does anyone use 85 or 87 grain bullets for hunting deer? ive herd so much on the 115s and 120s, but nothing on anything smaller for deer.im thinking, with the balistic tips and how they explode on impact, should work fine on deer. thanks

I've got buddy that shoots a 25-300win mag which is about the same thing as the 257Wby maybe a little hotter.
He is getting better than 4000fps with the 85gr Nosler Balistic tips which is the soft core thin jacket ones that are for varmints , he has hit a small doe high in the neck with one , their was only one wound that was about 6" in diameter and just about all the way through the neck.
He shoots the 100gr balistic tips for deer hunting and they still blow up realy bad , if he hits anything but the ribs or gut the bullet just craters the meat.
Unless the range is gonna be a little farther off and give the bullet time to slow down then I believ your gonna get bad penitration with anything but bonded core bullets and solids.

pigwacker480,

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im thinking, with the balistic tips and how they explode on impact, should work fine on deer.

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Why would you want a bullet that explodes on contact like Ballistic Tips? Do yourself and the animals you shoot a favor and stay with bullets 100 grain or better. Stay away from Ballistic Tips all together. They break up on ribs more time than they penetrate. Don't be fooled by that slick looking boat tailed design. For varmints they're great, for deer size and larger they don't work. I tried them in many different calibers and different grains and the story was the same. Go with a good penetrating bullet like the Partition. Lawdog

thanks dog. thats seems to be the general opinion. im lookin at the berger 115s. maybe hornady? the ballistic tips do work great though 300yds.and over. i can contest to that. the 150 noslers in the 30 cal.that is............ive tried the partitions,cant get good groups.

pigwacker480,

Sometimes you have to play around with the seating depths on Partitions like you do with Barnes X bullets to get good accuracy. I find this especially true in high velocity cartridges, like Weatherby's. Lawdog

The factory 100gr soft points worked very well for me. For deer, that would be one of my first picks.

[ 08-20-2003, 05:39: Message edited by: Nebraska ]

Pigwacker I tried Noslers and just about every other bullet as well and had terrible groups. The 120 gr Hornady HP will group into an inch at 200 yds in my rifle. It is the only bullet I can get to group.

Thanks snowman.Ive had good luck with hornadys also.I just ordered a box of the 117 gr. SST. We will see how they do. Thanks for your input. Piggy................

pigwacker480,

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I just ordered a box of the 117 gr. SST. We will see how they do.

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I really wish you the best of luck with the SST's or even Ballistic Tips in your .257 Weatherby. I tried them and all they did was start breaking up on impact with a bone as small as a rib. Accurate yes but accuracy isn't everything. They just don't want to hold up under the velocities that the Weatherby deals out. They didn't even work in my .25-06. Almost lost three nice bucks and a large wild boar using them. With SST’s and Ballistic Tips the old saying fits, Speed Kills.......THE BULLET THAT IS, not the game. Lawdog

Why not give the 100gr Barnes bullets a try. Won't blow up on impact, pentrates great, has a high BC. With the X-Bullet you basically get 100grs in, and 100grs out. Just my 2 cents of course.
Personally, I have yet to shoot them, got two boxes waiting to be shot, but have to find the time. Personally I now shoot the Hornady 117gr Light Magnum loads using the Interlock bullets. I don't handload, so I shoot facotry ammo. I don't think the Interlock will hold together at the Weatherbys velocity. I may be wrong, which happens from time to time.

Let us know what you finally decide on.

The 100 gr Hornady will work fine for deer. It is designed to operate at velocities up to 3600 fps (according to the manual). In addition to my more limited experience, I know of others who had good results with this bullet up to 3800 fps on whitetail.

Thunderstick,

No offence but don't believe everything they put in manuals. Like Ballistic Tips the faster you drive them the faster they break apart. The lightest I would go with Hornady would be their 117 grain BTSP. Lawdog

I'm just getting ready to try the Barnes Triple Shock 100's in my .257 Wby. these should give all kinds of penetration and I think they'll drop deer in their tracks. We have a bunch of doe tags available, so I'll give them a good test this fall.

Lawdog, not sure if I asked you before, but what is your opinion of the Swift Scirocco for mule deer on down? They are supposed to hold together better than a ballistic tip. In general, I agree with your comments, but on larger size calibers, such as a 30-06, dont you think the ballistic tip would perform ok on deer?

Well, I tried some RL-22 behind my Nosler 100gr Partitions. Another crappy load. I can't get these NPs grouping to save my life. All I'm asking for is 1MOA. I'm going back to the Sierra 100s and 117s with some RL-22 and see how they do. I'll let you know how they do.

Hold on now. Did you try IMR 7828 in your 257? Are you using a Lee Collet die on fireformed brass? If your full length sizing it will open up your groups. It will shoot with partitions and 7828.

The 100 grain Hornadys not only are designed for velocities up to 3600, but in the field they actually work very well on deer size game, even in a 257 Weatherby.

[ 09-25-2003, 19:45: Message edited by: Thunderstick ]

AggieDog,

I have tried Swift Scirocco's but couldn't get them to group worth a darn. Tried every load anyone would suggest and the best group I got was just under 2". They looked so good too. I found the Ballistic Tips work best under the 2,900 fps. mark no matter what the caliber. Go over that mark and the bullets start breaking apart. When a 100 grain BT out of my .257 Weatherby near cuts a Jack Rabbit into two pieces at 160 yards then to me that means it's way to light for a deer size critter. Lawdog

My .257 Wby likes 70 grains of RL-22, Fed 215M primer and 115 or 120 grain Nosler Partition bullets. The load is about 3450 to 3500 fps, and is deadly on Deer sized animals. It also likes 110 grain Berger Moly, and 115 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips, the former sometimes breaking up. The 100 grain Barnes XLC is a screamer at 3750, but doesn't put them in one hole like the others mentioned. Good shooting.

Im going with hornadys 117 gr. sst. loaded with 64 gr. of RL25,fed. 215 primers, giving me a velocity of 3000 fps.which is plenty fast enough.1/2 inch groups at 100 yds.If your shooting something under 200 yds.with balistic tips,you should slow them down a bit.Im shooting a t/c encore made by mike at On Target Tecnologies.(the barrel) happy shooting Pigwacker480