Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Thought I'd share pic of 115 Nosler BST(257Wby) recovered from a Whitetail

Thought I'd share pic of 115 BST recovered from a little 8 pointer I shot this morn with my 257 Wby. Shot was 165 yards and bullet was started at 3450. DRT.

I found the bullet lodged underneath the skin on the left side at the base of the neck(see pic). The bullet entered at the right shoulder. Knowing the bullet hit bone, I was still somewhat surprised it didn't hold together better. I didn't have a scale, so don't know how much the recoverd bullet weighed. Wasn't much though. I do know, if I ever go after anything bigger than Whitetail, I'll probably order up dome Partitions or TTSX's.

For a ballistic tip from a 257 Bee I think that is more than acceptable.

Well I guess a better bullet is in order I think that deer winked at me you better make sure he's dead!

It's a BT...has a thin jacket,and a plastic tip, and was started at 3400 fps+....what should we expect? Just make sense it ended up as it did....

Partitions and monometals are a really good idea from hyper velocity cartridges.

looks like it should. DRT from the front end fragmenting by design.

i don't shoot them anymore just because they can really make a mess and they came out with the Accubomb.

congrads on the buck!

ned

I am NOT complaining about performance. The bullet did it's job superbly. The deer hit the deck immediatley and never moved again. What more can I ask for? I will continue to use this bullet for WT without reservation. but will look to a better constructed bullet for thicker skinned game. That's all.

Looks like you were not too far away from a through and through.

You may want to scoot over to shootersproshop and pick up some nosler 25 cal partition overruns. They're $14.75 per box and they have a heck of a selection of other bullets PLUS a couple coupon discounts that pretty much take care of shipping charges.
I've never seen as good a selection as they have now plus the nice coupons.

Hide on an animal stretches a lot better to resist an exit than it does an entrance, cause it's pushing against air to exit instead of ribs and flesh to enter. I've seen 180 grain bullets out of a 300 magnum that wouldn't push through a moose, even at fairly close range, and moose aren't steel plated. You're eating venison . . . . bullet did not fail.

Looks not bad for the velocity....imo

Bob,

Actually the "hunting" Ballistic Tips don't have thin jackets, except just behind the tip. The rear of the bullet has a heavy jacket (in some VERY heavy), the reason the jacket often ends up looking exactly the one that killed this buck--like a widely expanded bullet. Since the jacket of hunting BT's normally weighs 50-60% of the bullet's original weight, they normally retain 50-60% of their weight.

It's pretty much irrelvant whether the core stays in the jacket, and it usually doesn't--though it almost always does end up with the jacket, if you recover the bullet, meaning it went along for the ride.

A lot of people judge cup-and-core bullets according to Bob Hagel's statement that "if jacket and core separate, penetration soon ceases." In my experience that is far from always true, whether with thin-jacketed, hard-cored bullets or bullets like the Ballistic Tip, with thick-based jackets.

Ican't hunt wisconsin this year cause of a family illness. But my 2506 is out with a buddy as I write this loaded with the exact same bullet but to a nice meandering 2950 fps. Where we hunt most shots are under 100 yds. Hope he gets a buck like that and performance like that too.

Congratulations on the buck!

Used the 115 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip from my .25-06 this year, muzzle velocity considerably less than your rifle at only 3,120 fps. Mule deer buck at 260 yards and a pronghorn at 160 yards - both one shot instant kills/drops. No recovered bullet, because both were pass-through hits.

I like those bullets. Accurate and lethal. Am not looking for a lot of weight retention with them, I like the quick expansion & fragmentation from lighter, faster bullets on deer sized games.

Regards, Guy

I been shooting a 25 wssm for several years along with a buddy borrowing a lot and the 115 bst does a phenomenal job. The only deer that didn't fall rite there was my fault. Shot to far back and it only made it about 100 yrds. Never recovered a bullet. IMO the bullet looks like the one on the box. Congrats on the deer

Correct, I've seen much worse, take 140 gr first gen ballistic tips at 3550 fps from a 7mm STW for example.

Gunner

I shot 3 whitetails last week from my .257 bee starting at about the same velocity. Range was 300 yards. 110 Acubonds, and all pass throughs with a nice wound channel. All 3 were DRT. I like em. Could not get the 100gr TTSX's to shoot, and really don't care. These "tipped partitions" work great.

John: You got me there...but you know me by now.I got prejudices...

I know I tend to lump together everything that isn't bonded or that doesn't have a partition.

Keeping up with all the differences in BT's is daunting..

Dober has me convinced to try the 150 7mm...I have a pile of them and like how they shoot.

Glad their holding up for ya, and a big congrats on filling the freezer, ours is bulging too.

Gunner

Thanks brother. We got 5 in the freezer now, and we don't quit until Jan.1 Got tired of just lookin and decided to start shootin.

Wish the Accubonds would've shot better out of my gun, as I feel they're a better application for the 257 Wby than the Ballistic Tips.