Hunting & Fishing ballistic tips, after the shot...

[thejim2]

After input received from another post, I think I'm going to try deer hunting with balistic tips this year. For those who have used them, I'm asking what after effects inside the deer you've had with fragmentation of the projectile. In your expiriences, does the round stay in tact in one piece, or does it fragment into several pieces. If you have experienced framantation, what do you do then with the meat, just discard any portion involving the wound cavity?

Thanks, Jim

 

[A1para]

Re: ballistic tips, after the shot...

Hello,
I've used ballistic tips to kill quite a few deer over the years. Generally speaking fragmentation was not an issue. Most mushroomed uniformly and served their purpose.

When ballistic tips first came out there were some legitimate concerns regarding bullets not holding together. I was shooting a .270 Win. at the time and went from 130gr bullets to 150gr bullets because they seemed to stay together better. Nosler addressed the problem and I've had good results for the past twenty plus years. The "worst" recovered bullet came out of a big doe which was shot from 400yds away. That bullet fully mushroomed but the core seperated from the jacket. Both pieces were still together but not fused when found. (I know ballistic tips are not bonded core bullets)

I have personally used ballistic tips in .243 Win., .270 Win. and .308 Win. to take deer with. I also used them for target shooting in the .308 Win. to have one load for hunting and target shooting. I haven't shot them past 800 yds. but they have been plenty accurate for me.

Adding this to answer some of your questions I failed to answer the first time. Ballistic tips as well as most other bullets designed for deer sized game can damage some meat. Damage can be considerable if you hit a deer in the shoulder or other heavy bone. There can be some bullet fragments and also bone fragments cause some damage. We usually call the area around the wound channel "blood-shot" and discard it. A hit in the ribs doesn't usually cause that much damage. The bullet will take out a rib or two on the entry side and two to three ribs on the exit side. A hit in the spine can damage alot of meat. Other bullets such as Sierra Game-king or Speer pointed soft points cause similar results.

Hope this helps,

Sim

 

[leadbullet]

Re: ballistic tips, after the shot...

no fragmentation, usually mushrooms nicely and stays in one piece. Not a single buck ran more than 45 feet, most dropped in their tracks. One low shot on a big MN 12 pointer hit him in the liver and turned it into "wet sand" consistency and the slug broke three ribs on the way out. He was very tasty.
good hunting.

 

[B3dlam]

Re: ballistic tips, after the shot...

I recently utilized nosler combinded technology bullets (the bullets used in winchester ballistic silvertip ammo i belive it is although mine were handloads) to take a caribou the first shot I threw (bad case of buck fever first large animal I had ever shot) but then I got the fundementals down second round was heart and lungs the animal didnt really move back legs down then front and it was out. I didnt recover either bullet but they appeared to do their job well and I found no bullet fragments while cleaning the animal so I would guess it mushroomed out but held together.

 

[aaronraby1]

Re: ballistic tips, after the shot...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: attherange</div><div class="ubbcode-body">no fragmentation, usually mushrooms nicely and stays in one piece.</div></div>


same here in 30 cal. for me. in .224 though, i have had quite a few that have fragmented and broke apart on coyotes. still puts them down though.

 

[Paul38]

Re: ballistic tips, after the shot...

I played with them once for hunting, wasn't to impressed but I'm sure I was pushing them past there limits.
I was using a 30-378 Whtby and 165 ballistic tips, damn things just blow off the hide and skin, never penetrated the deer at all. The deer was only a 100 yards when I shot and then ran another 100 yards before dying. But you know that had to hurt.

 

[pprochnow]

Re: ballistic tips, after the shot...

I have recovered 4-5 Hornady SST's from animals, a few had the copper jacket separate completely from the lead - granted it was a heavy bone hit on a whitetail - 300 win mag 130 gr.
If you send them fast... say 2700fps and up look for a partition or proven bonded instead.
I have recovered 10-20 rem corelokt they are cheap but stay 80% + intact from 3006 / 308 / 270 / 7mmm. If I could upload pics i could post some pictures of recovered boolits.
If you are worried about meat get em close and spank them with a .44 mag lever gun... my personal favorite

 

[mrhog]

Re: ballistic tips, after the shot...

Speaking for someone that did alot of SSP hunting; I used the BTs because they would expand at the lower speeds of the pistols. Their thin jacket made them almost the perfect pistol bullet.
Later on they came out with the SSP bullet; and I changed to that where I could.
In my '06 I did stay with the 150 NBT; because it worked so well.

 

[MLC]

Re: ballistic tips, after the shot...

I stopped using them when I tried Barnes TSX's.
I had inconsistent results in my 6.5x55 with the 120's.

 

[Tomcat088]

Re: ballistic tips, after the shot...

I've shot quite a few deer with 180 grain Nosler ballistic tips pushed pretty quick from a .300 winmag. All the deer I hit with there were at 300 yards or less. Maybe I was pushing them too fast, but they always seemed more on the "explosive" side to me. They were devastating, and I never had an animal get away. I can honestly say there were quite a few that didn't exit, and broke up pretty good. They would stay in pretty big chunks, but they still would fragment on me. That was probably 9 years ago though, so maybe that was the "old design" that someone was talking about. They sure made a mess of coyotes' heads.

Personally, I switched to the 180 grain Accubonds, and felt a lot better with the performance. I had almost no bloodshot meat, like I did with some of the BT's. For me, even at .300 winmag velocities, the bullets hold together well, expanded reliably, and exited; which is what I like. I have no doubt the Accubonds would hold together even after passing through shoulders of animals like Elk. So for me, hunting big game, I prefer the Accubonds.

 

[FN in MT]

Re: ballistic tips, after the shot...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: thejim2</div><div class="ubbcode-body">After input received from another post, I think I'm going to try deer hunting with balistic tips this year. For those who have used them, I'm asking what after effects inside the deer you've had with fragmentation of the projectile. In your expiriences, does the round stay in tact in one piece, or does it fragment into several pieces. If you have experienced framantation, what do you do then with the meat, just discard any portion involving the wound cavity?

Thanks, Jim </div></div>

What rifle? What cartridge? Shorter range, or hunting the plains out West?

 

[thejim2]

Re: ballistic tips, after the shot...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: FN in MT</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: thejim2</div><div class="ubbcode-body">After input received from another post, I think I'm going to try deer hunting with balistic tips this year. For those who have used them, I'm asking what after effects inside the deer you've had with fragmentation of the projectile. In your expiriences, does the round stay in tact in one piece, or does it fragment into several pieces. If you have experienced framantation, what do you do then with the meat, just discard any portion involving the wound cavity?

Thanks, Jim </div></div>

What rifle? What cartridge? Shorter range, or hunting the plains out West?

</div></div>

Rem 700 sps, 30-06, 50-200 yds....thanks everyone for the help and input, it is really giving me a good idea of the loads I want to hunt with this year.

 

[Insayn]

Re: ballistic tips, after the shot...

We use 55 grain Winchester Ballistic Silvertips in our entry rifles as well as patrol rifles. I also hunt deer with it. If it hits something solid or dense I have always found it to fragment. My wife pulled a piece of copper jacket out o some backstrap I smoked and the shot was a high neck shot.

 

[Nortex]

Re: ballistic tips, after the shot...

Had a 120gr 7mm this year not expand at all, also had a 150gr 7mm also not exit a deer just left a nasty fluid pocket on opposite shoulder. I use the Accubonds in my 06 and loved the results I had with them.

 

[Paul38]

Re: ballistic tips, after the shot...

I second the Accubonds, those bullets are tough as hell and fly good.

 

[slowr1der]

Re: ballistic tips, after the shot...

I have shot several deer with a 95 grain Hornady SST out of my .243 Winchester.
Infact, every deer I've killed with a rifle in the last couple of years has been with this round over 40.3 grains of IMR 4831 and a few friends have also killed deer with my rifle with this load. These bullets have done very well on deer for me. I've had a couple DRT's with these bullets, and I've seen a few run, but if they do run they don't go far. The most amazing one I've seen was last year. I took a kid hunting and he had never shot a deer with a rifle before. He'd killed a few with a shotgun, and missed a couple with a rifle, but I decided to let him use mine as we stalked a few deer unable to get close enough for him to use his shotgun. He shot the deer from about 120 yards and the deer took off looking un hit. It was right at the edge of some cutover so it only had to go about 4 feet before we were unable to see it. I thought he missed, but when we walked over to where it had been, there was a big puddle of blood. I was amazed tracking the deer. It was blood sprayed all over the tree's on both sides of where it had gone in, and all over the ground. It was unlike either of us had ever seen. It looked like a massacre had occurred. We found the deer laying about 15 yards away. He had hit it right in the shoulder and the bullet had broken both shoulders. I can't figure out how in the world the deer even made it 15 yards, but it did. This was a pass through so we didn't recover the bullet. I had 2 run with me. One was a perfect shot, and one was a high shot that hit right under the spine. Both ran less than 25 yards.

I've had a pass through from the bullet on all but two deer with this, and I've had it hit bone several times, and just cut the bone clean into and still pass through. What it does seem to do though is hit the deer and do massive damage. If you don't like wasting meat this isn't the bullet for you. I had a friend complain about the wasted meat, but for me I'd rather drop the deer. They tend to make a very large exit wound and the meet around the wound channel is usually pretty blood shot, but these things do major damage and still pass through.

We have recovered these bullets in 1 deer. It was shot in the chest from the front, so the bullet went back. It penetrated very deep, and had very good penetration. This one wouldn't have stopped if it had been a broadside shot. That one stayed together very well.

The only time I've had any separate from the jacket to my knowledge is a few I've shot into the dirt and ended up digging out. I've never had them separate that I know of on an animal.