paulyseggs

what do you prefer, fast and quick energy deposit or slower and better penetration

now your all probably gonna say, "i like the best of both" but i mean in general say a ballistic tip or an X bullet, personally i don;t think you can get better than a generic soft point in a 150g 30cal

"smile, life could be worse.. i could be datin your daughter."

stubblejumper

I use the 140gr balistic tip launched out of my 7mmstw's at 3500fps.I have taken over 30 head of big game with the ballistic tip and none have required tracking as not one has covered 50 yards after being hit.Most drop on the spot or take a step or two then fall over.Most of the bullets used have exited.

Muddyemms

I kinda like the bullet to dump as much energy as possible into the deer. Bigger exit wound that way, which leads to a better blood trail . . . I've used both Winchester Fail Safes and Winchester Ballistic Silvertips on deer. I prefer the Ballistic Silvertips; yet the Fail Safes aren't slouches, either.

Having said all that, the optimum bullet is one that you can put in the vitals on a consistent basis. In other words, the one that shoots the best out of your particular rifle.

Ballistictip

I've shot ballistic tips in my .270 for eight years now and like Stubblejumper have never had to track a deer and always got a pass through. Most dropped on the spot. I did shoot a deer several years back with a Barnes X-Bullet. The bullet went clean thru and never expanded. Looked like you drove a pencil straight thru the deer. The heart was in two pieces like it was cut in half with a knife and had a hole thru the center. Unless they've changed they're more for elk and moose. I'll stick with the tips for now.

PaJack

BT's have always worked for me...<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

Hunt Safe!

Jack

Tazman

I am not knocking any other loads, but just expressing what I have had tremendous success with in the past, 150 grain coreloks, little finger hole in, like my fist coming out, knocks them flat. To be honest, it is the only round I have ever used in a rifle and I am an old head, I stick with what works until it doesn't work anymore and I reccomend you use what ever works for you and stick with it. If it worked today, it will work tommorow, why change?

The Tazman aka Martin Price
Founder and President of
Virginia Disabled Outdoorsmen Club

Mike from Texas

I have been using 180 grain Ballistic Tips in my .300 mag for years with great sucess. However, last year I bought a new rifle chambered in .260 Remington. I lost 1 deer and alsmost didn't recover one. I never got an exit hole on any of the 3 deer that I shot with it. The main reason I had no trouble with the first one was it was a neck shot at about 75 yards, he dropped like a rock. I recently read an article by Col. Craig Boddington in the current issue of G&A. According to his personal findings, the Ballistic Tip bullet is great for smaller game and varmits &quot;in the smaller calibers&quot;, but don't expect pass throughs all the time on larger animals on anything less than a .30 bullet. The Tips in the calibers less than .30 are thin jacketed for violent, rapid expansion, not deep penetration. On the calibers of .30 and above, which are usually for larger game anyway, the jacket is much thicker therefore helping with deep penetration & controlled expansion. This year I'm trying the Remington Premier in Nosler Partition, 125 grains. This factory load chronographed an average of 2850 fps out of a 22&quot; barrel on my rifle and should hold together much better for me. For anyone interested, the name od the article is &quot;Plastic Fantastic?&quot; in the current issue of Guns & Ammo.

skeeter 7MM

I have used 130 gr BT's out of my 270 and never had a problem with exit's. However the bullet was placed in H/L region and entered through rib and out through rib. Most deer I have shot have went down on the spot, the few that made tracks were down within a 100 yards and the BT was ugly. Yes the smaller calibers expand quickly, but if placed right, they should result in a exit and a good clean kill.

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rickt300

I have used many cartridges and bullets though never any Ballistic tips. I have had great results with all but my favorites are the Speer spitzer hot cor bullets. This year the 150 BT will get some use in my 7/57 mauser pushed to around 2750 fps and I'll bet great results will follow. The only reason the harder bullets were designed was to overcome poor bullet performance at the higher velocities.