to high for the construction of the bullet.]

The Ballistic Tip might even be your best choice in a 30/378 WBY mag IF you were shooting at long range where the impact velocity was in the correct zone.

quote:

Optimum velocity range applies to all bullets.

What is important is IMPACT velocity [assuming the muzzle velocity is not to high for the construction of the bullet.]

The Ballistic Tip might even be your best choice in a 30/378 WBY mag IF you were shooting at long range where the impact velocity was in the correct zone.

Finally, someone who really understands the Nosler Balistic tip. Sir, you are correct and win the prize. Lol, Well Said.

quote:

Originally posted by N E 450 No2:
Optimum velocity range applies to all bullets.

What is important is IMPACT velocity [assuming the muzzle velocity is not to high for the construction of the bullet.]

Unfortunately, in the real world of hunting, we have no control over exact impact velocity, even though what you say is true.

MV, OTOH, we can control. With that, we can at least establish an acceptable impact velocity range and hope that the application falls within that range.

I'm not a fan of the BT's on anything above Varmits. Poor performance (rapid expansion) on larger game IMHO. Accubonds beat the hell out of them. I've never been impressed with the BT's on penetration. LDK