Nosler Ballistic Tips - Performance?

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blauber

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A buddy of mine shoots 55 gr BTs out of a .223 for varmints; I shoot 50 gr Sierra Blitzkings in 22-250. Same buddy shoots 165 gr SSTs in .308 for deer, I shoot 130 gr Partitions in .270.

We both have .243s. He is going back to an 87 gr Hornady SP from a 75 gr V-max. I would like to know if anyone uses 90 or 95 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips
and how this bullet "behaves" on varmints and deer.

Lets assume shot placement is spot on and the deer is a broadside shot vs. in line (frontal) for the varmints. Are they exiting all? How will it perform as an all round load? Is there a better long range bullet choice?

I will be pushing it in a 1/10 twist most likely with H4350.
 
My last 4 deer were shot with nosler 100g 243 partitions and didnot go 20 yards. I use nosler partitions for all my hunting rounds in all calipers..
 
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I have shot two deer and a bear with the 95 grain ballistic tips from a 243, they did the job but didn't exit one deer or the bear, both shot more broadside then quartering to me. The bullets seemed to expand fast and neither retained 50% weight leaving a fair amount of blood shot meat. I switched to partitions and have had through and through performance with them on several deer and bear.
I belong more to the Elmer Kieth school where I like to have the bullet penetrate and leave two holes connected by a moderate permanent wound channel rather than a bullet that dumps all its energy into a temporary large channel and doesn't exit. You don't get as many bang-flop kills but rarely have to track more than 50 yards.

As for varmints (groundhogs) then I am looking for a bullet that totally dumps its energy: I use the Nosler 70 grain ballistic tips to tremendous effect, with a muzzle velocity of 3400 f/s they will tear a groundhog almost in half and I don't have to worry as much about ricochets.

Dan
 
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BTs

Magnum_Tom said:
I really wanted to like the Nosler BTs and BT Hunting. But at 2x the price and 3x the group sizes compared to Hornady, I gave up on them.
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What did you go with in the Hornady? SST or SPs or V-max? I'm not too sure what I will settle on but I have 50 BTs here and another 50 coming...maybe I should try 50 Hornady's?
 
I don't like btips. I watched my buddy kill a buck at ~70 yards with a 280 using 150gr CT Btips. I made the loads for him and impact speed was ~2600 fps.

Entrance and didn't exit.

bentrance.jpg
 
blauber said:
What did you go with in the Hornady? SST or SPs or V-max? I'm not too sure what I will settle on but I have 50 BTs here and another 50 coming...maybe I should try 50 Hornady's?
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I went with SSTs for deer / moose. If you don't want BTs, for deer, the Interlocks are fine and even cheaper, and they group better.
 
BT's grouped better for me than Hornady SST's...depends on your rifle. The only BT ive ever recovered was on a head on shot on a deer. Found the bullet a ways down along the spine...it had shed about 40% of its weight.
 
For deer hunting, 6mm Ballistic Tip are world renowed to be not so reliable on deer sized game, 6mm is a small caliber and Ballistic Tip construction does not favor controlled expansion.
The classic 243 Win deer bullet is the 90gr, 95gr or 100gr Nosler Partition depending on which is most accurate for your rifle.

As for varminting, Nosler 95gr Ballistic Tip is an outstanding long range bullet but I prefer to shooting Nolser 80gr Ballistic Tip Varmint or Hornady 87gr V-Max both of which are super explosive on varmints.

Alex
 
kman300 said:
I don't like btips. I watched my buddy kill a buck at ~70 yards with a 280 using 150gr CT Btips. I made the loads for him and impact speed was ~2600 fps.

Entrance and didn't exit.

:eek: Bloodshot meat. This is what I don't want in a bullet. Maybe an Accubond in a 90 gr would be a better all round load-no damage to coyote meat either ;)

Another bullet that I was considering is the Swift Scirocco II - but there's not too much information on it out there. I wanted to play safe and stick with <100 gr (1/10 twist) so the Interbonds are out unless I go 87 gr-but I'm already loaded up with 85 gr Sierra GK HPBT in another .243 so I was looking for a little heavier, higher BC to reach out at extended range.
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In my .243 I use Nosler partitions in 95gr. Shot a nice doe last fall broad side to me about 30yds. Bullet went right through both lungs busting a few ribs on route. Plus caused alot of calateral damage in between. Deer ran 30yds and dropped.

For coyotes I use Nosler 70gr Varmit ballistic tips. I also use Horandy 65 gr Vmax's but my model 70 likes the noslers better. She will consistantly make 5 holes that you can cover with a loonie with the noslers.
 
I've killed a couple deer and one Mountain Goat with BT's. I guess the fact that they were "killed" means they worked but I must say, other then the goat I was marginally impressed. The goat was shot in the base of the neck and never twitched but I suspect any old bullet would have done the same thing at that POI.

Accubonds fly the same in my rifles and hold together much better. Any of my loads that shot BT's well seem to do the same with accubonds so I switched. I don't shoot BT's for deer sized game or larger anymore. There are just too many quality bullets out there now that actually hold together.
 
I seem to recall that there was an issue with the older BT's and not the current batch. I had always attributed explosiveness to shot placement. Hornady SST's behave the same. Just need to pick the right bullet for the right job !
 
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