Ballistic Tips

[Homer]

A friend shot a 110 lb doe(we weighed it) at about 50 yds using a 270 with 130 gr BT's. Shot was placed directly in the near shoulder - she didn't go down immediately but only ran 30 yds. Bullet did not exit and the entrance wound was about as big as a baseball. I realize that dead is dead but what if the shot has to be further back to reach the vitals on an angle shot and a bigger deer.I prefer 2 holes - one in and one out no matter the angle and I use the Nosler partition in 30 cal. Seems to me the BT's are accurate but fragile and I don't use them. How about the bonded core BT's - what kind of results are you guys getting on whitetails with these?

 

[sure shot]

Another BT horror story... BT's are very soft and at 30 yards on the shoulder at the speed a 270 spits them they tend to explode on impact. Switch up to the Accubond or the partition they hold together a lot better.

 

[littledevil2873]

I dont think the BT are really designed to shoot animals in the shoulder. I aim for the lungs, top of the heart or neck and never had a problem, even with a 308 shooting 150 gr. at 275 or 300 yards.

 

[rost495]

Normal BT are not designed for penetration. Without a peeing match, if you want penetration and 2 holes(which I always want regardless size, angle, distance) Go to a different bullet. No input on the bonded core BT but Bear Claw, X, Partition, Win Failsafes are all better at the above mentioned capabilities.

Jeff

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Ballistic Tip bullets work great when you shoot deer BEHIND the shoulder. They rapidly expand in medium dense tissue and are devastating on whitetails. They would also work fine on a quarting away shot, as you mentioned.

A close quarter bone smasher, they are not. If you want a Ballsitic Tip that goes in one side and out the other, buy the newer Accubonds. They are very accurate, maintain a high BC and penetrate well.

If you want end-to-end penetration, no matter what, I'd use a bigger cartridge and a Barnes X bullet, Win Failsafe or similar bullet that maintains virtually 100% of its weight. Its a bit of overkill for a whitetail but they will have 2 holes in them.

[ 10-28-2004: Message edited by: Varmint Hunter ]

 

[Mysticplayer]

Homer, if you want the BT to leave an exit hole, slow them down. At 3000fps, you know how they work. Get the impact vel to 2500 and below, they start to behave themselves very nicely. At 2000fps, they start to act like Barnes X up close.

Another bullet you might want to consider is the SST. They are a much tougher bullet then the BT. Still a conventional bullet but should do well at your impact vel.

I have used Hornady Interlocks and now SST for all my game. Have yet to recover a bullet. Some shots have traveled down 12" of spine before exiting.

Last year, I hit a 3X3 at 335 yds. Estimated impact vel 2500fps. Bullet traveled over 4ft through the paunch and exited leaving a 3X4 hole.

Usual broadside shots leave a 1 1/2" exit hole.

slow them down and they will work better.

Jerry

 

[JD]

I agree with Jerry. Ive shot 10-15 deer with my 270 with 130BT @2950, and have never had them not go through any part of a deer. Also shot some 30cal 180's @ 2950fps, same thing. You just cant push em too fast and they work great, at least on deer, never used em on hogs or elk.

 

[rwleonard]

You could also just break their little necks at shorter ranges.

Rick

 

[ourway77]

You are so right (Dead is Dead) I agree I have had ML'er bullet that did not pass thru and It got dark no blood. Went back the next day and the foxes found her before I did. And I must have walked past her a dozen times. Lou

 

[J E Custom]

Ballistic Tip bullets work great when you shoot deer BEHIND the shoulder. They rapidly expand in medium dense tissue and are devastating on whitetails. They would also work fine on a quarting away shot, as you mentioned.

A close quarter bone smasher, they are not. If you want a Ballsitic Tip that goes in one side and out the other, buy the newer Accubonds. They are very accurate, maintain a high BC and penetrate well.

If you want end-to-end penetration, no matter what, I'd use a bigger cartridge and a Barnes X bullet, Win Failsafe or similar bullet that maintains virtually 100% of its weight. Its a bit of overkill for a whitetail but they will have 2 holes in them.

[ 10-28-2004: Message edited by: Varmint Hunter ]

+1

I use all of the nosler bullets and find them very dependable and predictable if used the way
they were designed to be used.

For very long shots where the velocity will be down (1800 to 2200 ft/sec ) at the POI I use the
ballistic tips. On the close high velocity shots I use the Partitions or the Accubonds.

To get maximum performance out of any bullet you have to know it's design intent and
velocity limits and then place the shot in the appropriate place.

It is very hard if not impossible to design a bullet that will do it all, so bullet choice is very
important and knowing it's use is a must.

For all round performance the Accubond is my first choice because of shot to shot performance.
But I still use other bullets for special needs.

With all the emphasis on minimizing meet damage the ballistic tip is a good design if placed
in soft tissue where little or no meat lose is desirable and maximum bleeding out is also
desirable for taste.

There was nothing surprising about the performance of the Ballistic tip with the shot placement,
Just like if you use a partition and hit the deer in the belly you would get little if any expansion
and the exit hole would be about the size of the entrance hole.

If a bullet is used as intended it will perform well if not, the results will normally be
disappointing.

I hope this helped to understand why his wound channel was not what you expected.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Derek M.]

I see this thread was started in 2004, so whether or not the OP will even read this is questionable. The Btip has been a controversial bullet. If you want to use them, aim for soft tissue only, and slow them down. The best advise IMO is to use a minimum charge of powder that is accurate in your rifle. UNLESS all of your shots will be beyond 500 yards or so, then, have at the bone shots if you like, with more powder.

I do NOT like or recommend the SST bullet from Hornady, so I respectfully disagree with the other poster on that. The SST is the only bullet I've ever seen blow up on game. I personally have had 100% success with Btips. Here's a pic of a pronghorn shot at 234 yards with a 308 and 150 SST factory load:

This is hardly what I look for on the ENTRY side. The bullet blew up on impact and even though it is hard to tell, it did not even penetrate the scapula. It took 3 more shots to put down this 90 pound animal. My friend who shot it had the misfortune of this being his first ever experience killing an animal with a firearm. (He is an experienced bowhunter). We were not impressed with the SST ammo and he will no longer use it. I never have and never will because I had heard it was worse than the Btips.

Of course this could all have ended up differently if the pronghorn was further away where the bullet slowed down more.

I will second the recommendation of the Accubonds. And I recommend Sciroccos if you can get them to shoot. As for the 270 and goats inside of 200 yards, if you want to juice up the load, go buy some 130 partitions and sleep well because you can smack bone all day long and have no worries. You'll get an exit. Stuff 'em hot over a big charge of Re22, use a magnum primer and get ready to punch your tag.

 

[Pdvdh]

This is hardly what I look for on the ENTRY side. The bullet blew up on impact and even though it is hard to tell, it did not even penetrate the scapula. It took 3 more shots to put down this 90 pound animal. My friend who shot it had the misfortune of this being his first ever experience killing an animal with a firearm.

I will second the recommendation of the Accubonds. And I recommend Sciroccos if you can get them to shoot. As for the 270 and goats inside of 200 yards, if you want to juice up the load, go buy some 130 partitions and sleep well because you can smack bone all day long and have no worries. You'll get an exit. Stuff 'em hot over a big charge of Re22, use a magnum primer and get ready to punch your tag.

Holy moly! An entrance wound? I wouldn't have believed any bullet could create a wound like than on entry. Sure you didn't pack an explosive tip into that bullet.

Thanks for posting that pic and the accompanying details. That one takes the cake for an entrance wound!

For the record, I agree the Accubond is a very accurate bullet, and a very reliably performing bullet on game.

 

[Derek M.]

Holy moly. An entrance wound? I wouldn't have believed any bullet could create a wound like than on entry. Sure you didn't pack an explosive tip into that bullet.

Thanks for posting that pic and the accompanying details. That one takes the cake for an entrance wound!

For the record, I agree the Accubond is a very accurate bullet, and a very reliably performing bullet on game.

Yes, that is the entry, or should I just say, the onside damage because there certainly was no exit. I was about 200 yards perpendicular behind a ditch watching the whole thing. My partner stalked this bedded buck with the wind in his face and got as close as he could when the Does started to stand up and look at him. I watched him through my binos as he ranged the buck 2-3 times. He looked over at me and signaled with his fingers, 2, 3, 4. I gave him the thumbs up because we sighted his new Remmy in to be dead on at 200 so he knew all he had to do was aim at the top third of the scapula and fire away.

The buck stood up and looked in his direction. About 2 seconds later, I witnessed the buck fall to the ground, then I hear the rifle and "whack" about the same time. The buck looked dead and was motionless, that is until the Does all ran off when the shooter stood up jumping up and down in delight. That ended quickly when the dazed buck began to walk towards where the Does ran. My friend settled to the ground again and shot at him again but missed. I signaled for him to get up and we both approached the buck because he simply kept falling down. The buck made it to an irrigation ditch and bedded up and didn't move even as we walked up on it.

Once we got about 20 yards away I told him to put one in the lung and fast. At that moment the buck stood up and took about a 10 yard gallop and stopped. BOOM! He fell. Got up again. BOOM with shot number 3. He falls again. We walked up to him, he looks up at us. I said, put one in the lung with a different bullet. (he brought some other brand that I cannot recall but it shot horribly...I think it was remmy corelokt).

Even though my friend was thrilled overall, and I was happy for him, this was NOT what was supposed to happen as far as I was concerned. He really didn't know any better so I didn't say much until a few weeks later. He is using the SSTs for trigger time only as we both consider these to be **** bullets.

 

[Minnow]

I have had less than reliable results shooting hogs and deer at closer range with the 130gr 270win BT's. I like the partition much better, but I'm going to give the 130gr Hornady Interlok a shot this year. It shoots MOA or better out of my browning A bolt.