Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 7mm 140 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip vs. Accubond

.... on mule deer. Your thoughts appreciated.

Muzzle velocity is ~2800 fps.

I can't speak to the "vs. Accubond". But I use the BT in my 7-08, and that with complete satisfaction. Hogs, blacktails, mule deer, whitetails-- they all die quickly.
It's been a while, I think I'll sneak in "like the hammer of Thor".

I killed my first mule deer with an NBT at about 50 yards from a 280, did great. Killed lots and lots and lots and lots of whitetails and hogs with the same bullet and cartridge combo (triple digits).

Jeff, I've used them both, but at higher MVs in the RM.

What I found with the 140NBT is that it would stay in big deer many times with the jacket stuck under the off side hide. When I've caught the 140 NABs, they've had a text book mushroom with the core still in.

Here is an example of a 140NAB started at 3200fps MV. Impact was at 312yds on a strong quarter to. The bullet took out a section of the spine, entered the cavity, busted some ribs, and was under the hide behind the far shoulder:



I also load the 140NAB for a friend that hunts mulies and big whitetail every year. He loves the way they perform. 3100 from a 7rm as well.

Have a good one,

loder

I've also found that the 150NBT tends to stay together and punch through more than the 140. Killed piles of critters with those pills, even a beast 500lb Russian.

'loder, thanks.

Yeah, if I were loading these for my 7 WSM I'd go Accubond all the way (or run the 150 NBT)... in fact for my 7 WSM I am running the 160 NAB as a deer/elk combo load.

I have an excellent 7-08 Mountain Rifle that I've set up to be very light, and it is one of those rifles that just hits what you point it at, and I shoot it all the time out to waaay out there... so in a nutshell I'm sorting out what load to use in it as a carry load. I will single-load 162 Amax's for anything truly long range but I've run hundreds and hundreds of the 140 NBT through it and they do fine out to 450, 500 yards as long as it's not crazy windy.

My only real concern is the "toughness" of that specific NBT, the 140 grain, at 7-08 starting velocities...

Thanks again!

Then my experience fits perfectly. In my opinion, it's a dandy.
I have a box of Partitions, just in case I need to use my 7-08 if my main elk gun falls apart on a trip, but I wouldn't necessarily switch to them- I wouldn't be more than a touch nervous about whacking an elk with those BTs, given their track record with me on other animals.

While mule deer aren't exactly "elk tough" they can be quite a bit bigger then the majority of white tails shot each year in the US, sometimes by a fairly big margin. The NAB would be MY personal choice, as good mule deer hunting is getting harder to come by each year with premier tags becoming close to sheep tag status, as in a few per lifetime, if you're lucky. So in my case, I'm not going to wait for a perfect 100 yard broadside shot....if the rack is to my liking, any angle except from dead behind, I'm taking the shot. I'd go for the stronger bullet to make it through "more deer" and possibly bones. Just MHO

Very valid point, and sort of the crux of the question I suppose.

I wouldn't be one to argue against such thinking. Confidence, rational or not, is a factor of hunting not to be dismissed.
I chose Partitions for my "elk gun", a .308FAT (RSAUM), for the assurance; and without regard to any other options.
Nonetheless, I have chased -and will again chase- mulies with my 7mm BTs without a [bleep] of worry.
(I bought the 7-08 as soon as I could after shooting my big non-typical with the .257 Rbts with which I grew up. It wasn't the cartridge's fault (didn't know it at the moment) that allowed that buck of a lifetime to run a fair ways and out of my sight (in my despair it felt like 'out of my life'), but I didn't want to feel that way again and perhaps lose another buck of a lifetime. 40 more grains of bullet, with a bit more diameter, has given me the peace of mind I wanted. (And I've since had a rapprochement with the fully adequate .257, BTW.))

My experience with the 140gr BTs is limited, but not good. On small stuff, yearling white tail, steenbok, springbok, and a couple of medium animals, Gemsbok. It really wasn't worth a crap. Blew up everything shot with it, till it got to the Gemsbok, and on them, just blew up inside. The deer and Steenbok both had their guts blown out and laying on the ground. This was a hit right behind the shoulder, but coming out the other side towards the back of the ribs. The Springbok all had 3" exit holes, and the Gemsbok, the bullets blew up inside and found (jackets) against the other side. I also used the 140gr Ttsxs in this rifle (280Rem) at 2900+, and they worked fine. I'd go with the Accubond, to prevent the blow ups (used them last year on a Caribou, but not from a 7mm). Would rather the bullets hang together. Better to error on the side of a little more penetration, and non-explosiveness, than perhaps lose an animal, do to a shot that blows up, perhaps on the surface, or just inside. Personally, I'll never use the BTs again..

Well let's see... In my limited experience I have only shot 5 or 6 southern whitetails using factory loaded BT's out of my 7-08. 140 grain of course. shots ranged from about 25 yards to 215 yards(long shot for us boys in the south sometimes):)NONE of the bullets failed nor did they "explode" on impact. The only one that stayed inside the animal was the 215 yrd shot and that was straight on in the chest. When I loaded that deer into the back of my GMC all of the innards just kinda poured out of that entrance hole. Deer went 10 yards btw. So far so good for me. I will echo the point though that if I were going after a larger animal on a trophy hunt I might use a tougher bullet like an accubond or a flavor of Barnes all copper. Heck even a partition. It would depened on accuracy at that point. Back to the Ballistic Tips though... they will be loaded in my Browning again this fall/winter with confidence.

Your story is altogether foreign to me .
A good demonstration of YMMV.

The last mule deer I shot was with a Nosler solid base, .284, 140gr. The distance was 322yds and it went through both shoulders. My experience with the solid base and the BT seem to be similar. The velocity of this load, leaving the muzzle at about 2850fps probably is close to 7-08 performance around 200+

This being said, mostly I've used Partitions and TSX's and I'd choose the AB and err on the side of something tougher. I fail to see any difference in the accuracy of the two (BT's and AB's in my testing)

Good luck on your first mule deer hunt. It is habit forming...

The 120 and 150 7mm ballistic tips are two of the ones that JB says have had their jackets thickened up. If it were me, I would load one or both of those and go do some experimenting.

Or, you might be able to just stick with the 162 amax. I shot some through my 7 RM a few weeks ago. The target was a box of wet magazines. Starting velocity was 3050 fps. They didn't completely grenade at about 180 yards, and decent sized pieces of jacket still stuck to the base at 445 yards. I would probably feel confident putting one of those through the ribs of a deer, especially at distance, but maybe not a shoulder. However, your 7-08 would start them significantly slower, and rotational speed of the bullet would also be slower. Maybe try some in your own version of a bullet testing box?

It's been a while since I shot 140 NAB's through this rifle. As I recall they drop right into the same load, and interchanged nicely with the 140 NBT even way out there.

Another thought is running 120's real fast... Big Game will scoot 120 NBT's at 3050 fps from my rifle, but not very accurately. I'd like to try a 120 TTSX in it.

My rifle loves the 162's, but, they are loaded really long so are a single-shot affair. I've seen a few nasty pics of really torn up deer with them... then again that's true of NBT's as well!

Interesting. Any idea what the muzzle velocities have been on these torn up deer? Cartridges used?

I really should have bookmarked the threads. No, I got nuthin'!

I am running the 140 ballistic tip in my 7mm08 at 2800 fps. Countless deer later I have had no troubles at all. Only had a couple deer go more than a few feet. Two were pulled shots that I caught a little far back and punched the liver. One was a large doe shot at 340 yards through the lungs. Bullet was slowed way down by then so I did not get great expansion. Still she only went about eighty yards and was dead on her feet.

As for toughness of ballistic tips I was surprised. I shot a smaller doe as she was facing me 75 yard shot. I did not put the bullet where I wanted it. Instead of in the neck I put the bullet behind the should blade in the ribs. The bullet went the whole length of the deer. Put a groove in every rib bone and exited the hip through the ball of the hip bone. Completely shattered the pelvis and all the bones in the leg were cracked and shattered from the bullet. I was amazed and pissed that I made a mess out of a hindquarter. Never thought the bullet would of left the body cavity.

As for accubonds I have shot the 160 grain bullets around 2600 fps. Used them on bison. Shot a cow about 800 pounds. I was not all that impressed. Penetration was great broadside shots through ribs on entrance and exit. Did not find any bullets but based on the exit wound expansion was average at best. That was going through a lot more critter than a deer. I would think they would be too tough of a bullet for heart lung shot on deer sized game even the lighter 140s I would think would be too tough of a bullet.

I did shoot one doe with a 139 grain hornady interbond through the lungs. She took off after the shot. I thought I missed her until she piled up about 150 yards down the field. Very minimal damage. Bullet zipped clean based on the size of the exit wound I doubt the bullet expanded much if at all.

I don't see the need for a bonded bullet of any type of deer. They might give you the advantage if you have to take the less than perfect shot. I would not feel comfortable of getting good expansion unless I punched heavy bone. Aim for the shoulder instead of behind the shoulder and a bonded bullet should work excellent on deer. I am like venison too much to shoot through meat though.