Bullets that well advertised but were not that great

[dlmac]

As a young hunter and reloader in the late 60s. I used think how pretty the new bullets looked. The advertising was so good at blowing smoking up our rear and not knowing any better we bought it. Then as many of you have pointed out that the hype was not real.
The one bullet that I remember most is the original winchester silvertip. Oconnor loved it. I found that the jacket and core often separated forming two separate wound channels, but really not that effective IMO. Anyone, have bullets that did not live up to the advertising? Or, cost them a lost animal?

 

[375er]

The original Nosler Ballistic Tips. Way to explosive on game.

 

[pilar]

NBT
Anything Berger
Eldx

I’m not a explosive bullet fan , bonded or mono ,H brace design like A frame, north fork
Only for me now

 

[JimP]

One problem with most bullets is that you need to use them for what they were intended for.

The Nosler Balistic Tip was never touted as a big game bullet but one that improved accuracy on small game. Berger were a target bullet, until they came out with one that is intended for big game.

John Nosler was dissatisfied with the bullet performance in the late 40's when the bullet that he was shooting didn't do its job on a moose so he went to work and designed the Partition. But that bullet that failed on the moose was quite possibly just fine on smaller game. But on that moose, I have seen them absorb multiple bullets before they just decided to fall down. No matter what the bullet manufacture was.

 

[rookhawk]

Forgive me for uttering heresy, but the Woodleigh Hydrostatic Solid has been a pathetic performer for me. My only experience has been in Federal factory loaded 375HH ammunition. Could it be too small a caliber, too slow a speed, or other? I do not know. But it did not perform well even on plains game like zebras where we failed to get a friggin pass-through.

I suspected defective ammunition so I sent it back to be tested. Federal claims it was to spec so I do not know what to think?

 

[JHT]

Federal Woodleigh Hydros in both .375 and .416 have been solid performers for me. They are presently discontinued, however. I'll post a video or two when time permits.

 

[Letzhunt]

As I grow older I do tend to learn from others experiences along with my own now. I tend to use bullets proven by many. Those include the Barnes monos in some rifles and the North Fork SS for big stuff. I do have a good supply of the Federal Terminal Ascent bullets also and hope to use them on my next plains game hunt but not until thoroughly tested on stuff States-side. I also have to work on a very consistent and accurate load before that even happens.
I used cutting edge in a 300 Weatherby and was not very happy with performance on game even though shot placement was nearly perfect. Just not a fan...... but man they were accurate.

 

[Joker12]

The original Nosler Ballistic Tips. Way to explosive on game.

They killed deer well but the meat loss was terrible.

 

[rookhawk]

The inverse question to the OP is where can I find a weak bullet? Good, STOUT bullets are plentiful these days whether NF, A-frame, Oryx, or other. Sometimes we just want to kill a deer real quick to shorten recovery or explode a coyote. Finding a devastating bullet (aka one that people on this thread would complain doesn't work well for larger game) is more of a pickle than finding a stout bullet.

 

[JHT]

Federal Woodleigh Hydro in .375 on trapped hog. Video is not for the squeamish but, as you can see, the solid penetrated and killed the hog very quickly.

Federal Woodleigh Hydro in .416 on bull elephant. The video on this one speaks for itself.

 

[375er]

The inverse question to the OP is where can I find a weak bullet? Good, STOUT bullets are plentiful these days whether NF, A-frame, Oryx, or other. Sometimes we just want to kill a deer real quick to shorten recovery or explode a coyote. Finding a devastating bullet (aka one that people on this thread would complain doesn't work well for larger game) is more of a pickle than finding a stout bullet.

The Nosler Partion or Hornady Interlok should fit the bill for those needs.

 

[pilar]

The inverse question to the OP is where can I find a weak bullet? Good, STOUT bullets are plentiful these days whether NF, A-frame, Oryx, or other. Sometimes we just want to kill a deer real quick to shorten recovery or explode a coyote. Finding a devastating bullet (aka one that people on this thread would complain doesn't work well for larger game) is more of a pickle than finding a stout bullet.

Really?
Sierra tmk
VMax
NBT
Eldm
Berger

Are all hyper explosive, they even advertise 2 inch penetration then total core disintegration
On rockslide.com there is a 600 page discussion on which bullet is most explosive

 

[Joker12]

The inverse question to the OP is where can I find a weak bullet? Good, STOUT bullets are plentiful these days whether NF, A-frame, Oryx, or other. Sometimes we just want to kill a deer real quick to shorten recovery or explode a coyote. Finding a devastating bullet (aka one that people on this thread would complain doesn't work well for larger game) is more of a pickle than finding a stout bullet.

I like Hornady interlocks, Speer hot cores and Sierra game kings for a decent expanding bullet. They aren't explosive and are very effective on normal game.

 

[uplander01]

Nosler Ballistic tips were never great, but they were easy to get to shoot well in most guns, and a lot of custom rifle makers nowadays still tout these explosive type bullets in "super accurate" custom rifles, along with all the others, berger, hornady, etc. Show me a Gunwerks or any other ridiculously expensive semi production rifle that's tuned up with Swift AF or NF softs and I'll show you a leprechaun that can shoot the eye out of a horsefly at 1000 yards.

 

[Flbt]

As a young hunter and reloader in the late 60s. I used think how pretty the new bullets looked. The advertising was so good at blowing smoking up our rear and not knowing any better we bought it. Then as many of you have pointed out that the hype was not real.
The one bullet that I remember most is the original winchester silvertip. Oconnor loved it. I found that the jacket and core often separated forming two separate wound channels, but really not that effective IMO. Anyone, have bullets that did not live up to the advertising? Or, cost them a lost animal?

Barns x in 223
They were said to go through deer
I used a 223 on 3 deer one dropped on the spot it was not a pass through
The next ran we found it no pass through
No blood trail
Last one did not find it until the next afternoon
Again no blood trail

The first one was a high shoulder shot did not like the no pass through
So went with behind the shoulder on the next 2 put the 223 up for deer.

I payed 55$ for a box of the 53gr x barns I’d I remember right and spent the money because I believe the bullets would make the 223 at least ok for deer.
At the time I could have gotten Winchester 62 power point for under 20$

 

[Houston Bill]

The inverse question to the OP is where can I find a weak bullet? Good, STOUT bullets are plentiful these days whether NF, A-frame, Oryx, or other. Sometimes we just want to kill a deer real quick to shorten recovery or explode a coyote. Finding a devastating bullet (aka one that people on this thread would complain doesn't work well for larger game) is more of a pickle than finding a stout bullet.

I know there is a difference of opinion in this thread but my 3 kids and I have shot 100+ deer and hogs and with Nosler Ballistic Tips and never had an issue. Many were shot with the 308 125 grain version using youth (reduced) loads and some with the 150 grain bullet. We also shot several deer, hogs and coyotes with the 95 grain 243 bullet. When we would field dress the deer the carnage that was inflected by the Nosler BT was usually significant.

I have also had success with the 175 grain ELD-x out of my 7MM PRC on impala and zebra that I shot for bait on my leopard hunt. On the zebra the bullet exited on the opposite side leaving a huge hole that was gushing a stream of blood when we walked up to the zebra. The video is a bit too large to post. Admittedly it is a small sample size with the ELD-x and I normally only hunt Africa with bonded bullets, but the factory ELD-x shoots about 0.75" groups at 300 yards, nearly same hole at 100 yards, that I decided to try it last year for the bait animals in Africa

 

[jwp475]

As a young hunter and reloader in the late 60s. I used think how pretty the new bullets looked. The advertising was so good at blowing smoking up our rear and not knowing any better we bought it. Then as many of you have pointed out that the hype was not real.
The one bullet that I remember most is the original winchester silvertip. Oconnor loved it. I found that the jacket and core often separated forming two separate wound channels, but really not that effective IMO. Anyone, have bullets that did not live up to the advertising? Or, cost them a lost animal?

I read a lot of O'Connor and I don't recall him praising the Silvertip. O'Connor praised the Nosler Partitions as i recall