ORIGINAL: ShatoDavis
Are you folks sure those are the exit wounds?
I had a similar experience the one and only time I used Ballistic tip bullets in my 280. The only difference was that the wound was on the entry side with no exit wound at all. I shot a doe in the ribs and a hole the size of a basket ball exploded. It was pathetic performance and I never used BT's for anything but varmints from then on.
ironically i have a very similar experience.... 150 gr NBT.... 280 rem... from a ridge so i was elevated by about 60 feet... horizontal distance was 125 yds and i DO NOT LOAD HOT in my reloads... shot her at a quartering away angle... BT hit a rib... turned parallel to the deer's body and traveled all of the way to the shoulder... clipped EVERY rib on the way and split open the left lung... i never found more than some bits and pieces of bullet... i reckon most of it was in the lung.... she stumbled 30 yds and was dead before she it the ground... entrance wound in the hide, i could put my fist through it... a very sickening feeling when you are gutting and later caping it out... but i guess it did its intended job... just not with much finesse...
From that point on it was Partitions period in the 280 for big game... and i have not regretted it for a minute... performance on whitetail has been exemplary
the BT is just way too volitile for my liking especially in smaller calibers... i've shot other deer with them before and they've worked, ok i guess... as an example i took a doe at 50 yds broadside and the bullet passed right through and buried in a tree... but the exit hole... was again about 3 inches across...
On another front i have hunted most of my life with an older gentleman who uses a 243.. when i was a teenager there used to be debates amongst us about which caliber was the best blah blah blah... 243 is too small and fragile... blah blah blah.... he took home a deer (or two) every year... the 243 has NO issue killing.... but the mess it leaves is undeniable..
i will say that i do enjoy shooting the NBT's from my 35 Whelen AI... for deer it is just about right... Partitions are pricy and honestly they are a bit "Tough" for a whitetail in that caliber... just pass through but do a good job killing.... the NBT does a very good job also as it is a bit more heavily constructed and creates a nice wound channel but doesn't destroy on as grand a scale as the 243 or smaller caliber BT's... but alas it is NLA and i'll have to go back to the drawing board with the accubond when it actually hits the shelves...
JMHO
JR