Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 6.5mm 120BT's vs 7mm 120 BT's

Is the 6.5mm version as tough as the 7mm version of the 120 BT?

Not sure JG as I've never cut one but I've never caught one in a deer at 2950 out of a .260...

They both kill deer, pigs and Aoudads just fine. I haven’t had any run off. The supposedly made the 7mm 120’s a little tougher for silhouette shooters. I think JB wrote that. I’m not sure. I’m old, I forget stuff.

Thanks amigo!

Had one stop in a pronghorn doe, quartering toward me at around 250 yards, muzzle velocity 3100 fps. Found it under the hide of the opposite ham, retaining 60% of its weight.

The others have exited.

One......what?

120 6.5.

They are not quite as robust as the 7mm/120 but will do anything within reason that you need it to as long as you don't push it beyond its design parameters.. I've killed a few rather large hogs with them, including hard impact with heavy bone, and never had reason to complain about a lack of penetration. I have more that I need to retrieve from photobucket some day, but here is a recent picture of a 120 6.5 recovered from a boar I took at app. 170 yards.

Launched at 2601 fps MV from a 24" Contender barrel in 6.5x30-30 AI, the bullet took the boar through the third-to-last rib, devastating one side of the liver, heavily damaging both lungs (right lung moreso than the left) and then plowing through the opposite-side shoulder. The bullet came to rest in the meaty front portion of the shoulder and about 1/2" from contact with the shield.

When extracting it, I noticed a portion of the core was loose, but -- all things considered -- I'd call this perfect terminal performance as the damage was impressive, and the hog went less than 30 yards before piling up. I cleaned off the bullet a bit more after taking the photo, and the two pieces weighed 76 grains.

If you need more penetration than that, the 130 grain Accubond performs extremely well. Here's a recent experience with it that I posted on a different board.






This old boar had been coming in late at night and had been ultra-skittish. I've caught glimpses of him a couple of times, but he always skirted the brush where he blended in and didn't afford a shot opportunity. But last night, under a clear sky and with the moon and stars there to betray his presence, he made a mistake.

As he stepped away from cover and into a wide clearing, his form materialized on the recently-shredded grass that was already scorched by a lack of rain and the Texas sun. I wasted no time and put the dot of the L3 reticle where it would do the most good and sent a 130 grain Accubond from the 6.5x30-30 AI downrange. The impact of the bullet, which leaves the muzzle at app. 2525 fps, was loud in the night air, and as I recovered from the modest recoil, I could see he was down on the spot.

The Accubond entered the very front edge of the quartering target's shoulder and heavily damaged the lungs and a portion of the liver. It also unzipped the very edge of the stomach before skidding along and breaking the 4th and 5th-to-last ribs. It was recovered under the hide.

This boar was on the decline, and -- as such -- you can really see the outline of his shield under the sagging hide. It measured over 1.25" thick across the center of the shoulder.

The penetration of the 7mm/120 BT is better than any comparable 7mm cup-and-core bullet that I tested it against. Launched at app. 2655 fps, it even exited this large boar with a chest shot from 190 yards. The 6.5/120 BT is no slouch, though, and out-penetrates most cup-and-core offerings as well, including the 123 grain SST which many swear by for use in the Grendel.

They are equal and both work really, really perfectly well at muzzle velocities stated.

God Bless and outta here,

kd

The 7mm first they beefed up the 140s for steel shooters and then for the 120s they shortened the 140s jacket which left them thicker at the nose. The 6.5 was purpose designed with the heavy and improved hunting BT jacket. The 6.5 jacket is thinner at the nose than the 7mm but not enough to make much difference. But of the two I would say the 7mm is tougher both from looking at the sectioned bullet and performance on game. As others posted it almost always makes an exit.

I will be using the 6.5 120 BT next time I deer hunt with my 6.5x55 and know it will perform as good or better than the 129 grain Hornadays I used last season. The Hornaday is an excellent performer. With either of these and a case full of R26 the little 6.5 is right up there with the 270 Winchester with 130 grain bullets, any difference would be hard to see in the field within normal ranges.

ya gotta be trying to shoot something awfully darn big to not make a 6.5mm 120 grain Ballistic Tip not work...

What about at 264 WM velocities? I'd like to try them, but I'm thinking it might be wiser to just stick with the 125 Partitions that work so well.

(The old 120gr Solid Bases worked great in my 264, but the early BTs made a mess.)

Don’t you guys feel bad about shooting those poor pigs. Dey wasin duin nuffin!!!

I have only shot them to about 3000 fps but I believe Nosler had the 264 in mind when they upgraded the Hunting Balistic tips. They didn't need to be so tough for the 260 and smaller 6.5s.

I have had the solid bases turn into bombs but these were the original unbonded thin jacket types. It would not be my first choice for close range but should work well even in this application. They might be a little messier than the partitions though.

Oh, but we memorialize them in a unique ceremony which includes a baptismal in a special marinade, fire and a pre-meal prayer.

Buzzards and coyotes get most of ours. We clean a small one once and a while.

I have done most of my ruminant killing with:
95 gr NBT 6mmBR
115 gr NBT 257 Roberts AI
120 gr NBT for the 6.5-06
130 gr NBT for the 270
140 gr NBT for the 7mmRemMag
125 gr NBT for the 300WinMag

I deviated from optimum on the last one.

I used the 120NBT going 3200 from that 6.5x284 I had. It held up something wonderful on Fallow, Axis and Blackbuck.

I haven’t killed anything with this load but I wouldn’t feel undergunned.









P

in my independent testing,water filled milk jugs @ 50 yds, the 120 bt didn't do as well as I had wanted it to do. I was hoping it to be as tough as the 7mm 120 bt is purported as being,i shall test it when the weather cools off in the fall. I wanted the 6.5 mm 120 bt to work so much I gave it the benefit of the doubt and re-tested it but alas I has cup and core separation 2 outta 2 times. the 125 partition and the 130 accubond did exceedingly well though through my Tikka 260 rem. I guess it all depends on what you want your bullet to do. I personally like an entrance and an exit,with a lot of energy dumped in between, in my deer just in case I have to blood trail at dark 30. the 120 bt is super accurate in my Tikka but I'm leaning 125 partition or 130 accubond at the moment.
good luck on your bullet quest,
Big Ed

I thought that for a long time until we put a trail cam at my deer camp carcass pile.

It was a bunch of hogs that ate those hog carcasses...

Ate them down to the skeletons and in short order. It's amazing what 20-30 hogs can do to a pile of dead hogs...

I'll eat a young one, but after seeing that, most of my pork comes from the grocery store.

Old timers would catch a possum, bring him home, feed him for 2-3 weeks then eat him. Hogs are about as nasty as possums.

And, wear gloves cleaning them for Lepto, Brucellossis and other interesting diseases they carry.

DF

whitearrow,

Water-filled jugs are cheap and handy, but not particularly indicative of what bullets will do on big game.

The other factor is that ALL "hunting" Ballistic Tips will separate core and jacket. I know this from shooting them in calibers from 6mm to .375 (yes, Nosler briefly made a 260-grain .375 BT) into big game, not water-filled jugs.

Supposedly the core leaving the jacket is a big deal. It used to be, back when big-game bullet jackets were all relatively thin. But it doesn't matter all that much when the jacket weighs as much or more than the core, which is the case with the hunting Ballistic Tips.

i'll give you that mule deer as what I was really trying to do with my "water-filler jugs" at 50 yds was a absolute worse case scenario. I still like the 6.5mm 120 grain bt but IF the 125 partition or the 130 grain accubond group as well outta my Tikka I will likely go with that due to the possibility of a shoulder punch where I desire a pass thru. I shot a small 90lb deer this yr with said 120 bt a touch back and high but still lung shot and got a pass thru and the deer traveled 50 yds but decent blood trail. but, I'm always nervous if I hit a shoulder knuckle. I hunt thick stuff and if a deer runs 100yds w/o a decent blood trail it probably won't be recovered and I don't like feeding the yotes when I'm in need of sausage.
thanks,
Big Ed

Interesting Mule Deer. The 120 BT (7mm08, 2800fps, 120 yd impact) I used on my axis hunt with Ingwe did just that, separated the core from jacket. Nevertheless, they were found right next to each other, and together weighed 80.5 grains. The Axis dropped in his tracks when shot through shoulder, broadside.

I'm really hoping the 6.5 version performs just as well.

whitearrow,

Actually, a far better "worst-case scenario" test of big game bullets is shooting into a stack of DRY (not wet) newspaper. (Wet newspaper is far more forgiving, one reason many bullet companies used it for years. Just about any bullet ends up as "perfect" mushroom.)

Have tested bullets in a lot of different kinds of media over the years, and when I really want to know what might happen when a bullet hits heavy bone, dry newspaper comes closest.

While they often will separate, one can't say they always do -- and this is gleaned from a couple hundred or so kills of big game with them along with countless media tests. Here are just a few that didn't separate. The photos will continue into a second reply below as individual posts are limited to six images, I believe.

For clarification, the photo below -- with the blue-tipped BT -- is actually a 7mm 120 grainer. These were a production over-run for an ammo maker that wound up being sold by the Shooter's Pro Shop.

Bobby,

I didn't say that Ballistic Tip hunting bullets ALWAYS separate core and jacket. I said they all will, meaning they sometimes do.

I primarily wanted to point out that it doesn't really matter whether the jacket separates or not, because the jacket's heavy enough to keep penetrating. I know this from shooting a bunch of them from 6mm to .375 into test media, plus big game from pronghorns to elk, and similar-sized African plains game from springbok to gemsbok.

Hey Bobby, I bought a bunch of the blue tips years ago, they seem to be a little shorter than the red tips. How is your accuracy?





P

Pharmseller -

The ogive on Nosler bullets tends to vary slightly from lot-to-lot, and that's about my only pet peeve with them. The blue tips were the same as some reds I had on the shelf but different than others.

As to accuracy, I have seen no difference at all as long as I keep the distance-to-lands consistent..

Thanks.



P

I agree. They typically out-penetrate comparable cup-and-core bullets -- or at least have done so in my usage.

Yep, especially the Ballistic Tips with really heavy jackets, with 2/3 of the weight in the jacket, whch today include those from the 165-grain .30 caliber on up. These act very similarly to Partitions, retaining at least 60% of their weight.

This is what a handloaded 168 NBT out of a .30-06 gets you in New Mexico.




P

Nice one.

DF

That is an awesome elk, Pharmseller. Congrats!

Congrats Pharm


Jerry

I’ll thank you on behalf of my brother, it’s his bull. My handloads, though.




P

Well then, I’ll take it back.






Still looks good to me.

Jerry

Well, that does give you a "dog in the fight"...

DF

Not so good.
I feel like the "odd" man out here. Didn't have the results I wanted.
I hunt an area where I want an exit because it's very thick. Shot a mid sized buck in the pocket behind the shoulder. He was slightly quartering away and no exit. Shot a large dry doe almost same shot and same results, no exit. Shot a small buck behind shoulder a little farther back and he was standing almost exactly broad side and no exit. They each ran about 70 yards and fortunately they didn't run into the thick stuff. Had they, I would have had a difficult time finding them and I may not have. 6.5X55 at about 3000 fps muzzle. 60 - 120 yard shots. I did use the rangefinder to get exact measurements but without digging out the notes my measurements above are close.

Dead, recovered Whitetail is no bullet failure - BUT the performance I want (exit hole) hunting where I do just didn't materialize. I realize unexpected stuff happens after you pull that trigger and 3 shots cannot be relied upon as an exact results guarantee. I did, however, take those results as an indicator and am weary of shooting them. My gun really likes the 120 NBT. Great results at 100 - 200yd range sessions. My old Model 64 32 Win Spl shooting 170gr. at 22-2300 fps would have probably served me far better in the field. The 125gr Nos Partition through the 6.5 has produced the results I want through the shoulders and exit. My son has had great results with the 120NBT through his Model 70 .284 Win.

Was the "not so good" results with the older BTs?
The new 120 "Hunting BT" in 6.5 and 7mm hold together just about perfect for me. I have not recovered on yet and
animals quite dead.
I go for the heart and/or lungs and like for them to run 50 yards or so to let the muscles push the blood out a little.
I do not like a lot of shoulder damage if I can prevent it.
just my 2 cents.

I've not shot the 120gr 7mm but the 120gr 6.5mm is a great performer from my 260 Rem. I shoot them just over 2900fps and I've never recovered one from coyotes or whitetail deer.

I have taken quite a few deer and hogs with the 120 grain 6.5mm Ballistic Tip bullet from three different rifles chambered in 260 Remington. I don't remember finding one that didn't exit. Everything died quickly too.

This year I want to use the 120 grain 7mm Ballistic Tip out of the 7mm-08. Can JB or anyone else with experience tell what their favorite handloads are?

I want to push it fast,hoping to approximate 270 ballistics in a short action.

Check me on this, but something like 45 grains of Varget is your huckleberry.

Thanks, I have Varget on hand. I used to use W760 in 7mm-08 with 140 grain bullets,but was hoping to use a more modern temperature resistant powder.

I will check out loads with Varget.

doc, Varget is great with the 120's and it is supposed to be pretty temp stable, but given where I usually hunt it's a non issue. Just checked my load and mathman has it pegged.....45g Varget running 3100'ish. I used a toned down RL15 (2800fps) load on a recent axis hunt and dumped a big, meat buck pretty handily. One shot through the shoulder, bullet found under skin on off-side weighed 80.5gr.

Big Game.





Same load, different Tikka





3100+, not bad.





P

Not to start a pissing match, but running those 120's too fast can be a messy problem at closer ranges. I've whacked enough hogs with them to know.

rug3 I will assure you that you are not the only odd man out here as I guess I'm the same as my prerequisites in my deer hunting bullets are the exact same as yours. I also hunt some thick/nasty undercut briar infested junk that is 2-3 hops from the shot usually. I too much prefer 2 holes in my deer with a good energy dump in between them. now I've only shot (1) small buck at 120 yards with the 120 grain bt and it did exit with a decent blood trail. I hit him a touch high and back still hitting lungs due to my rifle sighted 2" high at 100yds. I guess I'm just trying to prepare for that oops where I hit a shoulder as I still want penetration and an exit. so in conclusion in my very limited use of the 120 grain 6.5mm bt it did well on my 1 small deer but not so well on my penetration test where the 125 partition and the 130 grain accubond excelled. I sooooooooooooooo wanted the 120 bt to hold together in my tests so I did it x 2 and wasted 4 more precious water filled milk jugs only for both instances to be the exact some outcome.
good luck,
Big Ed

I like to sneak up as close as I can get, then move back about a quarter mile before I shoot.




P

Thanks,

Varget and Big Game sound perfect. Wanting about 3100 fps,flat and fast enough load to shoot out to 300 yards or a little more without having to zero too high at 100. ( I usually sight in at 267 yards,which just happens to be my range distance.)

My shots are usually at around 100 yards in small food plots,or a little over 300 yards in Ag fields. That's just the way my stands are set up on the family farm.

I can assure you that water jugs/milk jug tests of bullets do not correlate to actual terminal performance in game.

By the way,my son killed his first bull elk with the 7mm Rem Mag that we got from you. With a Ballistic Tip that exited the barrel at 3100 fps. In this case a 150 grain version,which I recovered just in the hide on the off side shoulder.

Actually.I only recovered the jacket,because the core exited.

Which makes me wonder,if there is really any practical difference between the killing ability of a 7mm-08 with a 120 grain Ballistic Tip at 3100 FPS,and a 7mm Mag with a 150 grain Ballistic Tip at 3100 FPS. I am sure at really long range,over 500 yards,the higher BC of the longer bullet gives it the advantage. But at practical hunting ranges,400 yards or less,is there really any difference between them?

thanks fellas but a little reasoning on why I chose water filled milk jugs as my test medium. my thoughts but in my head I figured the lungs to be air filled with blood surrounding them in the chest cavity. blood/liquid should be close to same consistency as water and the plastic shell of the mile jugs served as "skin". now if I had a scapula to put between #1 and #2 just to simulate a shoulder penetration that would be sublime but alas I don't. in my thoughts a projectile going north of 2,900 fps and hitting water is like hitting rock until the jug explodes then the penetration test starts. hence my "worse case scenario" test. besides milk jugs are cheap when you have 2 boys age 14 and 7,gallon will last 2 days, so they jugs are available and re-purposed which I love to do. kinda feel like I'm saving money or something.
thanks guys for the reassurance but man its fun to see bullet performance true or not,
Big Ed

That's outstanding doc. The last mule deer I killed with that rifle, shooting those exact 150 BT's, acted exactly the same way. The buck dropped very quickly as the bullet entered his back ham (quartering away at 150 yds), core exited in front of off side shoulder, jacket found under skin. Great performance.

Not sure how much difference in killing power there is though. Maybe MD or some else can answer that.

No.




P

Better than nothing, I guess, but hide (especially elk) is some tenacious stuff. Plus, I seem to centerpunch a rib, unless of course I hit the scapula first.

I’ll bet it’s a blast to watch the jugs explode.





P

Don't worry about MV, look at what it is when it impacts...

3100 MV and a BT can turn into 2700-800 in less than a few hundred yards....

I like my BT's to impact under 2900 and I'd not performance is much more erratic...

whitearrow,

Yeah, it's a blast (literally) to shoot a bunch of different stuff with expanding big game bullets!

However, my reliance on newspaper comes from several years of trying different kinds of "media," including bones, ballistic gelatin, wax, etc. etc. So far I haven't found anything else that provides as good a prediction of weight retention and relative penetration when hitting heavy bone in actual animals. I always reserve my final judgment on field results, but so far results from DRY newspaper have never let me down.

Thnx Pharm. I’ve gotta try that.


Jerry

New from Midway 3 years ago.
Three consecutive shots, three dead deer isn't going to give one much to complain about and a whole lot of other guys have had the results I was looking for. Exit hole.
I loaded 20 rounds of this lot. Shot 3 to see if they were on. Chronographed seven (liked shooting them) so I had another ten to hunt with. After I shot those deer I chronographed 2 more and they were right in there.
I'm willing to chalk up the no exits on those three deer as one of those unexplainable things that happen shooting game and I'll probably be trying them again. My confidence in them, however, is shaken and far lower than before I shot the first buck.

rug3 try the 130 accubond bud. flies like a bt and penetrates and holds together like a partition. granted its 10 more grains of bullet mass and you prolly won't get quite the mv of the 120 bt but is should be doggone close. I was shooting nosler factory ammo and federal premium ammo in my tests where the 120 bt was fed premium traveling 2,950 fps and the nosler factory load 130 grain accubond was 2,700 fps. the accubond seems kinda slow for just 10 grains given up that's 250 fps for 10 grains of bullet weight. I couldn't wrap my head around that one and still can't. 100 fps maybe but 250 come on nosler!
Big Ed

Well, those aren't "Fire" loads. Surely one can squeeze out a hundred fps over factory with the "right" handloads...

DF

DF I can't get why nosler can't "squeeze out a hundred fps" out of the 130 accubond from the 260 rem. I have some of their "custom" loads in the same cal and it says 2,800 fps but a lot higher price. so therein probably lies the answer. to get 2,800 fps from the 130 accubond from the 260 rem one must buy the "nosler custom" line..........am I not accurate in thinking 10 grains of bullet weight shouldn't be a deficit of 250 fps???
thanks,
Big Ed

I see impressive reports with RL-26 with heavy bullets in the Creed and Swede, not sure how well it would work with 120's.

DF

Varget has some of the best accuracy with lighter bullets, lowest velocity spreads I've seen.

Here's the 123 Scenar, not a 120 NBT, but pretty close. Gun is a M-700 with Shilen barrel.

Big Game is another great one; Pharmseller is top salesmen...

Hey, if it works...

DF

You’d think they’d at least send me a hat.





P

For sure.

You've sold a lot of their powder here on the Fire...

DF

Speaking of getting free stuff for peddling stuff here on the fire:

Buy Nosler! Nosler bullets are great!

Hey, Nosler, send bullets. I already own a free Nosler hat...remember me? I'm the guy who made three orders to SPS in the last month....

I’ve turned many folks on to Shooter’s Pro Shop.

I’m actually in the Nosler parking lot right now, no foolin’.





P

I don’t know how many guys I’ve turned onto the Ballistic:AE app, here on the ‘fire...

...this place if full of pushers and dealers.... It will ruin a person.

You guys make me and my 250 newly purchased .284", 140gr Core-Lokts...............feel old. :

I've always said most guys in my home state are about 25 years behind. I start loading bullets with "plastic tips" everyone will ask me why I'm using "varmint bullets".

good stuff
God Bless

Two hats...

DF

And, bullets, and scopes, and rings, and tripods, and rifles, and binoculars, and rangefinders, and powder, and, and, and, and. He’s a total pusher!..Only problem; Jordan uses his product he pushes...Bad business model 😁

Do you think it is better than JBM?

It uses the JBM engine, but has a lot more features and is user-friendly.

Now we talking a bunch of hats...

DF

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/gallery/80/full/74422.jpeg
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/gallery/80/full/74423.jpeg
So, Im not sure if I got these (2) pics to load or not. If they did upload it’s a pic of my .5” 3 shot group100yds from the tikka 260 shooting factory federal premium 120 grain ballistic tip. Second pic is the exit wound from the 120 grain bt on a smallish MS 90 lb yearling. It obviously did the job but I liked em wayyyy better before the water jug test.
Big Ed

I have just taken possession of 4 boxes of 120 gr. Ballistic Tips to run in a 6.5 Grendel. At 2500 fps I expect good expansion and penetration from them along with fine accuracy. For years I avoided using Ballistic Tips because of the bad press they got early on but when that turned around I found them great bullets. A favorite is the 150 gr. .284 diameter Ballistic Tip. This bullet will do a heck of a lot of work out of a medium 7MM rifle.

Why? That deer pic exit looks about perfect.

I agree with JG about velocity. C&C bullets generally have a designed velocity window. If one keeps that in mind, optimal terminal performance will be the reward.

Monos are said to have no velocity ceiling. I've had issues with that. IME, very low S.D. mono's at hyper-velocity can result in less than optimal terminal performance on WT's. My one time experience with the 80 TTSX out of my .240 at 3,600 fps caused a huge superficial blast effect, then penciled thru the chest for a slow kill. Too much energy expanded too quick. With higher S.D. bullets, not as big an issue. Seems S.D. below .2 can be a red flag if pushed super fast. That's just my observation, would appreciate input on that.

DF

Theory: The 80 hit so hard and fast it blew its petals right away. Then you had a small diameter solid that made it through. A bullet of the same diameter and construction but higher SD will be heavier, and hence moving slower. Upon impact it will retain its petals farther into, if not all the way through, the penetration and hence make a better wound channel.

Some don't like blood and gore photos, but this one shows the huge, gaping hole in the chest wall. I've posted it before. There was a small thru and thru chest wound, doe ran 100 yds,; we had to find her with flashlights in the woods at night.

I switched the .240 to 100 gr. NPT's which it seems to like. It turned out to be the most accurate bullet in that gun, an HS Precision SPL in a Hunters Edge. I've shot half MOA groups at 400, in fact, one three shot group was 1.7".

It's my observation about the < .2 S.D. being a potential cut off point for hyper velocity W.T. mono loads. So, even monos may have a practical velocity ceiling, especially the low S.D. ones.

DF

jg I am happy with that exit hole it produced that time but that was no shoulder or spine bones hit and don't remember about ribs. I guess in a perfect world where you hit exactly where you aim and the deer doesn't move at trigger pull and buck/doe fever doesn't ht and you snatch the trigger they are as perfect a whitetail bullet as ever created. but,and there is always a but, I am trying to prepare for the not so perfect scenario where dealing with a bigger deer or bad angle or pooched shot or take your pick of issues. I'm not writng the 120 bt off the list as its very accurate and obviously deadly in my 260 rem tikka. I would just feel better about a little tougher i.e. partition/accubond bullet at the moment to cover my 6 if I make a blunder of the shot. heck to change calibers my sons tikka 7mm-08 shooting the hornady 120 sst did better in the water test by far than the 120 bt. the 120 7mm held together,core stayed into and locked to the cup/jacket, and looked a lot like a accubond after the recovery in the 4th milk jug. the 125 partition made it to the 6th milk jug and the 130 accubond was lodged between the 5th and 6th jug.
Big Ed

Good deal whitearrow. Hard to argue with choosing a partition.....the perfect big game bullet IMO.

that we agree on jg. if a partition will shoot accurately in your particular rifle its all you will ever need for big game imho. I just hope my tikka t3 like partitions as well as bt's and accubonds. that group I posted was .5" and it shoots 3 130 grain accubonds into .7"@100 yds with regularity. my fingers are crossed on the partition but I can shoot the accubonds if need be. I wanted to like the 120 bt sooooo bad but that cup/core separation in the water jug has me all screwed up about shooting them. I guess I'm just in the camp where we like our bullets to hold together and penetrate but dump energy between the 2 holes.
thanks,
Big Ed

A 7mm 120 grain Hornady SST? Are you certain it wasn't the 139 grain SST or -- more likely -- the 139 grain Interbond? Could you post photos of the recovered bullets if you have a chance?

The 7mm 120 is a VMax. Not that it wouldn't work for deer out of a mild 7mm, but I'd be surprised if it out-performed a 120 BT on any impact test.

I’ve seen a fair amount of NBTs and Accubonds shot into critters of various sizes over the past 25 years. I’d say on average, the NBT exits more frequently than the Accubond... given similar cal/weight/game/etc. I’ve seen one deer stop a NBT of any caliber, and one antelope stopped a 100 grainer outta the .25/06. Never seen an elk shot with one. But I’ve seen Accubonds ranging from 90gr .243 to 210 .338s dug out of deer. Admittedly, every Accubond we’ve personally shot at animals has exited, and done good work on the way out.

130 Accubond, at 2800-3000fps launch speeds, is a pretty good way to roll for most anything you’d ever need to shoot.... just ask those .270 shooting homos.

The 7mm 120 SST is from hornady’s Custom lite line. If I’m not mistaken mv is 2,600 fps as a reduced recoil load. I have a pic somewhere and will post it later. It is picture perfect in my opinion and penetrated 4 milk jugs.
Big Ed

OK, thanks. Did you shoot at a different range so that impact velocities would be the same or at least quite similar? The 120 grain Hornady is traveling nearly 300 fps slower than your .260/120 Nosler.

243 85 XBT at 3100 mv worked great here....

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...5-x-bullet-and-wild-hog-pics#Post2818293

[img]http://https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/galleries/12939920/120-sst[/img]
[img]http://https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/galleries/12939920/120-sst[/img]
This is said 120 grain sst from a Tikka T3 compact after traveling thru 3 milk jugs and caught by the 4th. Pretty dang close to what I call picture perfect expansion w/o cup/core separation which personally gives me confidence if i pooch a shot and hit a shoulder knuckle or scapula. I so wish I was a cool kid and could actually post my pics straight to the post instead of a link. Someone please help a brother out.
Big Ed