What is a minimum striking velocity for good expansion on big game? Take deer sized animals and then a larger animal group please.

Specific bullets that I have in mind would be the .277" 140 gr Accubond and the .308" 150 gr Ballistic Tip.

Savage,
Check out:

http://noslerreloading.com/phpbb2/index.php

Once your impact vel. drops much below 1800fps or so, expansion will suffer (i've tested them in 7mm on wetpack). Choosing between the 2, I would bet on the NBT.

try these...f.i.v. down to 1700 fps...north fork are the best there is

i like the nosler partitions for higher velocity to get the grenade affect

http://www.northforkbullets.com/270-150.htm

The North Fork site provide pics of how their bullets expand at differing velocities. As a rule of thumb you can expect ideal expansion between 2,100 and 2,200 fps for controlled expansion bullets. Ideal expansion according to me is where a bullet retains the highest weight and and is not over-expanded. It differs slightly for different brands and the windows also differ a bit, but generally if you follow my guideline for controlled expansion bullets you will do fine. For conventional lead core bullets it is lower - around 1,900 fps impact velocity.

Hope this helps.
Chris

Nosler states 1600 is the minimum velocity for the BT but most people say that 1800 is more like it for good expansion. The all time champ might be the Scirocco which can also mushroom well over double caliber because it's bonded. http://www.swiftbullets.com/sirocco_intro.html

I hope that I don't do this as I am analizing 7mm and 308 bullets at this time. In the past I wanted as rapid expansion as I could get using hunting bullets at non-mag speeds with a max distance of 300yds. My thought is that if most of the energy is dumped into the animal it can't go far. I'm talking about deer and behind the shoulder shots. It seems to me that the SST/BTs are the best for this. They open dramaticaly at terminal speeds between 2700-22000fps. I have't experience any slower speeds than that. I now hunt more pigs and still want the 'explosiveness' of the BT/SSTs, but want a little more penetration for the hogs that I kill. I now am experimenting with the Partition. I can say that it opens, but holds together down to about 2100fps. I for one wish that they would make it even softer in the nose section. That is about as slow as I have experience with. If my non mags can hold that velocity too 300yds, some to 400yds, that seems about as far as anyone ought to be shooting anyway. No burn intended, just my $.02. capt david