Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Hey, Dogzapper, tell me about the 120 gr. 7mm Nosler BT.

E

Yes, you remember correctly.

Interestingly, the 120 Ballistic is billed by Nosler as a varmint bullet. It is my opinion that the bullet was heavied up at some time for Rifle Silhouette shooters. I have found it to be an incredibly fine big game killer - in the classic sort of way.

Let me give you some kills:

Bull elk 6X5 (pushing 300 B&C) range: about 350 yards. Shooting from above his level, I hit him between the shoulder blades and the bullet passed to the low throat. The bullet broke the spine, traversed several vertabrae and came to rest just under the hide. Expansion of the jacket is .877", lost its core and weighs 58.2 grains there was lead core loose with the jacket. Obviously, the elk dropped in his track and slid to the bottom of the canyon.

Bull elk 6X6 (B&C maybe 270)nice little bull. Range: pushing 375. Not trying to be fancy, I centerpunched both shoulders. The bull fell at the shot and died. The bullet penetrated both shoulders, broke major bones with minimal bloodshooting and came to rest under the hide of the far shoulder. The bullet expanded to .698", lost its core and weighs 62 grains. I found a piece of the core with the bullet and it weighed probably 25 grains. Lost the core. Hey, I was busy butchering an elk and slipping in the snow and fighting to get all the stuff done before dark. Climbed out of the canyon with a flash light in my mouth.

Mule deer. 204 yards (lasered). Biggest damned deer I've ever shot. Aged at 9�-years at the game check in Great Falls. Huge forked horn with a 190 mainframe and no points to go with it, except for 4-inch eyeguards. Bases are six-inches (I just measured) and the horns are very heavy. Shot him behind the shoulder and the bullet exited ahead of the far shoulder. Exit hole was about 1�-inches. He struggled a bit and went down dead. Very little bloodshot; nice clean kill. Damned deer was the heaviest I've ever seen. I killed a whitetail in Alberta that weighed 378 pounds (guts in) and this mulie was larger - maybe 400 pounds live.

Antelope @ 210 yards (lasered). Good buck. Shot hin fully in the chest and the bullet penetrated the whole goat. The expanded bullet, with core attached was recovered next to the bunghole. Measures .766" and weighs 92 grains. Instand kill and no bloodshot.

The above were shot with a 7-08 Ackley with the 120 Ballistic @ 3246 muzzle velocity.

The following are a few killed using the .280 Ackley with the 120 Ballistic @ 3370 muzzle velocity.

Moose at 91 yards (lasered later, I was kinda in a fricking hurry). Shot the bull angling under the chin. The bullet broke a carotid artery, smashed a vertabre and blew a two-inch hole out the back of the neck. He stood for about five seconds and fell stiff-legged like a piece of plywood in a slight wind. No, I wasn't hunting moose with the 120; I was after whitetail.

Elk, just an eatin' cow at 100 yards. Shot her in the high neck. Bullet blew out both carotid arteries and may still be orbiting the earth. Exit hole was 1�-inches. Clean Kill and no blood in the cavity/

Mule deer buck. Maybe 160 B&C, but a dark-horned five year old who was doing all the right things (fighting other bucks and acting sassy). Coulda killed him at 400 (lasered) but there was no honor in it, coulda killed him at 300 (getting better), almost shot him at 200. Finally did an open field stalk on him and shot him at 61 yards. He'd just taken a bite of winter wheat and was contemplating screwing a doe or fighting another buck, when I shot him through both carotids (just at the kissey place behind the jaw). Dropped at the shot, pumped blood for thirty seconds and was a nice bloodless carcass.

Whitetail at 70 yards running full-out down a hill towards me (Hey man, he was overrunning my position). Aimed for the front of the neck and forgot to lead. Bullet hit him exactly between the freaking eyes. Blew the right horn precisely 31 yards from the corpus delicious and the left horn wilted, but stayed attached to the skull. The eyes bugged out and it was just a lovely friggin' thing. Nice buck too, probably a 145 B&C. Gad, I love it when a plan comes together.

Whitetail buck - 200 yards running straight across a snow field like the hounds of hell were after him. For some reason, I took the bait (it was probably his 140 rack) and aimed about eight feet in front of his chest and fired. At the shot, his reat legs went over his horns and he went down in a great cloud of snow. Hit him just in front of the hams, through the spine. By the time I got there, he was breathing his last. Broke the spine, ruined the tenderloins, did not hurt the backstrap. Maybe a two-inch hole on the far side. BS luck to have even hit him at all.

Antelope @ 210 yards (stepped off). Excellent buck. Shot behind the shoulder. Bullet exited far chest cavity (true broadside that I'd set up by waiting). Two-inch exit some blood shooting in the fascia uncer the far shoulder.

Antelope 325 yards and a hurryup shot. Behind the shoulder and very low (I thought he was 200 yards and held right on). Hit the bottom of the heart and exited the body cavity with a one-inch hole. No blood shooting.

Actually, I've killed a lot more animals than this with the 120 in the 7-08 Ackley and the 280 Ackley, but I'm just trying to point out the ones that are on the top of my head. In my opinion the 120-grain Ballistic is an excellent killer and it destroys less meat than I would have supposed.

If you hit a coyote in the face with it, the bullet tends to spoil the dog's day. Never killed a bear with it, but would use it with our hesitation in either rifle and at any range.

Hope this helps a bit.

Steve