ballistic tips
 

This eveing, i became even more impressed with a product that i already love. I shot a hog at about 200 yards with my 7mm rem mag. What impressed me so much is that i shot him in the head with a ballistic tip. I was expecting it to fragment rapidly and not come out the other side. Quite the contrary! The shot went in about an inch below the ear and blew a hole about the size of a baseball out the opposite side! I have shot a few deer with the same rifle with same bullet and been very well pleased, but this just blew me away. I thought that ballistics tips were disgned to rapidly expand and usually did not penetrate through extremely tough bone and tissue (like that of a hog). Any doubts about a ballistic tips having penetration abilites just went out the window.

RE: ballistic tips
 

I have shot them in my 30-06 they are good but not good enough to spend the extra money on factory shells. My handloaded partitions shoot way better groups!

RE: ballistic tips
 

Blew you away...how do you think that hog feels?! :D;)[8D]

Mike

RE: ballistic tips
 

I've used them for several years on whitetail deer and couldn't be happier with their performance.

RE: ballistic tips
 

OUCH--:)--nadda thing now;)

srry couldnt resist!!

RE: ballistic tips
 

My buddy swears by them. I tried Federal Premium 130gr Ballistic Tips in my 7mm RM and it just didn't like them.I was getting about a 3.5" group.I bought several boxes of BT Bullets if I ever get around to loading them up,hopefully I'll find a load it likes. Same rifle using 150gr Rem Core Lokts shooting 1"-1.25" groups.

Ruger Redhawk

RE: ballistic tips
 

Ruger are you sure??? As Nosler does not make a 130 gr BT in a .284- just 120, 140 or 150. Federal Premium only load the 140 and 150 NBT versions.

The NBT is my deer/loper bullet it has proved both accurate and effective on everything I have shot with it!

RE: ballistic tips
 

I have used 150 Btips (7mm rem mag) on 2 caribou and 2 antelope and was surprised how well they held up on the caribou. Some guys on this forum have used them successfully on elk and moose also. so for deer, go ahead.

RE: ballistic tips
 

Yea, this is one bullet that have been given a real bad rap by the internet and shows you that you should believe none what you hear, and take it for entertainment value. After investigation, these bullet failures have mostly been myth or hear say.

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RE: ballistic tips
 

Whats funny is i have met two guys who have reported a bullet failure, and niether has ever loaded them or shot them. They just heard about it.

RE: ballistic tips
 

Isn't that how most rumors get started?? I have had good success using them in my 7mmMag and 7mm-08. Have not tried them in my .270 yet?? bigcountry any suggestions on a load for my .270??

RE: ballistic tips
 

My current 270 favorite is 130gr gameking, and 54gr of IMR4350 with Fed210 primer. I get 2940fps out of this, but my 270 is a semi and 22" barrel.

A very accurate load is 46gr of IMR4064 and 130gr Bullistic tip. But doesn't have the speed I am looking for. I load this for a friend who insists on it no matter what the speed cause in his mod70 featherlite, it gets subMOA groups. And that rifle is finicky. I was getting 2850fps out of this.

RE: ballistic tips
 

Recent reports on various hunting forums has me rethinking my decision to use the Barnes TSX on deer this year. Folks are reporting that they leave small exits with virtually no blood trail and that the deer run off and are hard to track. I've shot one deer so far with the 168 gr. TSX in my .300 Wby and it broke the spine causing the deer to drop instantly. Based on the reports though, I've lost some confidence with a shot through the ribs.

I've used the Ballistic Tip before and had good luck with it. Don't know why I thought it was necessary to switch to something more substantial. I guess it's just the nature of reloading to want to try different combinations. I think I'll revisit the Ballistic Tip loads that shot so well for me in the past.

RE: ballistic tips
 

Solitary, I am with ya. I have a load for my 300RUM with the 180gr TSX that gets .75MOA groups. I have this with the intention of Moose next year. But I read alot of those reports too and saw the pictures. Guess I will have to take out both those shoulders on moose:D. Seriously those reports I saw where where with 270s and 06's and 308's. I have to think the velocity of a Wthby or RUM would have to help them mushroom alot more. But I am little concerned. This load I worked up with the TSX was supposed to be my last load made for this 300RUM. Before I burned out hte barrel of this one like I did the old one.

So I worked up a H1000 load for 200gr accubonds. This will my load of choice next year. Probably won't make a difference, but I would rather the bullet overmushroomed then under.

RE: ballistic tips
 

bigcountry, I still feel good about the TSX load I worked up for my .300 Wby. I specifically wanted such a bullet due to the fact that close range shots are common for me and I believe a bullet this stout is needed in these situations.

However, in the .30-06 and 7mm mag there's no need for such a bullet I don't think. I shoot 165's in the 06' at about 2800 fps MV and in the 7mm mag I generally use 160's at about 2900 fps. BT's should perform fine for me in these rifles.

I worked up a 140 gr. TSX load for the 7mm mag (Sako) and it's really accurate, but with these reports I've read, I'm now having second thoughts about using it on whitetails. I am going to try it, though, to find out for myself.

RE: ballistic tips
 

Thanks for the info Bigcountry!!

RE: ballistic tips
 

Well, now I'm more confused. Over at one of the other forums I'm seeing reports of excellent performance from the Triple Shocks. John Barsness, the outdoor writer, reports 15 kills (deer, elk, caribou, etc...) using the TSX's with no problems whatsoever. Another poster says his family has taken 14 deer and 7 hogs with them and they've performed perfectly in all cases. Guess I'll go ahead and use them in the 7 mag and see what happens.

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RE: ballistic tips
 

I can tell you from personal experience that the Ballistic tips are great in calibers of .270 & above, but anything below that has proven for me to be marginal on deer sized game. I bought a .260 Remington 2 years ago and since I had been shooting BT ammo in my 300 Win Mag, I shot a 120 grain Remingon Premier BT rounds. The 1st deer I shot dropped in his tracks with a neck shot but the bullet didn't come out. On the 2nd deer I shot, I hit it right behnd the shoulder at 125 yards and I did not recover the deer until a couple days later. There was no blood trail to follow. After finding the deer, the bullet never exited the body cavity but literally "exploded and fragmented inside the deer, thus the lack of a blood trail. The entrance hole was not that large either. On the 3rd deer I shot with it, I hit a 7 point buck right behind the 3rd rib on a quartering away shot at 75 yards. There was a small amount of blood where I hit him and a little blood where I found him about 100 yards away, there was not a drop between those 2 points. Keep in mind, these are Texas hill country deer weighing about 100# field dressed so they are not large animals. Since then, I have switched to 125 grain Nosler Partitions with excellent performance.

RE: ballistic tips
 

I've loaded BT in several calibers and they all worked fine. I do see a trend in caliber/bullet weight. As the caliber increases so does the effectiveness and reliability. .270win and above are very reliable. 165's in a 300WSM are pure death on whitetails. In my .243 win they are a little tender, you gotta be careful.

RE: ballistic tips
 

PB1, why wouldn't you handload the NBT's they are actually 40-50% less than the NP's?

RE: ballistic tips
 

I like the hornady spire points, flat base. Rapid expansion, but holds together well for a non premium. They group as well, or better in my guns than ballistic tips.

RE: ballistic tips
 

I use them in a lot of calibers. The first thing I tried them in was my wife's 250-3000 It shot the 100 grain very well and performance on mule deer was very good. I had a little trouble with the early ones in my &mm Rem Mag. However Nostler revamped them a couple times and I have had no more problems. I do not load them as hot as I do regualr bullets and in all calbers they work best for me when kept under 2900 fps and 2700-2800 is even better. Just My Expierence. I love them.