WV Hunter

I have long believed that bullet performance is a vital key to success. I have always had very good luck loading and using Hornady Spire Point Interlock bullets. They perform perfectly everytime. I have taken game as close as 15yds, out to almost 200yds with great results. Thus...I have never really felt the need to try other bullets. All my loads use those.

Now the real reason for my post....my dad got a new .270 ADL in the spring, and finally got his Leupold on it and the trigger adjusted. I told him to work up some loads for it using some premium bullets (suggested Hornady' s) and see how it shot. Anyhow, he worked up some loads for it....and shot it over the weekend. Using 130 and 140 Nosler Ballistic tip bullets, his 5 shot groups averaged sub moa(around .85" ), and 3 shots averaged about .50" which is super IMO. My question is...how will these bullets do on whitetails? I was always under the impression that they were designed more for varmint type hunting. ??? I know how the partitions do...my buddy uses those, but I don' t know anyone that uses the Ballistic tips for deer personally.

It shot so good....I want to tell him that would be great to use on deer(see the pic below). Any advice (pros/cons/etc) from those of you that use Ballistic Tips would be appreciated Thanks!

BareBack Jack

I have used balitic tips in a 25-06 and .270 for deer they worked good.I' am going to use Winchesters 115 gr. Silver Tips this year for antelope and deer.I have always used Federal Nosler BT but they are getting spendy around 23.00/box were Winchesters are 18.00/box

muddywater

I have used 150 grain Ballistic Tips in my Rem 30-06. They did o.k. I never recovered any bullets so they must penetrate well. I think they should have caused more internal damage than they did. But they did kill every deer and hog I shot. Hogs fell on the spot, the deer however ran a little ways but I never had any problems following blood trails. In my opinion they seem to be better suited for heavier game than whitetails. But I subscribe to the notion that you can' t beat a well placed shot, no matter the make or the model of the bullet.
Shoot what groups.
Hope this helps!!

Pro-Line

WV Hunter... I used ballistic tips for a couple years in my 270. They were 130gr Winchesters. I lioved the accuracy, and the deer I shot with it went down. I didn' t care much for the penetration, though. I think I shot 4 deer with them, and each was shot behind the shoulder. I just wasn' t sure what would happen if I hit one directly in the shoulder.

The possibility of the bullet shattering before penetrating concerned me. Maybe somebody else can shed some light on that.

Vapodog

For whitetail deer, I' d stay with Hornady' s interlocks. Accuracy of 1/2" is equal to accuracy of 1.125" under hunting conditions. Within reason, don' t get carried away with accuracy unless you' re varmint hunting.

Nosler' s ballistic tip is a most controversial bullet. It sure works most of the time. I, however, want an exit wound.

Mark whiz

The Noslers will probably work fine for deer. However, I recently had a bad experience with them (or should I say their CT/Winchester counterparts) on hogs using my .308. Using a medium load at short ranges, I found that hogs hit in the shoulder or head caused the bullets to explode (shed their jackets) on contact. They left huge entry wounds & sub-caliber exit holes, which was the lead cores exiting, I assume. The animals went right down, but there is just something not right about seeing liver hanging out of a shoulder entrance wound !

Personally - I think the combination of high speeds, close ranges, & thick hides are bad for the BTs. For thin-skinned deer out past 50yds or so, they will probably be fine. But like others here, I really don' t trust them right now and are opting to use soft points for hunting

Wolf killer

Looks like your father found his deer hunting load.[:-] If I had a 270 that shot 130 grain Nosler BT' s that well, I would not even consider loading anything else for whitetails.
good luck,

James B

The nosler Ballistic tip has been redesighned several times. For a while they were to fragil to use at very high velocities. According to Nosler they are now desighned for big game in the big game calibers and more fragil in the varmit calibers. I would use them any time I expected shots of average range where I hunt which is 150-250 yards. For close range or If I had any thought of close range shooting I would stay with the Hornady or Partition bullets. Of course you can,t go wrong with the Barnes X bullets for all type of hunting.

WV Hunter

Vapodog...I agree. Real small groups weren' t really the goal...just got lucky I guess. This gun (I believe) is just a shooter. Most of it' s groups were sub moa, and it even shot factory Rem core locks at sub moa. IMO, it' s nice knowing the gun shoots great...gives confidence to the shooter...but it takes away the excuses

Thanks for the replies. I agree, shot placement is the key...no doubt. However, as we all know...things can and do happen. Lack of penetration is what I am concerned with as well. I personally am a little shy of using a bullet that has a rep for exploding upon impact. I have heard some folks give these bullets alot of praise, but I think I' m more apt to lean towards something that drives right on through...no matter where the hit. Most of the shots will be under 100yds, probably more like 50-75yds avg. Hmmmm...I guess we' ll see. I haven' t asked him if he is going to try some different loads. Heck the way the first loads he tried work, it' s liable to shoot everything good.

noway

Vapodog,
Just curious.
How did you reach your conclusion that range accurace of 1/2" equals hunting accuracy of 1.125"
I have never seen that statement before.
Not trying to start anything, I am just curious.