ORIGINAL: scott26
Often I come across threads speaking poorly of ballistic tips. Normally the thread goes something like "It didint penetrate" or "It exploded on contact" or something to that effect.
My limited experience with them goes like this......
Two years ago on the same hunting trip, my brother and I killed two deer the same day. I killed a doe which was shot at about 50 yds with a .308 150grain BT. Broadside shot bullet entered about three inches behind the shoulder exited the same opposite side. Entrance and exit hole were the same about the size of a dime. Both lungs were punctured and a piece of rib apparently sliced the trachea in half. She ran about 20 yards then expired.
My brother killed a buck about 200lbs on the hoof. Broadside shot with a 270 wsm BT behind the shoulder. 100 yard distance. Shot the deer again a little further back after it ran about 10 yards then stopped to look at him. Exits and entrance holes looked the same. Deer ran 100 yards before expiring. Minimal bleeding from both deer.
My experience with them (granted little) has been opposite of what I usually see written in the posts. These bullets seemed to not expand at all. I was hoping to hear from others who use them or have used them about there experiences on deer size game. I would still like to use them because they in that rifle are the most accurate but also want a bullet to perform reliably as well. Thanks.
Scott
The real key here is what did the internal organs (lungs, heart, etc.) look like? I have seen the same kind of entrance and exit wounds on critters from deer, black bear and elk to moose caused by Nosler PARTITION bullets. However, internal damage was just amazing! One 300-pound bear I shot once with a 150-grain Nosler Partition bullet from a .270 WIN. had nothing remaining in front of the diaphragm but a bloody soup with pieces of lung tissue the size of a quarter floating in it. The entrance wound (just aft of the last rib on the left, quartering forward to right front) washard to find, and the bullet ended up under the skin on the right front paw after breaking his right front leg twice getting there.
The only deer I ever shot with a BT was with a 120-grain in 7X57mm. Made the worst mess of the front half of a deer I ever saw. Switched to 150-grainers, but never killed another deer with a BT.....