marc357
Nice shot for 10' wurth of hold over -that deer must have been just barely in the glass? Or you have some huge lens on your scope. What was your zero range 400 or 500 yds?

POP
That's right off the Nosler site.

It should be pretty obvious- if you take the plastic tips out of a ballistic tip or any of the copies it's just a big huge hollow point. Of course it's going to blow up- duh..
One thing about BTs- they're almost as accurate as MatchKings- which is what I really think they were designed for- punchin' paper. If you're going to shoot an animal you are much better served with the Partition! Use the appropriate bullet for the job.
In regards to the 808yd shot- Hey if you can make the shot- more power to you. Gunny Carlos Hathcock- one of the top snipers in Vietnam shot a pre64WinModel70 in 30.06. He says in his book that he kept his rifle zeroed at 700yds- which is the distance to target that he tried to get to before making his shot. The Army considers the 308 a 700yd round and most everybody that competes for the WimbeltonCup at Camp Perry(1000yds) is shooing a 308 (yeah Hathcock won it with a 300WinMag) the year before he went to Nam but in Nam he shot 30.06.

Thank you, I must admit it was rather satisfying. I was using my Shepherd V-1 6x18x40 scope. Had the magnification cranked to 18x.

With the Shepherd, you just zero @ 100yds, then use the circles below the main crosshair for your holdover.

The 180 Ballistic Tip shoots flatter than the scope. (it is perfectly calibrated for a 180 or 200 Partition, though)

I have circles out to 1000yds, but with the BT, the circles are good for- 220, 330, 440, 550, 660, 770, 880, 990- and my 1000yd circle will get me 1100yds.

For 808yds I used the 700yd circle (770 yds) and held at the top of his back. There was almost NO wind, so I just held a bit left to counter the spin drift (8-10 inches?)

So I was holding about 155 inches high. I probably would not have taken the shot if there had been any (detectable) wind. Holdover is just simple math- doping the wind is my weak point, and accounts for more misses than anything else, I think. Nothing lots of practice won't cure, though!

marc

Try a 160 accubond at 3200 fps and call it a day!

I use only 140gr bullets in my 7mmstw's.The new 140gr accubonds will be available this spring and should be great in the 7mmstw.

I remain a fan of the Ballistic Tip for deer hunting with moderate cartridges. However, a few weeks ago I had an experience that shocked and puzzled me.

My rifle is a Remington Model 700 Stainless Synthetic Mountain Rifle in .30-06. My load pushes a 165-grain Ballistic Tip out at approximately 2,800 f.p.s. I was hunting on Texada Island and got a "Texas Heart Shot" on a tiny Sitka Blacktail (live weight less than 80 pounds) standing at the edge of a logging road, about 30 yards away. I mean, as controversial as this type of shot is, a .30-06 should be more than up to the task on a tiny animal, right?

Texada Island is dense, coastal rainforest.

After the shot, the deer gently started to trot off the logging road and into the jungle. Examination of the shooting site revealed nothing. Extended search on hands and knees revealed one tiny drop of blood on a twig. Thus began a search through the dense jungle. Fortunately, my best friend was with me, and he is such a phenomenal animal tracker -- he's practically psychic. This was good, because once in the bush, the place was full of fresh deer tracks. This was a major crossing area.

After about 20 minutes of searching, he called me over and we found a stomach lying in the dirt. We redoubled our efforts and continued to search over logs, under leaves, around trees -- everywhere. Presently, we found about 5 feet of intestine. More searching revealed another section of intestine about five minutes later. In all of this, no blood anywhere. After another piece of intestine, we finally found the deer down near a pool of water.

The entrance hole was exactly where I sent it: at the base of the tail. When I flipped this little buck over, I was shocked to discover an oval-shaped exit hole FULLY 12 INCHES IN DIAMETER running along the right side, from the flank to halfway up the ribs. I estimate that this deer travelled over 300 yards with that injury, over obstacles, under branches around trees -- all the while literally dropping its organs out onto the ground. Significantly, the upper chest (heart, lungs, etc.) had not been touched by the bullet, which had exited blowing out 3 of the lower ribs on the right side.

I don't know whether to call that bullet performance spectacular failure or devastation. I guess it's proof positive that you're in DEEP trouble unless you hit the heart or lungs. The story had a happy ending, but I was disturbed by this incident. Would a tougher bullet have done better on that shot? How could you do better than a 12-inch exit hole?

We've had more than one instance of quality bullets turning after impact. I think its the occasional freak instance, not a faulty bullet design as it happens with different brands.

P-17
I would say this is a testimony not to take that kind of shot, that being said it sounds like the bullet clipped a bone and changed direction. I have heard plenty on how the BT doesn't do well when hitting bone. So if anything is to be learned here is to take board side shots or slightly quartering away into the Heart/lungs only with the BT. Which by the way is what type of shot we should be striving to get anyway.