To ballistic tip or not to balistic tip...

thundergrey

thundergrey

Member
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Location
Spruce Grove, AB
My hunting partner says that one problem with balistic tip ammo is that the plastic tip breaks off in your meat. Mmmmm... Plastic.... Anyways, I just find that the drop on the balistic tip is alot less. More specificly I was looking at the Federal Premium Nosler Ballistic Tip in 165gr for my 30-06 for my big game stuff (moose, elk and long range deer)

my canadian tire special winchester super-x pointed soft point in 165gr is my target/<150yrds deer round... because its half the price as the other stuff im looking at.

this is my first rifle and i guess im just looking for some good general info on factory ammo... im not reloading and probably never will. I just wondering on some good factory loads and what i should sight my rifle to? I bought a Savage Combo w/bushnell scope.
 
If your buddy is worried about a plastic tip in the meat, what does he think about bullet fragments of copper and lead?
For hunting deer with an '06 under 150y, there are any number of factory loads that will work just fine. If you like the Super-X 165gr PSP, go ahead and use it.
 
i just like it because its available at Canadian Tire and is $22/box. haha

I just dont know if i would trust it with an elk or a moose.... i donno. i guess in the end it all goes boom and whump if i do my part...
 
I look at plastic tips as ballistic coefficient insurance. I had a Remington gas auto that always nicked the exposed lead tip of the round as it chambered. A plastic tip is more likely to slide past the burr than catch.

As for eating plastic, Tiriaq has it right. Lead? Copper? Plastic? Pffift! Traumatized meat isn't very appetizing anyways.
 
I found that the Nosler Balistic tip blew the living #### out of my deer ( I handload a 7mm mag). I went to the Nosler Accubond and have never looked back. I have also heard good things about the Hornady similar.
 
i wouldn't use bt for big game, too explosive. great for target practice. buy something with a bonded or partition for hunting. use the canadian tire cheap stuff for practice.premium ammo is cheap for hunting as after sight in only a couple of rounds a year are needed.
 
I like them, have worked well for me and my rifles like them too.

I have found the tip on occasion when butchering deer separate but that can happen with bullet fragments from almost all hunting ammo. From what I've seen it didn't increase the amount of unusable meat over other ammo.
 
I think it REALLY depends a lot on your working velocity ranges. If you shoot anything that has the words "ultra" or "magnum" (or both) in the title, a BT is probably not the big game bullet for you. However, at 308 win/30-06-ish velocities, if you use a heavier (for caliber) bullet (168 or 180 grain), they should work awesomely well.

I had The Wife(tm) shooting 168 grain BT's out of a 308 Winchester last year, and both deer she shot went down with authority (one of which was a large/mature mule deer; lest anyone say it's only good for Texas whitetails!). Meat loss from "splat" wasn't too bad either; there was some, but I've seen just as bad from typical soft-points.

But, that was at 2700-ish FPS impact velocity -- if you pushed that same bullet up near (or beyond) 3,000FPS -- it probably would have been a whole other story.
 
brotherjack said:
I think it REALLY depends a lot on your working velocity ranges. If you shoot anything that has the words "ultra" or "magnum" (or both) in the title, a BT is probably not the big game bullet for you. However, at 308 win/30-06-ish velocities, if you use a heavier (for caliber) bullet (168 or 180 grain), they should work awesomely well.

I had The Wife(tm) shooting 168 grain BT's out of a 308 Winchester last year, and both deer she shot went down with authority (one of which was a large/mature mule deer; lest anyone say it's only good for Texas whitetails!). Meat loss from "splat" wasn't too bad either; there was some, but I've seen just as bad from typical soft-points.

But, that was at 2700-ish FPS impact velocity -- if you pushed that same bullet up near (or beyond) 3,000FPS -- it probably would have been a whole other story.
Click to expand...

ya , push 'em fast , turn 'em into varmint bullets, up close that is...
 
Ballistic tips are a very good hunting bullet. If guys are worried about plastic in the meat, that's just silly. Someone experiencing them blowing up or doing too much damage is almost surely pushing their specific bullets outside of their intended maximum impact velocities.
 
If you have any concerns of there performance go to Federal Cartridge Companys web site and watch the video on bullet performance, if I remember correctly its a 30-06 with 165g bullets testing 4 different premium loads and the ballistic tips penetrate as well as all the others except the TSX. Even on heavy bone hits
 
I used one (Fed Premium Nosler ballistic tip) to take a deer at around 50 yards with my 308, shot it through the lungs and it performed just as it should, didn't over expand or fragment even at close distance. I chose that bullet because it was very accurate in my Norinco M14 when I tested it at 200 yards. I'd use it again. Glad to read that it penetrate well even after hitting heavy bone, which of course it didn't on deer ribs.
 
How a ballistic tip performs depends on the particular weight and caliber.I have killed eight elk and two moose with the 180gr ballistic tip out of my 300ultramags,and they penetrated both shoulders of a bull elk just fine.On the other hand,the 165gr .308" ballistic tips were much softer.
 
stubblejumper said:
How a ballistic tip performs depends on the particular weight and caliber.I have killed eight elk and two moose with the 180gr ballistic tip out of my 300ultramags,and they penetrated both shoulders of a bull elk just fine.On the other hand,the 165gr .308" ballistic tips were much softer.
Click to expand...

Yup. It seems very common for manufacturers to make their 180gr (.308 dia) bullets with noticeably heavier construction than their 165's.
 
As long as you're making "boiler room" shots then why would you be concerned? I've blown up tons of different bullets inside deer and never found a touch of any bullet fragment within the meat......
 
I would not worry about finding plastic tips in meat. I'v used Nosler 150 gr BT's in my 7x57 for my last three deer, and all were bang/flops with no bullet recovered. All three were large bodied bucks, shot through the ribs at ranges from just over 100yds to 325yds.Like many others here have said, in standard non-magnum cartridges the Ballisitic Tip is a very good bullet for deer sized game. For larger game with your 30-06, you might try Federals 180gr Nosler Partition, about ideal for Moose and Elk.

Since you don't plan on reloading, can I suggest that you pick out a few factory loads that suit your needs, and go out to the range and try them out. Use a big target and don't adjust the scope, just fire several groups maintaing the same point of aim. Fire either three or five round groups at 100, and watch to see if the point of impact changes on the target. Then pick the one that gives the best consistency (maintains the same point of impact) and accuracy. Go back and buy 5 boxes of that ammunition, same lot number (it will be written on the inside flap of the box), and that way you won't have to worry about the point of impact changing between boxes. Go back to the range, and zero the rifle for 2" high at 100yds, and then fire a few groups at 200 and 300 yds each. This will let you know exactly how much drop (and wind drift) this load has in your rifle, rather than relying on the published ballistics. If you take the time to analyze what your groups are telling you, you will be able to take shots with much more confidence, and you'll build up shooting skill while your at it. Let you barrel cool between groups, resist the urge to hurry things up, I bring my .22 bolt to keep me busy between shot strings, this also helps to develop good shooting habits. By this point you should have shot 60 to 70 rounds of ammo, which leaves you lots for hunting, and to confirming your zero for a few years.

The cost of 5 or 6 boxes of good factory loads may seem a bit high, but this should last you at least two or three hunting seasons. You might be able to get a deal if you buy a case of ten boxes. IThe cost of ammuntion is only going to go up, so really in the long run your saving, and at the end of it, you can turn around and sell your fired brass on the EE as once fired brass, all of the same lot number.

Good luck.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom