95 gr Ballistic Tip, recovered from whitetail buck

Guy Miner

Master Loader
Apr 6, 2006
17,453
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My son used the old 6mm Remington again this year on his whitetail buck. Fairly young buck, no photos of it avail right now. Soon I hope!

70 yard shot from kneeling. Buck was facing him. He aimed high chest. Bullet struck the spine, traveled along the top of one lung, and almost exited the skin on the side of the buck. Muzzle velocity was about 3,000 fps.





Retained weight was 49 grains, and I had a little trouble measuring the expanded diameter, as it varied considerably between about .4 and .6" depending on where I measured. Suffice it to say, that the Ballistic Tip expanded well.

The buck dropped and died instantly. I like that in a bullet. I think this is the first time we've been able to recover one of these cool little 95 gr Ballistic Tip bullets. Normally he gets a broadside shot and they penetrate completely through.

Guy
 
I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that particular bullet! It performed splendidly. Great evidentiary photos, Guy. Thanks for posting.
 
Congrats to your son. I too have used the 95gr. Ballistic Tips but from a Ruger .243 on a half dozen or so Whitetails. All Whitetails shot with the 95gr. Ballistic Tip were one shot kills. All but two dropped in their tracks. I was pushing it with H-4350 to 3071 FPS from that Ruger. In my opinion the 95gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips turned the .243 into a super deer cartridge, much better than the 100gr. Sierra Spitzer Boat Tails I had been using (in the form of Federal Premiums).

Larry
 
DrMike":11r0d76i said:
I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that particular bullet! It performed splendidly. Great evidentiary photos, Guy. Thanks for posting.

Been hit once and don't care for it to happen again especially with one of them.
Once is enough!
 
guy & others:

what powder(s) have you had success with using the 95BT?

i'm trying IMR 4350 and having so-so results so far. (do you ever find a load that is "ok" in a low load, not so great medium, and back to doing good once it's a bit higher load?)


love seeing the after pics of the nosler bullets, puts some more confidence in my bullet choices for this fall
 
tim629":6bj4xotp said:
guy & others:

what powder(s) have you had success with using the 95BT?

RL-22 with the 95 & 100 grain bullets, and the 105's when I've shot them. Really haven't changed from the max level load recommended by Nosler in a long time. Years. Maybe a decade or more? This particular bullet has proven to be the single most accurate bullet I've ever used from the 6mm Rem.

Way back when, in the 1970's & 1980's, I used a lot of IMR4350 with this rifle. It worked just fine.

This is a 6mm Remington, 700 BDL, with the 22" sporter weight barrel. Velocity hovers around 3,000 fps from the well-worn 1:9 twist, 1974 vintage barrel.

Regards, Guy
 
The original Nosler Ballistic Tips, back in the 1980's were pretty fragile & frangible. I used them back then and although they were accurate, and deadly, I thought they were a little too lightly constructed. Apparently others did as well, and over the years Nosler has REALLY increased the jacket thickness on the Ballistic Tips.

There are some sectioned Ballistic Tips scattered throughout these bullet tests, or just take a look on Nosler's web site. You'll find the jacket is thick, and that the amount of lead in these bullets is pretty small compared to a conventional cup & core bullet.

I've been happily using the Ballistic Tips, extensively, in 6mm, .257, and .30 cal as well. Not as much use of them in the 7mm cartridges, but wow - the results I saw on mule deer & antelope last year from the little 7mm, 120 gr Ballistic Tip were IMPRESSIVE. My hunting buddies, Stephen & Storm, used those bullets to great effect. Full penetration & instant death is the norm for me, with Ballistic Tips anymore.

Well worth checking out.

Regards, Guy
 
nvbroncrider":s4tk7re3 said:
Aren't those BT's supposed to be frangible? Looks like it did pretty darn well!

Besides the 100 grain PT, I wouldn't use much else in a 243 or 6mm Rem for deer Jake. They are tough bullets and hang together really well. Not sure how the 90 AB is, but it looks great. Not sure how much it'll gain over the 95 BT though. It is really accurate with RL22 and IMR7828 in my son's 243.
 
Well that's certainly better than the hunter I had last week that shot a nice buck that was ranged at 240yds , he had a great rest and is an old coyote hunter so he can shoot fine. He squized the trigger and the deer ran off like he had a clear miss............................ :x
The ammo was Winchester Fail Safe..................... black moly coated bullets. I was not too impressed with the whole performance and the way the deer took off................
We found it about 150 yds up the ridge still alive but not doing well, complete pass thru high in both lungs, sorta shot the deer should have just wilted with the right bullet............ oh boy
Not sure how hard the jackets are on those bullets but hole leaving looks pretty similar to the enterance side .
:?
 
That was one major factor in Winchester discontinuing the Fail Safe. It was a complex bullet, which made it difficult to obtain accuracy in many instances. I had very good success with the Fail Safes, but I knew they were meant for really tough situations. Hence, shots at under 100 yards on big animals from very fast rifles were ideal.
 
35 Whelen - from what little I've seen of the Fail Safe, it's a TOUGH bullet built for deep penetration. I've seen quicker kills on average, from fast-expanding bullets, like the the Ballistic Tip.

Regards, Guy
 
You fellas are spot on with that info, a buck shot were this one was should have drop right now!
I am sure this would be different on an elk or moose but I sure as heck don't recommend these for whitetail deer :x
Have had two other bucks shot via SSTs this week and got instant kills on both...........
 
I have killed a lot of deer in Northern Virginia with a 95 gr BT...never had any go very far and most were DRT...

I will be heading back up to NVA this fall to hunt with the guys at least one more time but, unfortunately, I will no longer own the 243...I think I will take the 25-06 and the 6.5 Swede with me...

Cheers/bg
 
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