Anyone have experience with the Nosler 64gr bonded .224 bullets on either game or just in general?

the Nosler reloading site has quite a bit of info including recovered bullets from animals and test media.

Seems like a stout little bugger; my 10 yo is running 'em this fall through my AR for whitetails so hopefully I'll have some field experience to share in a couple of months.

ewf...Where did you find info on Nosler's site?

Here: http://forum.nosler.com

Then under Reloading and bullets tests. Just found it myself.

These bullets don't look very arrow-dynamic, but are bonded. The jug recoveries look pretty good as do the couple of critter tests.

My daughter will be trying them on deer in October. Mule or WT.

They shot pretty well in my 22-250 when a partition couldn't even make the target.

My initial 100 yard groups with the 64gr Bonded Noslers was about double that of those shot with 69 SMKs in a 6920 Colt. However, I am looking into them for home defense and they are MOA of bad guy. I am continuing to work on a better load for deer.

What is your rifle's twist? I have a 22-250 with a 1/14 twist and was wondering if these would stabilize.

I've been working with them in my AR.

So far my best groups are with IMR4895 and a CCI400 primer.

They are grouping about an inch out of a half inch gun.

I've got plenty of plastic-tipped stuff for shooting critters in the eye. These are for punching ribs.

I've got a thousand of the I intend to load for that purpose, just as soon as I settle on a final load.

1 in 14. It actually shot pretty well with a couple of the 60+ bullets.

The sierra 63 grainer shot really well too.

Legally I have to be 60+ for Wyoming. I started with the partitions since I use them in other calibers. They sucked for me and I found quite a few other bad reports too.

I couldn't get the 60gr partitions to shoot with ball powders, but they will print 5/8 MOA groups for me with IMR4895.

Take a look here.
http://forum.nosler.com/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=18868

JD338

My daughter used this bullet on a small deer a couple years ago. 25.0 gr Varget out of a M4 style AR. It puched through both ribs and left a silver dollar sized exit hole. Deer ran about 50 yards and piled up. I think these bullets are plenty stout for shoulder shots on deer.

Pappy
PM Ingwe, he has some actual game experience with this bullet. I have used it in my 22-250 and it shoots very well but no on game experience.

My daughter killed this 100# doe at 120yds using my .223AI and the 64gr Bonded. Bullet broke both shoulders and exited she ran about 40yds. Great bullets very similar to the old TBBC. Entrance is shown in the picture exit was about the size of a quarter.

IIRC the poba don't like it as he claims it's too destructive.

Thanks guys. I've got a Vanguard S2 .223 in the pipe along with a set of Talleys, some Nosler brass and the bullets in question. I plan to give them a try during the doe season. The burning question is, since the bear season runs concurrent with the firearms deer seasons, what will I do if I see one while carrying the .223 stuffed with the Bonded Performance slugs?

BTW, we took a detour today coming home from the vet in Washington, VA. Got on the Skyline Drive at Thorton Gap on Rt. 211. About ten miles from Front Royal, a bear cub scooted across the road in front of us, climbed up on the stone wall, looked back at us and jumped to the other side. I eased along a few yards trying to catch another look and a little bear noggin popped up over the wall for a few seconds to check us out and then disappeared. I don't know if it was the same one or its sibling.

He was a Kodiak lookin' feller of about 30 pounds or so.

I don't imagine your West Virginian Black Bears are all that big. It it's legal, I'd shoot it with what you were carrying. If you are not comfortable doing that, or it's not legal, then it's time to bring a bigger gun.

Neighboring PA has had five bears over 800lbs taken in the last five years. A VA hunter recently took a 728lb bear which puts it just below the state record of 740.

MD, PA, VA, and WV are all knotted up together around here. Given the ramblin' nature of bears, they can end up pretty much anywhere. Most of those heavy bears are pretty fat, but still have to be big-boned to carry all that lard.

Wow, those are some impressive black bears. The must be eating out of really full garbage cans. If I expected to run into one that big, yea, I'd take a bigger gun.

The Colorado record is just over 700 pounds, but our average blackie is closer to 200-250.

More like beehives, apples, corn, and pigs.

According to a VA guy on the Deer Hunting Forum, Virginia bears eat mainly whitetail fawns. Might be overstating that a bit.

TN deer. I surely admire that shot placement, my fav! Any animal, any range, any cal. As MD/Eilene has advised us "Pointy end forward, in the front 1/2". Muddy

I bet you would be surprised how many fawns they eat. Course, that's only in the spring.

Ingwe doesn't like the meat destruction from the 64 Nosler Bonded because he mostly shoots 30-pound deer.

ZIIIIIIIING!!!

Ingwe only shoots 30 pound deer! Now that is what I call being selective.

Maybe he should go to the .204.
If he "improved" it we could all refer to it as Ingwe's "Great 204 Rigby"....WOW! Sort of a mini 416 Rigby.

Mule Deer, there is some new fodder for loonies.

A 30 pounder would be yet another perfect application for the .22 Hornet, I believe, with the now-discontinued Nosler 45gr Solid Base.

Well, Ingwe is pretty selective. Some of the deer he's killed in the past few years might have had 30-some pounds of meat on them, but those would qualify as ITB's (Ingwe Trophy Bucks).

Didn't Jimmy Durante have a hit like "Ingwe Dinka Deer" or something?

You just carbon dated yourself, big time.

An obsolete reference like that requires background materials for the little nippers like Travis.

I've heard of Aristotle too, so how old must I be?

Depends on how well you knew him. Was he your teacher or your student?

any reason you like these over a Barnes? The 62 TTSX is 56 cents a piece this bonded bullet seems to be 41 cents a piece. I like the 62 federal fusion as well, but generally like to shoot deer with the TTSX.

Why no love for the 60 gr partition?

$.25 per each on clearance and also picked up discount Nosler brass.

I haven't tried any Barnes TTWhatevers yet, but have nothing against them except that folks say they work best pushed really fast. My deer loads in larger calibers usually run about 2600-2900fps and c&c bullets work just fine for Bambi.

I may well try the 60gr NPs, when I get a deal on 'em, but the photos of water jug tested BP bullets look like NPs, so why pay more?

The 60 NPT works well in my .223.

In my 8 twist .22-250 Mohawk/Shilen, I get great groups with 75 Amax and VLD's. That gun just doesn't like the 64 BSB, I can't find a load that will shoot less than 2" at a hundred, the other mentioned bullets shoot half inch.

Still testing. I want to try the 64 BSB in my 7 twist .22-204. It loves the 75 Amax, VLD and SSII.

I may try the BSB in my custom .223 Ranch Rifle which shoots the 65 Gameking pretty well. That would be a good comparison. I wouldn't bet the farm 64 BSB's will out shoot 65 Gamekings.

DF

25 cents is cool, I ran into the same deal with 30 cal GMC blems, you cannot pass it up. OTOH I stick with solid copper in the 223 despite cost.

I don't know how the 64s will shoot in my new gun, or I would have loaded up instead of just buying 100. They don't have to shoot all that great to be useful for deer. On the other hand, at that price, if they shoot really well, then I'll try to get a bunch more for general use on does and maybe 'yotes. BC ain't all that important around here as ranges are generally pretty short.

I can't see the extra money for the copper slugs for my purposes. Maybe living with a Chinese woman (the Chinese can teach God's Chosen People a thing or too about pinching a penny) has started to rub off on me.

My sample of one nice doe with the 62 grain Federal Fusion convinced me that the .223 with that load works well. My son hit one quartering to him at about 90 yards, broke the front shoulder (humerus, hit it squarely), tore up the heart and lungs, and the slug was found nicely mushroomed in the off-flank under the skin. Deer did a literal back-flip and was dead.

I've heard nothing but good stuff about the 64 BSB's terminal performance on game. It's stubby profile and less than stellar target reputation may make it better for meat than groups.

But, I haven't given up on getting some decent groups.

DF

Actually, they have a better BC then the 60gr partition.

I have a number of 64 BSB loads ready to try in my Ranch Rifle tomorrow morning.

Will chrono and will report.

DF

In my limited experience with them, they expand well and penetrate like crazy.

You can't beat that performance, regardless of the round.

But, we hear all the time, you need bigger than .224 bore to kill a WT...

I find it amazing how kids whack WT's with .223's on a regular basis, but adults somehow need larger bores to do the same thing...

DF

There was a substantial WT buck shot in LA with a .204. That guy got himself into a heap of trouble, lost his trophy, got fined, not pretty.

If he'd have put that gun in the truck and been holding an old 30-30 or similar for the pictures and story, he'd be a lot happier today...

His ignorance of game laws wasn't much of a defense...

DF

I believe he also got rung up for several counts of contest fraud.

Things didn't go well for him, for sure.

All that was preventable.

DF

Yup.
Life's tough enough without stepping on your own winky. Some folks just have to play with fire though. Playing games with the rules is half the fun, I 'spose.

He told everyone, including LEO's about it. Guess he didn't realize it was illegal. He sure found out.

Back to the 64 BSB.

I shot a number of loads this AM out of the above custom Ranch Rifle. I used accuracy loads from where ever I could find some. I used a number of powders including CFE-223, Varget, Ball C, and Benchmark.

The only load that went under an inch was 25 gr. Varget.

Not a match bullet, not a tack driver, but a good meat bullet. I'll load a batch of the Varget variety and go kill something.

DF

That's how I feel about it. The only holes I'm worried about are the exit holes.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for the accuracy report Dirtfarmer , makes me glad I haven't bought any of these.
I have some 65gr. game kings that group about an inch @ 100yds. and hit the target tip first out of a 12tw barrel .

Yep, 65 gr. Gamekings will smoke 64 gr. BSB's at the range.

The BSB performs very well on critters, I think the Gameking does pretty well, too.

I guess the bottom line between those two would be terminal performance. I've not seen a comparison. I would think the BSB will hold together better than the Gameking, better chance of an exit wound.

Dead is dead, so it would depend on the size critter being hunted. Would appreciate input comparing these two on game.

DF

Sierra doesn't say much about ths one, but a few of the reviewers say it will indeed kill deer. As the regular price is the same as the over-run price on the BSBs, it's worth a shot.

Watching this topic and seeing everyone else is having about the same experience with the BSB's that I have. While I've never seen either the Sierra 65 gr or the BSB 64 gr used on game I think I'll take my chances with that 1 1/4 in. or so group I get with the 64 BSB over the 3/4 in. group with the 65 gr Sierra. Have no intentions in using either as a long range round.

If I can get 3/4" groups with the BSB's I'll be ecstatic.

Some evil person on this thread mentioned their good results with Varget, so I guess I'll have to pick up a pound and try it.

Guess that evil dude resembles me...

Ball C gave best results with the 65 Gameking, not as good as Varget with the 64 BSB. My best BSB load was slightly under an inch, not quite 3/4". I'm going to load a batch (Varget) and see how they work on critters.

Will be waiting for others to report.

For those wondering about a half inch Ranch Rifle, this one had extensive work by Accuracy Systems, Inc. Their full house make over was less expensive back when I had it done. This one beats their accuracy guarantee. I revamped the factory stock into the shape I wanted, painted it black. A great two stage trigger was part of that package.

DF

Very cool.

I look forward to your pictures of dead critters.

Gotta kill some first...

DF

Nosler lists CFE223 as the beauty queen for the BSB.



http://www.nosler.com/s/223-Rem-64gr-Version-7-1.pdf



I've got a pound I found while cruising for components one day. Was going to use it in my .308, but guess I'd better wait.

Yep, tried that load and "beauty queen" loads from other sources.

Varget beat them out by an impressive margin.

I'm going Varget with that bullet in this gun.

DF

Big dummy that I am, I managed to miss that the first time.

All my ducks should be lined up in about a month. We'll see then what works in the S2.

How much off the lands are you guys going with the BSB? I know in the rifles I've tried so far it's not difficult to get right up into the lands.

I've just been loading to AR magazine length.


I've also tried CFE223, and was unimpressed with the groups.

IIRC, loading to the cannelure is about right. I don't see that stubby little bullet being that COAL sensitive.

DF

That bullet is a challenge or it has been for me anyway. Out of the gate I tried it in a good Noveske barrel that has always shot anything well. Not this one though. Did find mag length stuck the bullet hard against lands.

If memory serves at all, Ingwe found his best load with IMR-4895. That was in a 223 AI with probably an 18 inch or so twist though...

I'm shooting a Wylde chamber and I've had no issues with sticking it against the lands.

I bet you meant 1:8 twist...

H-4895 beat out both Varget and RL-15 in my .308.

I may have to load up some H-4895 and IMR-4895 to shoot against the Varget load.

DF

I bet you meant 1:8 twist...

No...

You were spoofing the poor Poobah...

Shame, shame...

But, he can dish it out, too...

DF

What's became of Ingwe, I believe his absence has been taken advantage of on a few occasions.

It's Auguest, almost September. I imagine he is busy scouting for elk. He has to get really close in order to have a chance at killing one with his puny 7x57.

I have been away on a Canadian fishing trip. I can see Ive been missed.


Stunt shooter wannabes.....


Sheesh.....

Yeah, when everyone is talking about you and you aren't responding, time to start checking the obits...

DF

Dat was mean.

Shows concern...

DF

Where's the fish pictures?

freshwater forum

Because this bullet is so much shorter you may be experiencing some over-rotation. Slowing it down defeats the purpose but if groups get better....

I've only had time to try these in a 1:8 AR. My .22-250 is a slower twist.