Ballistic Tips

[MS Hitman]

I have used BTs in my.223 Rem and .309 JDJ Contenders as well as .22-250 and .300 Win rifles for over 25 years.

The 165s and 180s from my .300 hit like the proverbial beer truck from 50 to 500 yards. The 309 has 60 whitetail deer using the 150s under its belt, most have been one shot kills and dead right there. I have dropped feral pigs, including a large sow with the .22-250 using 50 and 55 grain weights from 25 to 300 yards. Dropped the sow after threading the bullet through two net wire fences. I have taken numerous groundhogs, coyotes, etc. with the .223 out past 500 yards.

I am satisfied with the performance of these bullets, else I would have gone to another bullet years ago.

 

[Bullthrower338]

Never used BTs, but I thought I read due to them coming apart so easily that they increased the copper thickness. Has anyone else read this or know of it? Hmm...maybe it was another of my white hair dreams?

I remember reading the same thing and they started labeling the boxes "hunting" on the bullets larger than 224 about that time.
I agree with hitman, everything I ever shot with them was like a beer truck hit them! Lol

 

[Art Lambart II]

The Nosler BT is tends to be frangible at close range where velocities are high, if you don't hit large bones it's a quick killer. IMO the Accubond is a better all around bullet and better suited for game larger than whitetail deer.

The Hornady SST has a thicker jacket than the Nosler BT and IMO is a better bullet.

Bullets like Federals Trophy Bonded Tipped and the Barnes Tipped TSX are tough bullets and retain over 90% of their weight and may not kill as quickly as the Nosler BT on smaller game but they are very effective on larger and tougher animals.

 

[JMM]

Look at cross sections of SST and NBT Hunting bullets. I think you will be surprised that the NBT has a thicker shank for sure. The NBT and AB are the same bullet with the AB having a bonding process that adheres the jacket and core. I am not sure what the antimony content of NBT and AB lead cores are, but SST/Interlock are 4% which is more than the 3% of Sierra. The Interlock bullet line is noticeably harder in the field than the Sierra Gameking line. I have shot a lot of animals with the Hornady and they kill every time. On Texas whitetails, they can be a little too hard and have less shock. The 125 and 150 grain NBT work beautifully on whitetail. I use the 168 CTBT for a lot of elk and whitetail culling and have been very pleased. I am not a bullet expert, but have shot hundreds of game animals with just about every bullet combination in .308 size.

 

[Porker]

Never used BTs, but I thought I read due to them coming apart so easily that they increased the copper thickness. Has anyone else read this or know of it? Hmm...maybe it was another of my white hair dreams?

there is some good info on the Nosler forum ... apparently the later BT's are tougher than the first ones ... apparently the lighter for cal projectiles retain the same jacket thickness than the heavy weights in same cal, for the better .... apparently most of the changes was in the bigger cal's .30/338 .. a lot of apparently's but worth checking out

 

[Dr Ray]

Dr. Ray,

I have used Hornady SST bullets, which are used in the Hornady Superformance ammo, with great success on PG (w/ 300 WM) and also Dall Sheep (w/ 270). Lots of one shot kills. I've also been interested in the Swift Scirocco bullet which appears to be similar to the Hornady SST, but it's quite a bit more expensive. With the real life hunting performance I've had, I will continue to use the reasonably priced Hornady SST. The only issue I can see with this bullet is you don't alway get an exit wound. That's why for elk, I prefer the A-Frame. For most African PG, the SST will work well.

Dave

I see Browning have a new range of ammo out. Just wondering if anyone has had any experience with these.
A thought - polymer tip, semi copper with a partition style bullet!

 

[Ridgewalker]

I see Browning have a new range of ammo out. Just wondering if anyone has had any experience with these.
A thought - polymer tip, semi copper with a partition style bullet!

Only fired the hot 22LR ammo and it is hot! No more nor less accurate than the other hot rod 22LR ammo. Haven’t seen any centerfire ammo in stores to try yet.
I wonder if they manufacture it themselves, or OEM it with their packaging?

 

[MS Hitman]

Someone told who makes that Ammo for Browning, but I don't recall at this time which company it is.

 

[Dudders]

Saw this thread after I purchased some Hornady 95 grain sst in .243 as most of our shot fallow will end up sold to a game dealer I was a little concerned. well there zeroed really well within 1cm at 100 meters in my tika t3 in the seven fallow shot this week the all have been ok with acceptable damage shot at ranges between 140 meters down to forty meters the only down side I have noticed is they do not like twigs even small ones. Also the reaction to the shot is a little different the deer almost show no sign of a hit, but have been dead on the ground within 40 meters .
I am quite pleased with them maybe I will buy some more.

taken from one fallow hole of about 3 cm through both sides of ribs

another same 3cm hole both sides

another showing very little damage to breast area goes with heart lungs above

exit hole of this evenings fallow doe

internal damage to head shown having cut skin just soup

 

[Ridgewalker]

Saw this thread after I purchased some Hornady 95 grain sst in .243 as most of our shot fallow will end up sold to a game dealer I was a little concerned. well there zeroed really well within 1cm at 100 meters in my tika t3 in the seven fallow shot this week the all have been ok with acceptable damage shot at ranges between 140 meters down to forty meters the only down side I have noticed is they do not like twigs even small ones. Also the reaction to the shot is a little different the deer almost show no sign of a hit, but have been dead on the ground within 40 meters .
I am quite pleased with them maybe I will buy some more. View attachment 210170 View attachment 210171

taken from one fallow hole of about 3 cm through both sides of ribsView attachment 210172 View attachment 210172

another same 3cm hole both sidesView attachment 210173
another showing very little damage to breast area goes with heart lungs aboveView attachment 210174
exit hole of this evenings fallow doeView attachment 210175
internal damage to head shown having cut skin just soup

Dudders, I tried some Hornady factory SST in my 243, but it didn’t group well. Always a flyer. Might be me. The factory 165 30-06 SSTs shoot pretty well in my Remington 78 (old cheap 700).
Your bullet performance looks good to me. I may pick up some 243 SST Bullets and try to work up a load. It should be good for pronghorn antelope and coyotes here in western USA.

 

[Ayaan Jakhura]

Dr Ray,

I used ballistic tips in one of the most smallest rifle calibers out there. A .17hmr I used it when I recently went on safari to zambia in October I used hornandy V-max bullets (factory loaded). I shot a guinea fowl at a bout 100 yards in the neck and there was no neck left his head was literally hanging of the body. I would used the ballistic tips if you are hunting game for meat. I would shoot it in the head or neck if you don’t eat those parts of the animal as it minimises meat damage.

 

[Ayaan Jakhura]

these are the bullets I used.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

That's my experience too only I live in tropical Australia so no snow
Accuracy wise - very very good
I have had two extremes - drilled through or went off like a grenade ruining the off shoulder meat totally
Thanks for your tone and experience

Friend Ray
I used to use the 50 grain balistic tip in my 223 and the mat used the 95 grain balistic tip in his 243.
Bloody horrible bullets they would do 1 of three things
Blow up on impact fairly common
Pencil thru with no expansion fairly common
Work sometimes
The game for the 223 was roo
The 243 pigs and goats
Worst bullet I've tried.
I did get conned into some 115grain nosler combined technology silver tips at a good price for my 25. These are very accurate 0.8 inch @200 yards. They leave the barrel at 3,365fps out of my 25. Hopefully they work better.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

My only experience with Nosler BT then the accubond in 35 Whelen the 225gr is great in my rifle well under 1".
Shot many white tail deer between 25-250 yards never found a bullet in a deer so I can't report on that.
I know that the box says 35 Whelen on it so it is probably made to work in that speed range.
If you get bullets that are designed for 257 Weatherby and fire them from a 257 Roberts it very well may not open and reverse it and it becomes a grenade. There are so many different cartridges of same caliber it's hard to make a bullet that works perfectly over that large a speed spread. So until we make bullets for individual cartridges someone is not going to be happy.
Shawn

Shawn
My savage Whelen loves the 225 grain accubonds at 2,850 fps. Accurate and deadly. Worked well in Namibia.
My son's 308 loves the 150grain accubonds as well
Bob

 

[Adrian]

As an update to my earlier observations, since I have been using the Norma Oryx in 30-06 and .375H&H, there is no way I would go back to ballistic tips.
The Oryx is an awesome bullet and I would choose it over and above anything else.

 

[CBH Australia]

Nosler do varmint, hunting, silver tip and a version of target BT I believe. Different construction and design.

I use 55gn Varmint in my .223 they make mush out of small game heads and I have had shot small medium pigs and dropped them when a clean shot presented .

Ive used Nosler Hunting bt in my .308 and 7mm-08 mainly looking for lighter recoil using them from a car . I have. also been using 150 BT in ..308 hit a Pig last week, thought it ran off with the mob, maybe the last one dragging the chain but when I looked mine went down behind a bush never went anywhere. I like Nosler.

I’m gonna use the 168gm zombies in a .308 Tikka CTR to teach my self some long range skills and practice

I’ve got some .30cal 180gnSST and I want another .300wm so saving these, prices are not going down.

I used Hornady SST in a 7mmRM hire rifle in Africa 10 one shot kills.

I have had Hornady Zmax the Bulk pack bullet with a Zombie theme.
They were interesting. My mate a Pro roo shooter says some soft points need to be a stiff load in his .222, to get results even he’d shooting Roos. He says they go down but they are still kicking, take note. Maybe a Hornady soft point that was pretty cheap
My brother tried 50gn Zmax In his .222, we were after foxes and while he thought he was getting hits we were not recovering foxes. We would have accepted some maybe misses but we also thought he would have counted for some down that night. We think maybe the Zmax were punching through.
Zmax gn I need my sons .223 no problem, Zmax 40gn Yet to be tested.
Gunsmith uses 55gn in his .22-250 no problem , Im gonna use them in my .22-250.
I tried Zmax 168gn in .308 shot a pig over the creek, he’d shot 100+ metres 60kg ish straight down , an hour later I hit a similar pig on the run under 50m and it went down but struggling I slammed one on the shoulder at 20 odd metres and it didn’t do much, head shot it on approach to find the bullet on the shoulder make have blown up on impact with little penetration 168gn .30cal Zmax, shoulder shields are tough but I’m not sure the bullet at near full muzzle velocity wasn’t the reason for it breaking up.

Now apparently the Zmax is a

Vmax, making it a varmint bullet. Unless it’s not depending on calibre. Apparently some are, apparently some are not. I read heaps on the Debate and apparently some are and apparently some are not.
I found reference from Nathan Foster and people speaking to Hornady reps but found information to contradict those references too.

there is some good info on the Nosler forum ... apparently the later BT's are tougher than the first ones ... apparently the lighter for cal projectiles retain the same jacket thickness than the heavy weights in same cal, for the better .... apparently most of the changes was in the bigger cal's .30/338 .. a lot of apparently's but worth checking out[/QUOTE

 

[CBH Australia]

I was thinking about Ballistic tips last week when I broke out some Winchester Deer season ammo that I wanted to try. It has a nasty big Plastic tip.

The Zmax In .22-250, the Hornady 120gn Varmint, the 7mm-08 Deer Season factory polymer tip(Big tip) .308 with Nosler 150gn, I have .308 Deer season too.

 

[Chago]

OP, are we talking about Nosler Ballistic Tips or are we speaking generally about Polymer tipped bullets? IF speaking specifically on the Nosler Ballistic Tip I do not have much experience myself, but have heard all the grape vine stories. But I tend not to repeat anything I have not experienced myself.

In regards to polymer tipped bullets in general, you must realize not all are created equal. Not all are designed for the same use etc. The first picture you posted looks like you may have used a varmint version. I had a moron guest on a hunt once (I will never be taking him again, he was a business client I wanted to treat). The guy was a hunter and reloaded his own ammo and I stupidly assumed he knew what he was doing. We were hunting red stag and he shot a nice one, right on the shoulder. I saw the contact I figured this thing is going to go down right away...... it kept running..... I was rubbing my own eyes wondering why this thing didn't die I saw the shoulder impact and it was 300 win mag and we were only about 75 yards away. The next 3 days we were split up all looking for this stag. On day 2 one of the other hunters had a quick look but didn't get a chance to dispatch him (which he would have regardless if it wasn't his trophy this animal needed to be put to rest). But he had mentioned how he could see the entrance would and he was about 100 yards. I started to laugh I was like what are you a eagle...... sometimes you cant find the entrance would when your standing over a dead animal nevermind from 100 yards. He was like no it is the size of a tea cup saucer..... I couldn't understand how that was possible. So I asked the original hunter what bullets are you using.... "Ohh I loaded Hornady Vmax". I couldn't believe my ears I was like Vmax??? you sure???? "ohhh ya they were on sale at Basspro so I bought a few boxes". For those of you who don't know, the VMAX is a varmint bullet. designed to enter thin skin and then instantly pancake not making any exit wounds to save the hide. When I called him out on it he claimed to have made a mistake and they were in fact SST. I knew based on seeing a entrance wound.... he used a Vmax and it pancaked on the outside of the animal causing a massive wound and that's it. The next day this animal was found dead, probably just from blood loss. We inspected the shoulder, yes the skin was destroyed and the shoulder was busted, but nothing got into the boiler room.

Any how, the moral of the story. Be sure to research on the manufacturer website what the bullet was designed for. Some of speeds they prefer best, some have hide thickness etc. I personally use the ELD X which is a polymer tip on everything from Impala to Canadian Moose. And they perform wonderfully. But again Hornady suggests impact at 2700fps or less, so load accordingly. Don't load to 3200fps then shoot something 50 yards away and cry how the bullets are not reliable. Truth is you used the wrong tool for the job. Don't use a hammer as a screwdriver, then tell the world the hammer sucks.

 

[Tgood1]

i used .270 140 gr nosler ballistic tips extensively when i lived on a plantation in georgia in the late 90's mostly to cull does. Most shots were longer range and in the upper cervical/ throat patch region to conserve meat. Devastating results, but i prefer a more predictiable outcome for bullet performance and do not use them for any big game hunting now

 

[Hearties]

I use the 95gr Ballistic Tip in my .243 for smaller plainsgame up to Blesbok size. Normal shooting ranges are 200-300m and they work perfectly - although I don’t shoot anything quartering away.