NBT's for mule deer??

[Guest]

Re: NBT\'s for mule deer??

I killed a 275 plus lb. mulie about 5 years ago almost directly across the road from Ric's house at 310 yds with a 140 NBT from a 7mm STW. It was a neck shot and he dropped at the shot with minimal meat damage. The same can't be said for a shoulder shot. I killed 6 whitetails with a 180 NBT this year from a .300WM with none going more than 10 yds from the shot. The Ballistic Tip is plenty 'nuf bullet for any deer if you put it in the boiler room.

 

[GEG]

Re: NBT\'s for mule deer??

You fellows may not believe this but the youngest of the Nosler's told my father at a NRA show that if a Ballistic Tip did not
dispatch "any" animal that we ever shot with it, he wanted us to call him and let him know about it, of course he knew that we would not be going after elephant with it either! That was enough for us to use them in every caliber we have. I shot a cull
south Texas buck with a 180gr Ballistic Tip
out of a 300 Win Mag at 3100fps standing
at 257yds broad side, center shoulder
impact, the buck did a complete side flip
and landed on all fours folded under him
with chin on the ground! When I took the buck back to camp and hung him up, I could "almost" see thru the deer, the other hunters could not believe what they where looking at and neither could I! GEG

 

[Reloader]

Re: NBT\'s for mule deer??

NBTs are great bullets.

Most of the people that bad-mouth them have never used them and they heard some BS story about how they failed.

Alot of folks make a terrible shot, that couldn't have been helped w/ any bullet, and blame it on the NBT.

I have shot dozens of deer and hogs from all diff kinds of angle and distances w/ the NBTs and they haven't let me down yet. Although, I have seen several folks be let down by Fail Safes and Partitions on wt deer sized game (due to very little expansion and hardly any internal damage). I have heard the Barnes bullets aren't very explosive either.

The NBTs give us plenty of the penetration and expansion we need to put game down in a quick humane manner.

Reloader

[ 05-28-2004: Message edited by: Reloader ]

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Re: NBT\'s for mule deer??

Reloader,

I'd have to respectfully disagree on a few points.

I have shot many whitetails over the years and have used nearly every bullet available, at one time or another. Noslers B-Tips WILL fail to get the job done if shot ouside there intended impact parameters. High impact velocities and tough anatomities are the things that cause dramatic surface expansion with little penetration. Thus, giving the NBT's a bad name. NBT's aren't really designed for deep penetration, at least not like a bonded core or monolithic bullet. I have seen first hand what a 140gr NBT fired from my 7STW can, and can not do when used on whitetails.

Don't get me wrong, I have shot thousands of NBT's and really like them but they DO have limitations, even when used against medium biggame. In my opinion, NBT's are a maximum expansion/minimum penetration biggame bullet. Hit a whitetail broadside in the chest with a NBT and its "light's out" quick, 99% of the time. Hit a heavy bone at high velocity and the outcome may be totally different.

Barnes X and Failsafes are moderate expansion/maximum penetration bullets. You may not see dramatic terminal performance but total penetration is almost a given. I've yet to be disappointed by these bullets. Lets face it; whitetail hunting and the red mist culture are not synonomous. Only so much expansion is a good thing.

Fortunately, we now have some new-breed bullets. The Accubonds and Interbonds seem to have the best qualities of both bullet styles. High BC, great accuracy and exceptional weight retention & penetration. Like getting Swift Scirrocco's at half the price.

NBT's are great bullets but no bullet is perfect in all possible situations.

The NBT "varmint" bullets; well they might just be the exception to that statement.

Good shootin' - VH

 

[Guest]

Re: NBT\'s for mule deer??

I say this all the time....and I'll continue to do so....

For 7mm the cauterucio's are hands down as close to a perfect bullet as we can get. I use the 156's with a .615 BC in my 7STW. His 176 grain has a .750 BC.

And they are great on game!

Unfortuantly Bob Cauterucio doesn't make any bigger than 7mm in his VLD bullets.

[ 05-28-2004: Message edited by: John M. ]

 

[Brown Dog]

Re: NBT\'s for mule deer??

I think Varmint Hunter has it about right...
I love BTs for their accuracy, but have always been a little suspicious of them since -on 2 consecutive days shooting reds a few years ago- 150gr BTs out of my 308 failed to deliver killing penetration on 'classic' side aspect heart shots.
On both occasions the entry wound was spot on, but didn't seem to lead anywhere -ie no there was no apparent penetration. A second shot was required on both animals (when the BTs did function perfectly). I've never satisfactorily explained it to myself!

My learning from this was to move up a bullet weight by switching to 165gr BT for my 308. Performance is fine (leaning towards the destructive end of fine!)for classic heart or neck shots. I would avoid a shoulder shot.
I've not fired the BTs from my 300, but if I did, I would be moving up to 180gr (and expecting the exit wound to look like a hit from a 20mm!).

[ 05-29-2004: Message edited by: Brown Dog ]

 

[Pete Lincoln]

Re: NBT\'s for mule deer??

There is no such thing as a perfect bullet, and has a bullet ever failed? the odd one maybe, but most failures are due to the user choosing the wrong bullet for a given application. Ive done it my self, a few years ago i used Fail safes for a while and had poor results, why? they where to hard for the game i was hunting, little expansion, runaway game, would i say that the failsafe is a poor bullet? no, use it on tough, thick skinned game (like it say on the box) and you will do just fine, like wise i wouldn't want to use a ballistic tip on a cape buffalo.. do a little research and pick the right bullet for the right application.
Bal tips, Interlocks, SST and the like are bullets thaqt expand easily, hence at high velocity and or close range you may get to rapid expansion, leading to lack of penetration. on the otherhand, they are perfect for longer range applications on game up to medium size, id use em without any concerns on game up to and including whitetailed deer, if i was going after mulies re stags or Elk i might be tempted to use somthing a bit tougher, like an Interbond or an interlock, dozens or articles have been written on this subject, the key is to choose the right bullet for the right job, define what kind of shot oppertunity you might be presented with, now if you are prepared to take any shot at any angle, you will need more than a ballistic tip to angle the bullet through the hind quarter into the vitals and out the front shoulder, but if you are taking kneck or broard side shots, you should be ok..
Pete

 

[Guest]

Re: NBT\'s for mule deer??

From the experiance I've had with the Ballistic tips , they get my vote for a good
DEER bullet. I haven't shot any of the 7mm BT's but I hit a big whitetail buck 3 yrs ago with a 180gr BT out of a 300 mag.at almost 3200fps. The shot was less than 100yds and the deer was walking almost dead away from me , the bullet hit the left rear leg , blew it up and made it far enough into the guts to make a mess , the deer dropped at the shot , I'm guessing that the shock broke his back.
At anyrate the 150gr 7mm BT has a secional density of .266 and the 180gr 30cal BT is .271 which isin't that far above the 7mm's so I'm thinking that even if you hit the shoulder that the bullet will still make its way into the chest cavity.
If they shoot good for you and you can be petient enough to get a good shot then I would use them with hesitation.

 

[Bud Meadows]

Re: NBT\'s for mule deer??

I'm a big believer in the Sierra GameKing in 165 grains. I shot this buck at 275 yards last November. He was deader than John Wayne Gacy's paperboy.

 

[BHW]

Re: NBT\'s for mule deer??

I am a new member, but not new to hunting. For years I used BT's for all my whitetail using my 30-06. I switched over to a 7 mm Rem Mag and couldn't get the same result with the same bullet. I got tired of not finding decent blood so I switched to the NP's and have had much better success with them. Shot a 275# mulee last Nove in SD at~150 yds with the NP. Deer was bedded down and never moved once I hit it. I can't tell you that you should switch, but I have been better off since I went to the NP's.

Good luck.