Can anyone tell me what Nosler has done to make the BT reliable in a l00 gr. .25 caliber bullet? Or in other light calibers for that matter. From what I saw of them they were nothing but an expensive varmint bullet.
Jim,
Nosler has made minor adjustments to the jackets of Ballistic Tips over the years. I have no idea what the adjustments are called in the Nosler Plant, but among gun writers, it's called "Generations."
The .257" 100-grain Ballistic is either Fourth Generation or Fifth Generation, depending on the source. It is a remarkably tougher bullet now than it was just a few years ago.
My wife has used the 100 Ballistic in her .250 Ackley for many many years. While it always worked well, it was interesting watching the bullet work better and better, penetrating further and further with each couple of years. She commonly killed about ten big game animal per year with the rifle, so we had an excellent sampling and lots of dead animals to autopsy.
Today, the .257" 100-grain Ballistic is a heck of a fine bullet.
Those remembering the Ballistic Tip BOMBS of the past will never believe, and that's all right with me. They'll eventually die off and a new generation of hunters will eventually appreciate the BT for what it is.
Waaaaay back before the Ballistic Tip was in the hands of the public, I was a member of the test team for the original bullets. They were .30 caliber 150-grain and had a black polymer tip. They really looked cool, but they would darnednear cut a deer in half. In fact I shot one four-point mulie in the center of the neck and was amazed to see the head fly off.
The Ballistic Tip went through about three years of testing before it was released and each individual bullet has gone through much "tweaking" since.
My 2006 Duramax is totally different than my old (and beloved) 1978 Silverado; I would venture to say that the Duramax is better
. The Ballistic Tip bullets are the same; Nosler is quite actively working on them, making them better, and better, and better.
Steve
