-
Having trouble using the site?
Contact support
115 Dtacs with nose ring
- Thread starter Jarrodb1975
- Start date
I’ve heard that they were developed for hunting but the nose ring made the bc more uniform bullet to bullet.
You would think that creating a grove around the bullet would make it less aerodynamic and reduce the bc.
Things get different at super sonic speeds, breaking up the way the air flows can actually reduce drag etc similar to how golf balls get slicker in the air with the dimples.
Anyone seen these up close? Ive had good luck hunting with the old DTACs. Just never felt 100% so passed a few nice ones up due to that over the years. This could be good but like the dude up a few posts i have boxes of the old style yet to shoot.
I have some coming for my Tubb gun. I have been shooting the non nose ring DTACs so I’ll report what I find.
I installed me new 1:7 barrel yesterday. I am also looking for reviews of bullet performance on animals. Probably have to wait till fall to hear anything.
Been using DTACs for years picked a box of ringed. I'll report back, onething for sure old DTACs were not hunting bullets, I've shot a antelope 2, both kill shots normally, though the non-ring DTACs past cleanly thru and thru, when my buddy finally reached the antelope he put er down. Also shot parrie dogs with non-ringed, pass thru and thru ,They'll be my first test, as their on my backyard, DTACs do not increase BC, a slight decrease, via Tubbs, my hope and probability is the Dope will be close enough so practicing get rewarded with known shot placements.
I forget which one bit Frank talked about them in a podcast. He said if you used them on an animal they would blow it to pieces.
Really only thing I was wanting to know is if the nose ring makes them more consistent as they advertise.
I believe he has said it does lower the BC. But it’s more consistent in flight. So while BC may be lower, BC variation from bullet to bullet is lower. Therefore the end result is an increase in consistency which is always more important than squeezing the most BC you can.
I used the old DTACs while hunting whitetail and they worked just fine for me at 600 yards out of a 6BR. A double-lung shot with good expansion, followed by a second shot that passed through the rear femur and still made it into the lungs. Just turned away after the first hit but I got antsy with my follow-up wanting to avoid a runner at all costs.
The big question I have is whether the new DTACs are more consistent lot to lot. I never had issues with old DTACs behaving oddly in flight, but I hated that some lots shot well and others just didn't. I even measured one lot with a consistently undersized 0.2415" bullet diameter, not to mention the huge changes in ogive and length from lot to lot. It's the one and only reason I switched to shooting Berger's.
The big question I have is whether the new DTACs are more consistent lot to lot. I never had issues with old DTACs behaving oddly in flight, but I hated that some lots shot well and others just didn't. I even measured one lot with a consistently undersized 0.2415" bullet diameter, not to mention the huge changes in ogive and length from lot to lot. It's the one and only reason I switched to shooting Berger's.
Shot today 115 DTacs plain and ringed, I do not see a difference in accuracy the ring shoots slower than non-ringed- shooting out to 800 yds. I rather shoot non-ringed for accuracy. They expand better than non-ringed which is why I bought some. I hear chatter with 33-50 crowed about using ringed bullets, ELR. IMOP
Dredging up a thread from a few months back. It came up in my search.
The above test at 800 yards probably is just barely in a range to show an improvement from the nose ring bullet versus the plain. The nosering will have a slightly reduced BC, but the standard deviation of the BC will be lower. I think that will more likely show up at greater ranges. Ideally at the beginning of transonic range at 1350fps. Whatever distance that works out to be for any given rifle.
I have 500 plain and 500 Hbn nosering DTACs to test when my 6GT is complete. I'll load develop to the plain DTAC first and record a 20 shot string at a distance I suspect will be around 1300'ish yards. Then I'll break in the barrel to the Hbn nosering DTAC, load develop, and repeat the 20 shot string.. the difference should show up in the vertical dispersion of the points of impact.
Anything under 1000 yards simply won't do this test any justice.
The above test at 800 yards probably is just barely in a range to show an improvement from the nose ring bullet versus the plain. The nosering will have a slightly reduced BC, but the standard deviation of the BC will be lower. I think that will more likely show up at greater ranges. Ideally at the beginning of transonic range at 1350fps. Whatever distance that works out to be for any given rifle.
I have 500 plain and 500 Hbn nosering DTACs to test when my 6GT is complete. I'll load develop to the plain DTAC first and record a 20 shot string at a distance I suspect will be around 1300'ish yards. Then I'll break in the barrel to the Hbn nosering DTAC, load develop, and repeat the 20 shot string.. the difference should show up in the vertical dispersion of the points of impact.
Anything under 1000 yards simply won't do this test any justice.
Could you do me a favor and shoot a deer with one?
Wanted to see results on animals. I've ordered powder but not 100% set on a DTAC with nosering or Berger VLD hunting.
Wanted to see results on animals. I've ordered powder but not 100% set on a DTAC with nosering or Berger VLD hunting.
DTACs can be great on deer, or they can be terrible - it depends on the lot and/or specific bullet you're shooting.
The current nose-ring and closed-nose DTACs I would not recommend for hunting. They aren't really comparable to even a pointed hollow point, simply because the nose is completely sealed off. You will get no expansion with these bullets whatsoever, unless you happen to hit bone on your way through. Here's a pic of the newer DTAC design with a closed nose that you can purchase from Tubb's website:
If you have an older lot of DTACs that is simply a pointed hollow point design, not a completely closed nose, then those DTACs actually work quite nicely. You could probably get similar effects if you trimmed the tips of your closed-nose DTACs, but I haven't tried that to know for sure. I took my deer in 2019 using DTACs with an open nose, just sifting through an older lot to find specific bullets with a larger than average opening. Shooting them at 2725fps from my BR it was a clean kill at 550 yards, deer turned quartering away and took a couple steps before I made a follow-up shot for good measure. Turns out the first shot hit both lungs and the deer was about to drop anyways, but it was near dusk and I'd rather be safe than sorry.
DTACs can be great on deer, or they can be terrible - it depends on the lot and/or specific bullet you're shooting.
The current nose-ring and closed-nose DTACs I would not recommend for hunting. They aren't really comparable to even a pointed hollow point, simply because the nose is completely sealed off. You will get no expansion with these bullets whatsoever, unless you happen to hit bone on your way through. Here's a pic of the newer DTAC design with a closed nose that you can purchase from Tubb's website:
If you have an older lot of DTACs that is simply a pointed hollow point design, not a completely closed nose, then those DTACs actually work quite nicely. You could probably get similar effects if you trimmed the tips of your closed-nose DTACs, but I haven't tried that to know for sure. I took my deer in 2019 using DTACs with an open nose, just sifting through an older lot to find specific bullets with a larger than average opening. Shooting them at 2725fps from my BR it was a clean kill at 550 yards, deer turned quartering away and took a couple steps before I made a follow-up shot for good measure. Turns out the first shot hit both lungs and the deer was about to drop anyways, but it was near dusk and I'd rather be safe than sorry.
As pointed out by the poster above, with the new nose ring, open or closed tip is "designed" to be irrelevant. The nosering allows the tip to collapse into the center of the bullet and allow for expansion. All the feedback I've seen so far seems to support that it works very well.
I I recall Tubb has stated they are quite devastating on game. Plus you get the ballistic benefits from the nose ring closely matching every bullet.
This thread is over 2 years old but still relevant. Anybody shoot animals with the nose ring bullets yet? I am almost out of Berger VLD Hunting bullets and may make the switch to Dtacs. They are way cheaper and are available. Bergers have not been available for quite a while.
Check out the 6UM thread on rokslide. They're shooting nose ring dtacs at 3300+ mv. Killing elk and shit out near 1k yards. I'm so intrigued I ordered 6saum reamer with a ton of freebore. Also have a 22" 6gt that's has long freebore. Will build a load for each and see how they do terminally for me at high and low speeds. Believe minimal recommended velocity from those guys over there was around 1800fps.
I think David said it does increase drag and lower BC, but not by much. Selling point it that you gain BC consistency.
I know guys have ran the nose ring dtac through the ab lab, believe it was 295g7. Quite a bit lower than the 315 I use to waterline the newest lots of standard 115dtac at 1200y.
Last edited:
I have had some lots where the bc "dropped" and some lots where the bc was "better." Even before the NR DTACS the bcs were all over the place. Mostly because sierra isn't consistent in their pointing operation. I have had lots that trued from .585 to .635. The most recent lot were nose ringed and I had to adjust the form factor to .95 in 4dof (no clue what the bc trued to). They were running 3140 from a 28" 243 Ackley.
I've heard people say this in the past, but nothing recently. I started running DTACs in a 6 Creed back in 2017'ish. I did see some variation in BC from lot to lot. But the last few years has been pretty good. I've had four or five different lot numbers as supply was so tough I was scrounging them from anyone who was willing to part with them. I've ran every lot at .306 without deviation.
I bought mine straight from Tubb in 22, and got 2 different lots. I had less issue with the BC changing between the two, and more problems with the fact BTO and OAL were all over the place and different from lot to lot.
That's the same issue with all versions of DTACs. In a thread here I brought the same thing up directly to David and he simply disappeared.
My son and I have shot 5 deer with dtacs in 243 Winchester and find them to be inconsistent. I shot my last 2 at 250 yards and one had a big hole in its side and was easy to track. The other bled less and less and I never found it. How a bullet can go from one extreme to the other is beyond me. They're wonderful bullets for shooting steel but for me, that's where it stops
How did the first three perform? And where was shot placement on the last 2?
Did the bullet hit bone in the deer that you recovered ? What about the other 3 deer of the 5 killed with these bullets , how did they perform ? Thanks
I shot the deer right in the ribs on 2 that we recovered and 1 in the neck. I had to shoot the neck shot deer again. There are much better bullets for hunting based on my experience.
Attachments
Interesting - the guys over on rokslide have had pretty solid experience with the DTACs.
It's tough to find a bullet that matches what I want out of ballistic coefficient and terminal performance.
I run ELD-Xs alot, and they always kill, but the performance can range from pass through, to wild explosive fragmentation (which i do not prefer)
What has been your favorite bullet so far?
I was thinking of trying some Berger VLD - but I dont' anticpiate they would perform markedly difference from the DTACs.
Most other controlled expansion bullets are usually sacrificing a lot of BC - and the ranges I'm usually forced to hunt I don't love compromising wind performance.
That's very interesting I heard tubb say on a podcast he originally developed the tool for them for baboon hunting he didn't want to use different bullets
I shot several critters this year with 108 elite hunters with excellent results. 6cm at 3050fps. 2 Antelope, 3 deer. Everything from 450-720y. Adequate expansion, pass through exits with 2" exits. The anteloe were bang flops(neck and high shoulder) deer were crease vital shots at long range, one was bang flop, other two made 20-30y death sprints before crash and burn dead. Was really happy with them. I have a 6saum, and it has the capability to haul ass, 115s over 3300 and 108-112, over 3400. I'm trying to find a bullet tough enough to hold up, but still expand at lower velocity. I have 105hyb, 108elite, 109 hyb, 109 eldm, 110 smk, 112 match burner, 115dtac. If nosler made a heavy 6mm accubond or sierra had a 107-112gr tmk or tgk they'd prob be exactly what I need. Judging the results of the 108eh and 77tmk last year, I truly need nothing but a 6mm and or 22 cal of the creed to gt capacity for hunting anything smaller than elk.
