Nosler Ballistic Tip 140gr

[375er]

Bet the critters didnt go far with "large EXIT holes".

They didn't but the meat/hide damage was horrific in my opinion.

 

[shark_za]

Some people hunt to anchor trophys, some to eat the meat.
On small game like Springbok you can lose a large percentage of the meat with bad bullets.

 

[le_chausson]

I did some introspection into the early hours of the morning, along with shopping around and came to the finding this morning that Nosler supply in SA is a bit iffy at the moment along with a lot of other brands of bullets. Hornady/Berger/Lapua seem to be the only bullets consistently being shipped here and so based on that and the fact that I have 2 weeks exactly before my hunt, I begrudgingly went for the 143gr ELD-X.

Begrudgingly you ask? Well I always find myself gravitating to the new products instead of going with the old faithful, tried and tested products that have stood the test of time (think 6.5 Creedmoor vs 30-06 ). I did some more in-depth research on the bullet and found that it’s quite well-constructed and there have been more good than bad reviews on PG at varying distances provided it’s supported by a decent load recipe.

Not knowing yet whether my rifle likes to shoot them or not, I’m going to take a gamble and get to work on a decent load and see what my results are. If I come short here, then I at least have some factory ammo I can take with as backup.

I’m sure a report-back isn’t necessary but rather appreciated so whatever my findings may be I’ll stick em up here.

 

[le_chausson]

Some people hunt to anchor trophys, some to eat the meat.
On small game like Springbok you can lose a large percentage of the meat with bad bullets.

The latter applies to me, so explosive bullets on small game (or any for that matter) are not what I need.

 

[shootist~]

If available, the 155 grain Lapua Mega should be considered for any 6.5 with a long enough throat.

 

[fourfive8]

Ballistic Tips and Bergers and all similar are best used on paper targets. Simply too explosive. Inadequate or unpredictable penetration on larger animals and too wasteful and destructive on smaller animals. Frangible bullets are best used for vermin where waste or destruction is not an issue and ricochet hazards need to be minimized.

 

[deewayne2003]

@le_chausson

Funny you should mention 140gr bullets, I have loads of experience with them but in .277 caliber for .270Win.

I have hunted with all three bullets you mention; Balistic Tip, Accubond & Interlock

Game hunted - Whitetail deer up to 100kg and wild pigs up to 300kg

Balistic tip - Amazing accuracy with a wide range of powders, however the separation is very much true and if you take bad shot angles you may be in trouble. Stick to broadside and slight quartering shots and you will be fine.

Accubond - same accuracy as BT but with much needed weight retention of the bonded core. I’ve tried every bullet and weight I can get my hands on for .270win and I think the 140gr Accubond is the best bullet on earth for this caliber.

Interlock - I tried this bullet simply as a cost saving venture so that I could target shoot more since the Interlocks were less that 1/2 the cost of Accubonds. What I discovered was excellent accuracy and exact same point of impact as my Accubond loads + great on game performance as I use them for culling deer and hogs.

So I’m able to load 140gr. Accubonds and Interlocks with identical powder, charge & OAL and switch between them without changing point of aim.

 

[meigsbucks]

Most of my experience with BT’s are in Contender and Encore handguns. The 120gr in a 7x30 Waters and the 125 and 150gr in a .308. I got good performance out of all, except for the 125gr in the .308 which came apart but did make it thru both lungs of a whitetail. Very effective on a couple of groundhogs.
My only experience with the BT in a rifle is a 130gr in a .270. Very explosive.

 

[Nevada Mike]

I like the 140 Accubond best of all the 7mm 140 grain bullets that I have tried. They are very accurate and terminal performance is reliable.

 

[SRvet]

Hey y’all



I’ve got a box of Nosler BT 140g at home - currently the only “hunting” bullet besides a Nosler ABLR 120gr which is not going to work for a variety of reasons so we’ll omit those from the discussion. I’ve worked up some test loads which I’m going to go fire off soon in lieu of an upcoming hunt less than 3 weeks away.



The reviews on these BT’s is that they live up to their name of being “ballistic” and the jacket separation is real. They’re all I have at the moment and I’m not looking to get into the nuts and bolts of why you can/can’t use a target bullet for hunting.

Who here has used Nosler BT’s and what were your experiences (good/bad)?
If there is already a thread discussing this topic please disregard and perhaps point me in it’s direction.

Reloading data is available for Hornady ELD-X but their prices right now are outrageous down here in South Africa with the supply/demand problem and are not in stock for 10 out of 12 months of the year.


I’m looking at a monolithic bullet to go with for hunting instead of looking at tipped bullets perhaps - purely because the reviews are always great barring the trivial arguments between which bullet is better (think TTSX and TSX).

PS: I am a sucker for numbers and I am proficient in GRT and have used it to get much success in developing target loads so far.

I used them years ago and found them a bit unpredictable. Some would explode and be very messy and others would pencil through and do little damage. Velocity and striking bone may have a lot to do with it. Can you not get hold of Peregrine and Rhino bullets - aren’t they made in RSA?

 

[WinMagMa]

I've tried various BTs incl. Nosler and nope unfortunately they just don't work in.my 300winmag... too much gas from behind that gets pushed past alongside the projectile causing 'dirty' / turbulent air in front which the bullet still needs to go through and this totally messes with its Ballistics..and just not getting any grouping consistency. In actual fact still got a pack of 180gr NOSLERSpitzerBTs just sitting on the shelf. With mine it's only flat bases or the new style rebated boat tails. That actually stick together. Been using the new 165gr and 175 ultrahunt and huntac from a south african manufacturer called Balistix, and must say im really very impressed thus far!!

 

[marksman]

in my 6.5 x 284's and my 6.5 x 55 l have used 130gr accubond's, 123gr, 129gr, 140gr SST's, Berger 140gr hunting, 142gr sierra matchking, 120gr pro hunter, 140gr gameking, 129gr and 140gr interlocks

anyway what l have found is that l could get all of them to work with brain/neck shots for meat animals, the strangest was the 140gr SST that did u-turns when hitting the lung area behind the front leg at longer distances than usual, one of the best for an instant bang flop was the 130gr accubond's

l have turned to the 143gr ELDX as it is what l am finding available in my area in good supply and they do shoot well so far, l have also been told by guys shooting deer at longer distances that the 147gr ELDM's work as well with hunting but less destruction of meat although they are not sold as a hunting bullet or recommended

l'm sure you will have good luck with the ELDX

 

[CBH Australia]

They will do the job.

Ive been happy with Nosler, I've also found others to be good in the right application.

I used a loaner rifle using Hornady SST projectiles on my only South Africa hunt.

 

[le_chausson]

I used them years ago and found them a bit unpredictable. Some would explode and be very messy and others would pencil through and do little damage. Velocity and striking bone may have a lot to do with it. Can you not get hold of Peregrine and Rhino bullets - aren’t they made in RSA?

I was pressed for time before I left for my hunt, so no time to get Peregrines in time and do load dev with them. I managed to get a box of ELD-X and they shot bloody well on paper and steel as I didn’t take 1 shot in the field on my hunt! I think I would be asking a lot to take down a Kudu bull on my first ever Kudu hunt, though I did get nice and close at one stage and in a second I got a bark and hopped the fence to the neighbouring farm where our outfitter didn’t have concessions and it stood and stared me down - basically flipping me the bird. That’s hunting I suppose.

 

[PARA45]

Ballistic tips will work on non-magnum cartridges. Use them in a magnum cartridge, and they will explode on impact. You also need to match the bullet to the game you are hunting. I've hunted white tail deer in GA, and they can be anywhere between 175-210 lbs. If using BT, I wait for the perfect broadside shot, and never shoot them in the shoulder, always behind the shoulder. But, as we all know, animals usually do not cooperate and never stand perfectly. I used Accubonds on my first safari, and the bullets performed as advertised, all one shot kills with the exception of the Wildebeest.

 

[Rubberhead]

I use 180 grain Nosler BT's for deer. This bullet is perfect for thin skinned animals but Federal did a test using a 165 grain BT on a ballistic gel containing a cow bone and covered with a moose hide. They seemed a little surprised with the solid performance of the BT. Go to about 12:30 on this video.

I would never take Nosler ballistic tips to Africa but since they shoot exactly, in my experience, like the Accubond bullets of the same weight, you can work up a load with the cheaper BTs then fine tune it with Accubonds. It'll save you some money during load development.

 

[Nevada Mike]

... I would never take Nosler ballistic tips to Africa but since they shoot exactly, in my experience, like the Accubond bullets of the same weight, you can work up a load with the cheaper BTs then fine tune it with Accubonds. It'll save you some money during load development.

This is what I do... test loads with the BTs and then use ABs for my hunting - ,257 Roberts, 7X57, 25-'06, and 7mm RM.

 

[shark_za]

Remember the suggestion for the BT's for hunting is for a very specific small game species shot at long range.
These bullets suck for everything else.
The normal Accubonds are great!

 

[Doug Hamilton]

Hey y’all



I’ve got a box of Nosler BT 140g at home - currently the only “hunting” bullet besides a Nosler ABLR 120gr which is not going to work for a variety of reasons so we’ll omit those from the discussion. I’ve worked up some test loads which I’m going to go fire off soon in lieu of an upcoming hunt less than 3 weeks away.



The reviews on these BT’s is that they live up to their name of being “ballistic” and the jacket separation is real. They’re all I have at the moment and I’m not looking to get into the nuts and bolts of why you can/can’t use a target bullet for hunting.

Who here has used Nosler BT’s and what were your experiences (good/bad)?
If there is already a thread discussing this topic please disregard and perhaps point me in it’s direction.

Reloading data is available for Hornady ELD-X but their prices right now are outrageous down here in South Africa with the supply/demand problem and are not in stock for 10 out of 12 months of the year.


I’m looking at a monolithic bullet to go with for hunting instead of looking at tipped bullets perhaps - purely because the reviews are always great barring the trivial arguments between which bullet is better (think TTSX and TSX).

PS: I am a sucker for numbers and I am proficient in GRT and have used it to get much success in developing target loads so far.

I used the 140 gr BT in my 7mm RM for several years. I found them to be too explosive at anything under 100 yards. I switched to the 140 gr Accubonds several years ago. Much better result. Shot a buck at 200 yards. Quartering away it hit just in front of the last rib and exited at the neck on the opposite side. I've also been using the Accubonds in 180 and 200 gr. in Africa, Canada and US. I've never recovered any Accubond bullet as they have all passed through.