DZ enlightened me as to what may explain my FIRST experience with the 95grain Ballistic Tip. He supplied the historical background and extensive personal experience, and so I thought for those considering this bullet, here's what happened just last year:
My girlfriend has taken a good number of Pronghorns over the past few years on our annual excursion, but never seemed to get the quick kill she desires. No horrible wounding stories, but she always wanted things a bit tidier than they've been. Has used a .250 Savage, then graduated to a .270.
This year, she carried a 700 ADL Syn Youth .243 (stock fits her great!), and I experimented on the loading bench for the first time with a 95grain Bal. Tip. I fully expected to glass bed this gun (and still might), but this bullet allowed it to shoot groups that ALWAYS stayed .95-1.05" Pretty sweet for an "econo-model" 700 bone cold stock from the box.
Tried and true IMR4350, and a Federal benchrest primer pushed this bullet at just shy of 3000 fps (even out of the short barrel).
Opening day of goat season in Montana, we got up on what we believed was a pretty good buck, and to make a long story short, got to about 90 yards from this guy, but his head was almost always in the sage. All we knew was that he was "definitely good enough". The girl crawled up slowly out of the ditch, set up prone, I got the camera running, and the buck turned broadside finally.
I have to say that having hunted Pronghorn for 46 years, and having seen literally hundreds killed with everything from .22lr to .375 H&H, this goat went down faster and wiggled less than ANY one previous.
And he turned out to be one of the biggest I've ever seen on the ground too! The clean kill made one happy girl, and one impressed guy. Unless I'm loading for varmints, this'll be the final word in bullets for me for 6mm's. Sometimes it only takes one experience to make a believer.
Last edited by Tahnka; 07/01/11.
