Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Nosler 120gr BT in 7x57

I think chamber size can have more to do with accuracy than throat/neck diameter. I had a Zastava (Interarms) .308 Win come into the shop one with a grossly oversize chamber in all dimensions except headspace which was short. Wouldn't close on a go gage but would close with a wee bit of effort on a round. It was a tack driver cuz the short chamber keeps the bullet aligned with the bore. Had the headspace been correct, the case would have lain in the chamber at an angle.

That said, tighter is better in most cases.

My Winchester Featherweight in 7x57 loves the 139 Hornady SST's. No experience with the 120's. I did hunt with a bud in Texas and he shot a massive deer (235 lbs. hog dressed) and while the 120 Nosler BT out of a 7-08 dropped the deer on the spot, there was a massive hole on the surface of the deer, no exit.

The 120 grain Nosler BT works freaking great in the 7x57. Probably the most accurate load that I've developed in my rifle.

My daughter took a doe at 250yds with that bullet, and I took one at 200 yds.

Dan

The 120 BT is an angry bullet.



P

The only 7x57 I have is one a buddy had built and he messed up.
It's throated long for 175gr bullets but it is a slow twist so it didn't shoot the bullets he wanted to use.

This rifle Loves 120BT. I sent him some pictures of targets with the 120BT and now he knows he messed up twice. I'm keeping it!

Deer run 30-40 yards and fall so I'll be using high shoulder shots if I want to drop them right there.

I could use some more if somebody doesn't want theirs!

The Nosler 120 gr. Ballistic Tip gets more use in my 7mm’s than any other bullet. Of course that is from my 7mm-08’s. A great bullet for anything here up thru whitetail deer. I’ve not used it on anything bigger, but I’m confident it would work equally well on anything up to and including Elk.

Best compliment a bullet could receive.

120’s shot well for me. Though I ended up settling on a 150BT load and that bullet has been outstanding on deer.

I’d happily run either out of most any 7mm chamber

I've killed 7 deer just this year using the mighty 120 BT using both my 7-08 and my 280. It definitely holds together better than a 140 BT and at times leaves very little blood trail.
Shot one deer at 260 yds, ran into a thicket with very little blood
One afternoon shot a nice 9pt at 75 yds , very little blood trail. Ended up finding him by catching the reflection from his eye.
It's one tough bullet for sure. No worries though it'll work fine

^^^^^ this ^^^^^

Forgot to add, my 7x57 didn't like the 120 BT.

My 7-08 likes the 120 NBT, good accuracy, good deer slayer.

I found that the 140 Sierra HPBT is even more consistently accurate, probably a bit more expansive with good exits.

It's my current fav over BG with Fed 215's.

7x57 pretty close regarding ballistics and terminal performance on critters.

DF

My 7x57's are Remington 700's - one's a classic and the other is a Mountain.


These 7x57's like 45.5 grains of Varget and 120 grain TTSX bullets. (BTW that load is the most accurate on both 7x57's). I'd like to try those ballistic tips.

Bugger

With a testimonial like this Remington280, that reads like a less than ideal whitetail bullet to me. It probably says more about your ability to track down your deer without a good blood trail to follow them up with than it does about a great deer bullet. The lack of a good blood trail is the reason that I’ve switched away from the premium, or heavy for caliber bullets for my deer hunting. The 140 BT from my 7mm-08 has been giving me DRT results and going to something that “Definitely holds together better than a 140 BT” that “Leaves very little blood trail.” Won’t have me changing bullets anytime soon. The older I get, the less I want to play hide and go seek with the deer that I shoot.

Good choice. I just have a lifetime supply of 120's to use.
Although I don't get great blood trails I still find my deer.
The 140 is definitely better though.

I use them in my 7-08, perfect for deer, goats.
Those I've used them have dropped on the spot, well 1 did take 2 steps, all neck at shoulder shots.

I use them with Varget in my 257Rigby but have not shot game with them.