Hi all

Just got a box O bullets for a rifle I dont have yet.....

I found a box of shells with 120 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips at a local Ammo Maker.

Just for the sake of getting some info on bullets.

Has anyone on the board used this particular bullet on deer and if so, how did it perform?

I am thinking of using a 100 to 120 grain bullet as I would rather have the velocity than the heaviest bullet for the caliber.

Thanks

Jim b.

I did the same thing about an hour ago. I am having the same thought as you about the velocity.I hope to get them going to about 2900+. I have not used ballistic tips for a long time on anything I wanted to eat. The 1st lot that I got when they started making them seemed to come apart really bad, leaving a LOT of bloodshot meat.
I hope to try them again this hunting season.

I have a 24 inch barrel on mine. I have no problem getting 2900-3000 fps with 129 grainers. If you go down to the 100 grainer you may want to use the 100 grain partition. If your into fast expanding light bullets you may have good luck with the 120 grain Sierra prohunter.
I love my 260. I have 3 little kids, and I think the 2 girls may end up with 260's of one kind or another. My oldest is 10 so she will be able to hunt in 2 years.

I haven't shot a deer with the 120 gr. Ballistic Tips, but have shot them in my Model 700 in 260. With H4831, my best 5 shot group was .61" @ 100 meters. That is darn good for a factory rifle. They should hold up good enough to take smaller deer easily, but use a tougher bullet for larger animals. Velocity should be 2950 fps or a little more with a 22" barrel and top handloads.

Why do you want the velocity? The 6.5's made there name through heavy bullets. High velocity isn't the answer. Use a 125 - 140 gr bullet and the rifle will do everything necessary. The benefit of light bullets is a myth. For whatever you gain in "flat trajectory" you give up twice as much in wind drift. Check out the ballistics on a 129 or 140 grain bullet at 260 velocities and you will find at "typical" hunting ranges, it doesn't give up much.

The 120 grain bullets do look appealing, however the 120 gr 6.5mm Nosler Ballistic Tip has not had a very good reputation. If they have "toughened" up the bullet it would be great. I'm not sure and don't see it worth the risk to find out. Try the new Hornady SS 129gr bullet. It's supposed to be a little tougher and has a little more weight to back it up.
John

Used them for 2-3 years in my 6.5x55 at 2,800fps. Excellent accuracy and very good terminal effect on fallow (ie white tail size)If you hit the shoulder it can make a bit of a hole BUT if you are a touch back or hit the lung missing all the ribs it still expands and does the job.

Quite a long bullet - might erode a bit of powder space. I now use the 100gr as I can't really tell the difference in terminal effect.

JP Terp - Have you got a 6.5? Have you tried the 120gr BT? From your post it would appear not.

[ 09-13-2002, 17:49: Message edited by: 1894 ]

I use the Ballistic Tip for almost all my deer hunting. I use a 257AI & a 257 Wby with the 115gr and a 7mm-08 with 140's. The deer and Antelope drop like lightning and a shot behind the shoulder doesn't ruin a bunch of meat. The 120's should work well in a 260.

1894
Yes, I have 6.5's. 260, 6.5x55, 6.5-06, 6.5 Gibbs and 264 WM.
No, I haven't tried the 120 BT's on game. They are great shooting bullets giving great groups, but I never saw a reason to use them in place of 140's. Perhaps it's because I don't like the destruction I've witnessed with other Ballistic Tip Bullets.
John

The 120 grain Ballistic Tip would seem to be the perfect match for the low-power .260. I watched my hunting partner take a whitetail with this bullet out of a .264 WM last fall. Results were as expected with a rib shot at 225 yards. Deer down within a few feet, hole in the ribs, severly trumatized organs.

If you regard lungs as meat, then yes much meat was spoiled. From what I know of the life support systems of large organisms like deer, if the bullet doesn't "spoil" something, then the deer is not likely to die either soon or close. A poorly expanding bullet often "spoils" the entire carcass by failing to allow its recovery.

Listen to 1894. He shoots for the market, so it would follow that he would hardly use a bullet which either excessively "spoiled meat" or allowed deer to escape after being struck. By the way, 1894, your fallows will average large than our whitetails in most places.

JP Terp,

Apologies in part.

Stonecreek,

My head is swelling as rapidly as a ballistic tip expands. On the other side of the coin Deerdogs, Griff and quite a few others do as I do and they can't abide Ballistic Tips. Deerdogs drove them to a muzzle velocity 250fps faster than I and Griff used varmint bullets (85gr ballistic silver tip) in a 25-06 and hates their cost.

I will own up the moment one of these erstwhile 'grenades' fails, thus far they haven't but they have certainly got me out of a hole or two with the extra expansion!

the two mature whitetail bucks i've killed the past two years with 120 gr NBTs in my 260 both shot right through the spines of each deer. messed up a little more backstrap than i would have liked, but not significantly more than other bullets in my experience (certainly not more than the buck i shot through the spine with my .44 mag)

The 120 Ballistic Tip is a great deer bullet. I have used it from 2500fps to 3000 fps depending on my choice of rifle and they have always performed perfectly. No deer ever took more than 3 steps. I use them exclusively in my 6.5-06AI.