Nosler BT good for hunting???

[Mike Fontaine]

I have recently purchased a large number of 150gr Nosler BT for my 7mm rem mag. I have descovered it is a great bullet for the range but I'm receiving mixed messages from people regarding it's use in the field (tremendous mass loss, exit wound issues, etc.). What has been your experience?
Mike
p.s. I would be using for WT Deer, B Bear, and Moose!!!

 

[rick smith]

I have killed well over 100 whitetails with Ballistic Tips in a variety of calibers without a problem but would go to the Partition for bear/moose.Rick.

 

[JD338]

I agree with Rick on his recomendation.
I have used the 140 gr BT in my 280 Rem to take WT Deer and Caribou.
All 1 shot kills with most dropping in their tracks. Stay away from the shoulder bone, throough the ribs will give you an exit hole the size of a quarter.
If you only want to load 1 bullet for all your hunting, consider the 160 gr AB. With the exception of big bears ( Griz and Brown), the 160 gr AB will do it all.

JD338

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

people that have bad experiences use the lighter weight for caliber and usually there bad encounter happened at 100 yards or less. Any bullet at 100 yards or less is going to do massive destruction. On top of that, btips are the greatest deer bullet ever, period. Your 150g bts are a great choice for 7 mag, dont worry about what others have said. Try them for yourself and watch the deer drop in there tracks.

 

[skeeter]

Agreed for deer the 150 BT's will work just fine out of your 7mm RM. It has been my most used bullet for deer sized animals and I have yet to see this oddity of them not getting er' done. I might add I hunt in Sask. Canada where our bucks regularily top 300lbs on the hoof.

As for moose & blackie's I haven't use the BT nor would reccomend it for these animals. I'd stick with PT or AB, both have characteristics that lend themself better for tougher skinned/larger structure animals. Both of these bullets have worked in my 7mm rm's for larger game. As well as other similar constructed/ suited premium bullets.

 

[Flakjkt]

I have killed 50+ deer with 150gr BT's will kill every time. I have had alot come apart outa a .308 under 100yds but the deer was alway DRT. I have switched to AB, but wouldnt hesitate to load up some more BT'S

 

[fredj338]

I feel the BTs are best used for longer range shots where you know your impact vel. will be below 2700fps. Much above tha & they start to come apart, shallow penetration & massive meat damage. In your 7mag, would want a AB or Partition if shots have any chance of being under 200yds.

 

[SouthCarolina270]

I just started hunting again 2 years ago after a 30 year break. I managed to take 8 whitetail deer last season. Everyone was taken with a 270 Win using Nosler hunting ballistic tip bullets. I used handloaded 130 grain w 44 grm., 140 grain w 44 & 46 grm. and 150 grain w 45 & 52 grm. loads. Of the eight deer, all dropped in their tracks except for one that I shot a little low, it ran about 30 yds and fell on the edge of the dirt road so that I could drive over and pick it up. The shots from 10 to 200 yds. with a couple of running shots. The only ones that had excessive meat damage were the ones shot with the 52 grm. loads. For my style of hunting, elevated tree stands, I am extremely pleased with the performance of the ballistic tip bullet. I have settled on the 150 grain with 45 grams of powder as the most accurate and effective round. I can't wait for the season to start in August.

 

[rick smith]

SouthCarolina270, good to have another SC poster here.Rick.

 

[hvy barrel]

I would recommend them for whitetail hunting in the southeast. I have shot 2 deer with a 140 gr Ballistic Tip from a 7mm08. They both dropped in their tracks.

 

[Savage99]

Mike,

BT's are a cup and core bullet like others and therefore have a somewhat limited window of velocity use. Out of a powerful rifle like yours they may not exit even on deer depending on the circumstances. On the postitive side BT's are very accurate and have excellent ballistics coeficients and kill deer really well almost all of the time.

The idea is to bag the game and not to recover the bullet and complain that it lost some weight or did not exit when your starting them at over 3000 fps!

Since your concerned about it use Accubonds as they shoot about the same as BT's and practice with the BT's. For heavier game your velocity is too high and you either need to use a heavier BT or a premium bullet.

I have shot a lot of deer with the 7mm RM and 130 and 140 gr cup and cores and they all died really fast. Before the internet we did not worry about stuff like this when deer hunting! For bigger game you have to make a cup and core pretend it's a 180 out of a 30-06 and then it will work.

 

[jbdre]

Some of the early Ballistic Tips were pretty explosive but most of those problems are long gone. Ballistic Tips work very well for deer when velocity is kept anywhere near reasonable. A 150 in a 7 Mag should be fine. Place it behind the shoulder and you will end up with one very dead deer. Good hunting!

 

[147 Grain]

My favorite deer load in 30-06 is 180-gr. Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips.

If I remember right, Ballistic Tips (BT's) were designed by John Nosler for violent expansion / explosion and medium penetration on light-skinned animals like deer. For most calibers shooting fragile BT's, you're better off using heavier projectiles with larger Sectional Density's (SD's) than you would normally use for a regularly constructed soft point bullet.

Why?

1. Heavy for caliber bullets are better in a BT because they tone down the violent expansion a bit and still have enough weight leftover for a extra penetration or a complete pass-through. Lighter BT bullets often fail to penetrate to the other side of the animal.

2. The shock-value with the heavier BT will still be more than lighter standard soft point bullets like 150-gr. and you get more downrange energy on target with the 180-gr. (fragile) load.

3. Short range shots also suit the heavier 180-gr. round with a higher SD versus lighter weight BT'd bullets with less mass that might blowup too quickly.

4. Raking quartering-away shots obviously benefit from a heavier bullet for adequate penetration.

5. A larger BT'd bullet is also more forgiving if you shoot accidently into the shoulder.
___________________

* Nosler says that beginning with the 30 caliber 180-gr. Ballistic Tips (and larger), the jacket's profile is changed or upgraded to a much stronger contour similar to the AccuBond (shown below). The lead core is also hardened over the 165-gr. and below bullets in smaller calibers - to include the 150-gr. you're considering.

Lighter weight bullets like 165-gr. 30 caliber and lower (shown below) do not have the thicker contour which starts in the middle of the shell and goes down to the base.

In summary, one might infer that the 180-gr. Ballistic Tip is simply a non-bonded version of the AccuBond.

In Summary:

* Soft point bullets generally perform better on deer in lighter to mid-weight sizes, but BT's do not!
* For best performance, Nosler recommends heavy for caliber BT's.
* Reported problems of a BT blowing up too quickly are generally associated with too light of a bullet.
* Remember, remember.... Ballistic Tipped rounds are the exception to the rule!

Steve

P.S. I like a bullet to perform two things in my 30-06:

1. Violent expansion / shock.
2. Plenty of penetration for a pass-through, which 150-gr. and 165-gr. most likely will not do the majority of the time!

Nosler makes 4 great aerodynamic rounds to accomplish any North American hunting task (listed in order of bullet toughness):

1. Ballistic Tip
2. Solid Base
3. AccuBond
4. Partition

 

[jbdre]

Excellent post 147 Grain. You pretty well sum it up.

 

[FOTIS]

They work just fine!
Just do not try to take an ass to tea kettle shot on an elk or a moose.

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

I have been loading 180g btips for 3 guys in my elk camp out of there 300 Win mags. We've had great success and only found 1 bullet so far. Ranges have been from 100-750 yards. Cant ask much more out of the 180g BT.

 

[moreloader]

Black bear and moose are hardly thick skinned game. The 150 g would not be a light for caliber in 7mm mag. Therefore, I would not hesitate. I shoot exclusively 165 g BT in my 300WSM all of the deer have been one shot kills with exits. I will let you know about the mushrooming as soon as I recover a bullet (I doubt this ever occurs).

 

[jbdre]

I would not hesitate to tangle with an Elk using my 30-06 and a 180 Ballistic Tip as they are more heavily constructed. However I doubt that would ever happen as I would definitely favor a 180 Partition or even a 200gr for Elk with that caliber. For me the Partition is THE Elk bullet. When I am exclusively hunting Elk I favor my .338 Win. Mag. and a 225gr Partition. It shoots flat enough for any reasonable range and hits like the hammer of Thor. I can gaurentee you won't have to worry about that Partition digging deep enough from any angle.

 

[FOTIS]

If you must use the BT pick your shots carefully and you will be fine.