My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

well, I know the debate on here has been quite controversial with ballistic tips and hunting so I thought Id share my story. I hunted Minnesota's opening day of rifle season this past Sat and harvested an impressive (for me anyway) 235 lb whitetail. I did not have the perfect broadside standing still shot we all like to have but I still made a lethal shot that dropped him where he stood. I've heard all the stories about "Ballistic tips fragment too easy" yada yada yada. Well I found out first hand that you can shoot a 200+ lb deer in the shoulder quartering to you and still drive the bullet down through the vitals, and exit near the last rib on the other side. I understand that some people may have gotten a "bad" bullet but to say "ALL" ballistic tips will not perform on deer sized game IMHO has been disproved. I shot this deer with my 7mm Rem mag with 140 gr Nosler BT, and 66.5 gr of RL 22 at 161 yards

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

nice lookin deer. congrats.

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

You killed that without a bonded core bullet???? Impossible.

Nice deer.

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

They also will blow right through a 500 pound cow elk at 200 yards. Not sure about closer in. I like the performance of the 140BT in my 7mm RM. Goes right through even on a spine shot. No deer I've shot with them have gone more that about 3 feet, straight down.

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

I still use the 140gr ballistic tip out of my 7mmstws for deer sized game.Around 30 head taken and not one animal covered 50 yards after being hit.Most drop on the spot or within a few yards.Even when launched at 3500fps,most bullet exit.

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

Congratulations on your deer kill!!

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

Those Brow Tines are LONG!

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

awesome deer dude!!!! theres no doubt a ballistic tip will kill them dead. two deer ive taken one year I shot with BT's (168 grain CT ballistic ST's winchester loads in 308 win) dropped them on the spot and the rounds did leave exit wounds, just IMO the ballistic tips tear up tomuch meat atleast thats how I felt about the two I shot with bt's but... they both were fairly close range too both were shot at less than 75 yards. I think at further ranges the bullets would have held together better

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

I have used them, but I found other brands were more accurate, nice deer man!!

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

AAWWW! come on now Mossy, you know those BT always blow up and don't even ruffle the hair. You must have faked it or that good lookin deer was a tagged road kill.:D:D

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

well, I doubt that deer was any road kill.......we were soooo far back I doubt if that deer ever saw a car before. We were hunting 15,000 acres of state game land and we were probably 2-2.5 miles off the nearest "minimum maintainence" dirt path. Thank God for 4 wheelers or wed still be dragging :D

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

Great Buck Mossy! Love them brow tines!Congrat's

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

Your BT did it's job. They are designed for radical exspansion at longer ranges.

I don't anyone can seriously say that they can't kill deer but they consistently don't perform as well under most conditions as other "big game" bullets like the partition etc.

In case you didn't know you don't want your bullet to exit at all. You want it to expand and transfer all of it's energy into the target while at the same time tearing as large a wound profile as possible. A perfect performance would have meant you would have found your bullet lodged against the opposite side somewhere.

BTs are ok for thin skinned game but by are no means the best choice nor should they be protrayed as such.

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

Congrats Mossy. You won't get any debating from me on BT vs deer. My experience of too many deer sized animals harvested dictates that they are fine bullets for this usage. I anchored 300 +lbs mulie last week with long range 1/4 shot and he dropped on the spot. My bullet 150gr NBT from 7mm rem magexited as most havewhich I'veneverviewed as a problem.

Like others the majority of my BT shot game have fallen in very short order - 50 yards being considered the long end of the after yards scamper!

It still is my deer load as shootsextremely accurate out of my rifle and never failed me on our large bodied deer.;)

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

Great deer, congrats:)

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

well, after I shot a deer 2 years ago with a Partiton and had pencil holes on the entrance and exit and then last year shot a deer with an accubond and had pencil sized holes at both ends Id say the ballistic tip in my 7mm did perform as well as the others. I will never load another bullet besides a BT in my 7mm unless I am going for Elk.

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

Using my .300 Wby I once shot a deer at about 15 yards with a 180 gr. Scirocco. The bullet flattened out tremendously and lodged under the hide on the offside. It was right in the boiler room where you're supposed to hit 'em. So, a theoretical 2 tons of energy transfered, yet this deer managed to run 75 to 100 yards. On the other hand, except for one deer I gut shot accidentally, I've never had one run that far after being shot with a bullet that exited. What does that mean and what's it worth? Maybe nothingsince some folks will report different results. I just know for sure that I prefer exit wounds.

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

These new generation ballistic tips are some of the best deer bullets ever made. I killed alarge mule deer with a 130 gr. .270 ballistic tip the first year they came out (1984?). These bullets, in the red and green box,were very marginal on penetration.I joked that they should have a warning on the box "Danger - High Explosives". Newer ones have gone through several improvements, as I understand it - each subsequent version was a little tougher than the last. Congrats on a very nice buck.

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

My experience is they are garbage I was standing next to a guy talking 3 years ago when a doe walked out 50 yards from us. He shot the thing 3 times in the chest with a .308 and it stood there like nothing hit it. I shot it once with my .270 with 140 gr Hornady's and it dropped like a stone.

When we gutted the deer none of the bullettspenetrated thru the animal and all 3 bullets shattered what a mess. Lots of meat lost.

Maybe the new ones are better but there are like the old winchester silver tips they used to do the same thing. It will take alot of convincing to get me to try them on game. They shoot good maybe at paper.

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

Congrats!, thats a nice buck no matter what you shot him with.The deer is dead and you recovered it so i'd say the bullet performed just as it was suppose too.....it killed!
IMO the ballistic tip debate has been like the energizer bunny, it just keeps going and going. Those who've used the ballistic tipswith much success can't be swayed into believing they're not good bulletsjust as those who've used them with bad experiences can't be convinced they are.I say use whatever shoots the most accurate in your rifle and one that you're confident you can place in the vitals at the ranges you hunt.
Bottom line is as long as you do your part and put one in the engine room it doesn't matter what you're shooting...... it's gonna kill the amimal.

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

That is one beautiful deer.Congrats. The fact that youkilled him withoutusingsomeones one dollar bullet proves that older bullet designs are still viable for deer.

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

Mossy,

Show us the body with the hide off if you can. I am just curious. I am not anti for or against BT. Never used them so I don't have an opinion.

Nice buck btw

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

Nobody ever said you would have instant knockdown on every shot. That is the ever elusive "knockdown power" that everyone keeps talking about. It's almost impossible to measure but you sure know when you see it happen. But, it's better than blowing straight through, blasting a huge hole while ruining a bunch of meat and then running 75-100 yards. Which I've seen BTs do time and time again.

People seem to think they need a giant exit wound so they can have lots of blood to trail the animal. I never understood that. I don't want to chase my animals I want them anchored. Almost everything I ever shot didn't have to be trailed and I want to keep it that way.

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

That's probably because the partition and the accubond are probably designed for larger game and not just "thin skinned" game like deer. On larger game you want controlled expansion and penetration based on the theory that the vitals on a larger animal like elk are buried deeper and harder for the bullet to reach. Which is the concept most big game bullets are based on.

I'm sure there are time when the hydrostatic pressure of tissue on a partition or an Barnes x bullet isn't enough to make it fully expand properly before exiting a thin skinned animal. There are so many variables involved that it's almost impossible to predict but what we do know is that so called "rapid" or "radical expansion" designs such as the BT can really come back to bite us in the ass.

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

I've had more bang-flops with Partitions and Barnesthan any other bullet.................and they all exited.

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

this is the only one I could find, it was taken as soon as we gutted it. this is the exit hole

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

I did this to show you the angle and what it went through

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

troll alert.

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

I have had excellent results w/ the newer BT's. I too had the poor results w/the first ones, but believe me they are much better now. I have seen them drop 6 elk in the past 2yrs....same bullet you used on your deer, all with great results. I use them exclusively in all my familys whitetail loads from 55gr .22 cals to 150 and 165 in .30 cals. In between we use .243, .270 and .284's. All are for the most part violent one shot kills. Seems the bigger the caliber the more they run....but never far. That is important in heavily hunted areas.
Yes, they mess up some meat, but there is only one stage of dead...and my goal is to get to that stage ASAP and that seems to be best fulfilled w/the Nosler BT's.

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

I have a 7mm-08 that My daughter and I use 140 grain bt Winchesters out of.Thisload will not drop the deer in it's tracks(unless,maybe on a shouler hit)We shoot for lungs and the combo has taken 4 deer from 20 yard to 140 yards on deer from 50lbs to 150 lbs and the ammo and caliber have performed flawlessly.WE HAVE NOT HURT ANY MEAT ON THE 4 DEER.The deer are never far but the blood trail is AWESOME.1 was a gut shot(by my daugther) and the blood trail was perfect.


The only deer that the bullet didn't go through was the biggest deer and it was quartering away at about 60-70 yards.


IMO,way too many people go way overkill for deer.I personally feel anything above a .270 is more than one needs for deer.I used to use a .270 with 130 grain ppsp bullets and never had a deer take a step after being shot with it but I did tear up some meat.

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

I shoot the 165 grain BT's in my 30 caliber rifles. I am color blind, but I believe the tips are green? These bullets shoot great out of my 30 caliber's. I have shot deer from 5 to 350 yards with these bullets. I have not lost a deer yet. Very few even took a step, and I am talking dozen's. I think it is a great bullet.

By the way, that is a fantastic deer. Tom.

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

took a large doe last Tuesday evening with my 35 Whelen AI shooting 225 grain BT's (2550 from the muzzle)... the shot was just under 130 yds on a downward angle as i was on the top of the ravine.. she was on the bottom.... you can see performance by entrance and exit wounds.... both lungs and the liver were nothing but liquified for the most part... she took the hit and stumbled sideways for 10 yds and went down, dead when she hit the ground... hope the photos aren't too graphic but it shows performance of the big BT... which i feel is a well constructed and good performing bullet... too bad they discontinued cause ya know... everything has to be "Bonded" now... bummer....

We don't need these Graphic Photo's to describe Bullet performance.

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

ROOSTY....talk us through those pics

Is the big hole an exit wouind? Did you get an exit wound?

RE: My harvest with a ballistic tip
 

yes the big hole is the exit wound... i took her on her left side.. you can barely see the entrance through the fat... you can see what looks like a round circle inside the cavity where the bullet entered... right behind the front shoulder... she was apparently facing me slightly as you can see the exit wound is further back... it was a pass through shot.... the big .358 BT didn't expand upon impact but once inside it did a real number and it took out some ribs upon exit leaving the large exit hole... i was very surprised when i skinned her and didn't find a bruise on each side the size of a frisbee... which is usually what i see with my smaller zippity duda calibers....

now i must say that smaller 150 grain 7mm BT's have given me issues in the past... erratic performance in terms of wound path and bullet travel changes inside the body cavity as well as lack of expansion at close range (~30 yds) on a couple of animals....

Therefore I am just trying to comment on the larger heavier jacketed BT's (338's 35;s 375's) for deer performance.... In all honesty, the ONLY reason i shoot the 225 BT from my 35 Whelen AI is because i am being a real cheapass... they perform well, shoot exceptionally, are long and i can seat them out to the rifling easily, are very (or were) affordable and i was convinced this is the kind of performance i'd see on deer and i am pretty sure, on elk... i'm just one of those practical engineer type fellas...

I don't particulary care for pass throughs as i like to recover and inspect bullets... but every broadside shot (except for one with the 280) i've taken whether it be with my 270, 280 or the 35 whelen AI, have all passed through... and every deer shot in this manner has gone down within sight... a good portion in their tracks... furthest traveled was 30 yards...

So, it's my opinion, from experience, that for larger caliber rounds, meant for deer, the BT is quite acceptable and quite capable in the performance department. Don't shell out 40 bucks a box for partitions or trophy bonded bearclaws or other "Premium" bullets because you "think" you need them.... in all honesty if hornady made a 225 interlock with a larger aspect ratio i'd probably be flingin those.. cause i've seen what they'll do firsthand... from an '06.... and i am sold on their performance...

anywho... hope that all makes sense...

J