This may be the rifle/load combo of choice for my whitetail hunting this fall.

Does anyone have any field experience with this combination? As usual, there are conficting opinions as to wheter this is a good whitetail load because of the design of the 125 partition for higher velocities of the faster 6.5's.

Is the velocity of the 260 too slow for this bullet?

What about field experience with Nosler's 120 BT??

cwilson

no personal experience, but asked a similar question over on shooters.com, and all replies were positive toward the .260 rem for deer and antelope.

as to partition vs. ballistic tip, i would choose the partition, personally. i am a little jittery about b-tips, althogh i have heard many good things about them when used within their design parameters. for what it's worth, a 120-140-grain spitzer would be much less expensive and quite ideal for your purposes, but i can also understand your wanting to experiment.

The 260 to slow for the 125 Nosler .....Nope

It is a good pick for the 260. I would stay away from the 120 Ballistic Tip. If you get a short range shot they can give you some unstable performance.Good pick for varmints and deer out past 100, 150 yards though..
The load that I have for my kids to shoot is a real mild(low velocity)load with a 129 Interlock.I am still using the Interlock due to the cost,they are cheaper for the kids to practice with. As to how the load takes game,It works well. I have yet to have it not shoot though Whitetails,Hogs and Desert Mule Deer. I dont see the need to speed up a load thats really works on game and shoots sub .500 groups at 100...
If you have a accurate load with the 125 Partition that is above 2800/2900 fps it should work very well on Whitetail Deer.

Two Sixty:

What kind of bad performance have you had with the 120 grain Nosler?? You must have a rifle with a 1 in 9 twist. A one in 8 will stabilize this bullet just fine.

I have had great luck, and it does not appear you are shooting it at Warp Speed.

use any 120-140 grain bullet you want.....dead deer are dead deer. They all taste the same.

cwilson

I shot a roebuck last week with the 125 partition out of my 6.5x55. MV was 2650 fps, range 70 yards. The bullet entered the deer at the base of the neck then travelled down one backstrap . It ended up wedged against the top of the pelvis. It had opened up fully back to the web, no problems at these low velocities.

Thanks for the input everyone. I think I'll try them this season and see how it goes.

cwilson

cwilson:

I asked the same question over in the "Small Calibers" forum:

http://www.nookhill.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=17;t=001239

260:

Back off your velocity to about 2750 or so, and at that damage from Ballistic Tips will go away.

The expansion comes down where it does its job without exploding inside the animal, and making a royal mess of everything.

My wife currently shoots a 260 AI. Her sole load for antelope,whitetail and muledeer has been the 120 Nosler BT at 3050fps. She has taken small Alabama does,NM antelope bucks and Montana whitetail and muleys,weights from approx 80lbs up to 175+,from 50yds to 342 measured yds all with the 120 Nosl BT. All without a single "failure" or blowup. As a side note,I have been using the 120BTs in the 6.5 Lazz at 3100,the 120 BT in 7mm at 3230 in a 7-08 AI,the 130BT in 270 and the 150 BT in 30 cal and last year the 200gr BT in 338 for a decent 5x5 elk.
Most of these shots impacted major bone and an exit wound occurred in everyone,even the buck at 342 yds. We use them with complete confidence in any caliber over 6.5. My only complaint with a BT has come using them on deer at close range in 24 and 25 cal,thus the reason I switched to the larger calibers and my personal preference for not using anything smaller than 6.5 for deer and above. I have taken caribou with the 115 25 cal from a 25-06 at approx 80yds with complete penetration but had the same bullet come apart on a Ga 6pt at about 30yds.
Long story short,I believe the BTs in calibers 6.5 and over are built with a heavier jacket than those in 24 and 25,at least my field experience indicates that is the case. Steve Timm of Varmit Hunter Mag did a story on the 260 AI about two years ago and indicated that the 120 and even the 100 BT were about perfect for the 260 for deer and above.

BO

I've shot 2 deer with the 140 gr. Nosler, and it worked great @ 2600 fps. One whitetail at 40 yards, and one mule deer at 150 yards. I'd think the 125 gr. would be just as good or better, due to the higher velocity.

I would think the 120 gr. Ballistic Tip would work great on deer, but only if you avoid heavy bone and bad angles.

Forget that drivel about the 125 being to "hard" for .260 speeds. Nosler claims the partition series will expand reliably well under 2000 fps. I have loaded that bullet down to 2500 fps at the muzzel for my sister's 260, and the results are still dramatic. It looks like a bomb went off in the chest cavity.

IMHO you can't do better for whitetail than the 260 with the 125 partition.

Gabe