The only experience I've had with the early Ballistic Tips as with the 7MM 140 gr. bullet. Worked up a very accurate load for my 7MM Mauser M70 FWT running a hair over 2800 FPS with W760. I shot a Mule Deer buck and hit the shoulder. It looked like the bullet blew up on the shoulder bone. Just not sure if it actually penetrated into the vitals. When got to look for the deer that ran down into a gulley, I blew my left knee and couldn't go any farther. My son in law and his son refused to go look for the deer and dragged me off the hill. I haven't hunted with them since. I'm thinking of pulling the bullets and downloading them closer to factory levels as they'll still be moving fast enough for the distances I prefer shooting. Truth be told, I'l most likely just use them on paper and not worry about how explosive they may be.
PJ
Would like to know how "it looked like the bullet blew up on the shoulder bone" since the deer was never recovered. But have always wondered about ANY negative description of bullet performance where the animal was not recovered.
In this instance it's because, as noted in an earlier post on this thread, I killed a number of animals with the first version of the 140-grain 7mm Ballistic Tip handloaded to around 2900 fps from the 7x57 with NO problems. In fact never recovered one, even when they went through pretty heavy bone in deer-sized game at various ranges. Have also used them in cartridges up to the .280 Ackley Improved with no problems.
The late Chub Eastman, a VERY experienced hunter and the Nosler writer-contact from the mid-1980s until he retired around 2010, told me the 140 7mm was one the early Ballistic Tips they didn't change when "revising" the BT line in the late 80s. Based on my experience with them in those days I have no doubt that was true.
