Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Those 'Ol Sorry Nosler BT's

Ive killed a truck load of deer with Nosler bullets over the years and for the most part it's been with the .284cal 150 gr Nosler BT. Ive heard and read the "horror stories" of "BT's" just blowing up on the outside of a deer or "I only got 3 inches of penetration" and the deer ran to the county line, we never found it story over the years but I have never had anything but really good performance from them when kept within their design parameters..

The pic is a .284 cal 150 gr Nosler BT shot from a 280 Rem that was recovered from a doe that I shot a couple years ago as she was standing facing me at a whopping 7 yards away as I sat in a ground blind. As noted, the bullet started at 150 grs, recovered weight was 93 grs and that translates into 62% weight retention. Not too shabby for a bullet that started out around the 2860-2900 fps mark..

Used that bullet in my 7x57 on many deer and feral hogs. I only recovered one from a monster feral hog, it looked like the one in you pic. Great bullet.

There's quite a few well regarded hunting Nosler ballistic tips that demonstrate excellent performance on game; the 0.284" 150 gr being one of them. I have no hesitation using 0.284" 120s and 150s and 0.308" 168s and 180s; those being the ones I happen to frequent. Sectioning of the current BTs will reveal there's a rather large amount of copper in the ass end and a tapered jacket. The current version (hunting) is certainly not the same as those that initially hit the market years ago.

I have handloaded a bunch of Nosler Ballistic Tips for friends over the years. I think I counted 24 animals taken with them, mostly 30 caliber 150 grain Ballistic Tips, and that was back in the 1990s, before they were "improved". No one ever lost a deer or complained that the bullet didn't penetrate enough. The worst complaint was when a friend shot a caribou with a 180 grain Ballistic Tip I loaded for his 30-06 at around 2,600 fps muzzle velocity. He said that the bullet killed the caribou but made a mess out of the off-side shoulder. Most of the animals taken were NY State whitetails shot at close range.

I use them in 6.5 creeds, 264 Win mags, 26 Nosler, 270’s, 7-08, 7 mags, 30-06, 300 Win Mags. Never had a problem, my go to bullet.

I have had good results with the .284" 120's in my small sampling. Shot a 200 lb pig at 75 yards, a couple white tail bucks at 250 plus yards and a black tail buck with them. I just recovered my first one last week. 377 yard shot on a bedded black tail. I have not weighed it but it opened up like I would expect it to. Deer was facing slightly up hill. Shot hit tight behind the shoulder and i recovered it on the off side rear ham. The deer did a death run of 50 yards. I have had good luck putting meat in the freezer with them. They are running 3050 out of my 7/08.

I saw a good size white tail buck get shot with one from a 7 mag. Bullet stated at 3450fps and complete pass through. Entry was bullet diameter and exit was maybe the size of a quarter. I am a fan of them.

My brother’s biggest bull elk to date fell to a 168 BT that came from my press. 320+ bull, .30-06.

Not to mention the bison he shot in the ear hole (not the ear, the ear hole) with the same load. You want to see an animal drop right now? Shoot him in the ear hole.





P

Shot a mulie buck in the ear hole, completely lobotomized him there was a hole in the off side of his skull almost big enough to put your fist in. The cranial cavity was completely devoid of any brain tissue, the bullet was a 275 Speer RN from a .338 WM distance was approx. 30 yds..

I too have hung my hat on the BT throughout the years. Lots of dead critters by my own hand,and the folks I've loaded them for. To be honest though,nothing is perfect. Use enough of any one bullet,and you'll have a problem sooner or later. Too many variables. Of late,the .30 caliber bullets have come under my scrutiny. I don't think the 150 grain BT I used on last year's buck was all that wonderful. No exit from a whitetail. The old boy bounced when he hit the ground. Inerds were pretty much liquid. I just thought it odd that the bullet went totally and completely to chit. The end result was a big heavy mature buck in hand. Mission accomplished.

The other was a .30 cal 168 grain. I was running some 270 bullets through water jugs at 100 yards. Entertaining and informative even if it isn't flesh and bone. Grabbing one of my 06 168 grain hand loads I headed out to drain a couple jugs. I couldn't believe how poorly it stood the test. Even with the jugs set 100 yards from the muzzle. I still have the recovered pieces. These are new construction hunting bullets. Not old stock. The 145 grain ELD-X .277 fared much better,and I find that odd.

In a nut shell,I still like and use Ballistic Tips. Bread and butter bullets with possibly the best success record per capita. But bullets just the same. All of them are capable of less than stellar performance.

NBTs are my go too for every big game rifle I have. I've used my 308 with 150s on 6 animals the last 2 years. All exits and every animal dropped on the spot except a Javelina that ran 10 yards. The 150 went through both shoulders of large Mule Deer and kept going.

Never used many on anything other than coyotes and smaller critter but I have no doubt they are a fine bullet.

I would have no issues going to them but I have a ton of Sierra bullets which also "fail" for others, glad I haven't had to put up with those failures.

I've had algebra students who would have presented no resistance to the bullet from such a shot.

Here's a 7mm 150 NBT recovered from a good sized bull elk. I shot him at 40 yards with a 7-08. He was standing angled-away, so I shot him in the rear ribs. The bullet angled forward through 32" of elk and was found underneath the offside scapula. I believe a 150 Partition would have penetrated the scapula and likely been found under the hide on the offside. Regardless, penetrating the offside scapula wasn't necessary. The bull ran 20 yards and was dead when I got to him. Fastest expiration of an elk I've ever witnessed.

I'd say this one is nearly the same as yours, peeled back to where the jacket is heaviest, but obviously sans core.

Mathman,
That right there is funny. When it comes to algebra, I could have been one of those students, back in the day.

They aren’t any good, send them to me, I’ll get rid of them for you!

When I first started shooting a 7mag in 1994,the 150gr Ballistic Tip was one of the bullets I used.They were packed a 100 per box back then and some bullet weights were indeed highly explosive.I shot a couple of deer with the 150gr and was not impressed.I shot a buck at 250yds in the shoulder with one loaded with a muzzle velocity of 3150fps.It blew up at the scapula and never penetrated into the chest cavity.It put him down and hit him so hard that he had blood coming out of his mouth and nostrils.Before I could get to him and finish him off,he jumped up and ran about 50yds into the brush and laid down.I was able to sneek up on him and finish him off with a neck shot.After that,I never shot another Ballistic Tip for about 15yrs.I gave them another chance and now they are my favorite bullet.I'm very fond of the 150gr in my 7mag and the 165 and 168gr in my 30-06.Here is a picture of what I recovered from the buck I shot at 250yds.

Today's BT are generally much tougher than the originals & I use them in several chamberings.

In addition, they are what I always use for load development; they are cheap, & generally speaking, very accurate. If a rifle doesn't shoot them well, it's going to be finicky & likely won't be around long.

MM

Kinda the way I feel about it too.

The pic in another thread shows the 7mm 140gn and 150gn Ballistic Tips sectioned. I was surprised to see the jacket thickness of the 140gn to be identical to the 150gn. The general consensus is that the 120 and 150gn 7mm Ballistic Tips have been toughened up but not the 140gn. Is this the case or have Nosler now beefed the 140gn up as well? Anybody used the 140gn BT and compared it to the 150gn BT? I'm loading the 150gn BT in my 7x64 and it has exited every pig I have shot with it including a boar shot running away with the bullet exiting out its throat.

I find I am using more and more Ballistic Tips the last couple of years. Last year I took a .257 Roberts with 115gn Ballistic Tips (2780fps) out west after pigs and shot about 10. All were one shot kills including several boars shot directly running away. The 115gn penetrated forward far enough to kill them with the one shot. Not bad for a little .25 cal bullet. I'm in the process of rebarrelling a rifle to .257R AI and the 115gn BT will be my bullet of choice to start with. The .25 100gn has also worked well in a .250 Savage and the Roberts. In fact they were a little hard in my 20" barrelled .250. The 6.5mm 120gn is also good in my 6.5x55 and will also be the hunting bullet of choice when I rebarrel another rifle to 6.5CM later this year. And the 8mm 180gn BT has been a great bullet in my 8x57. It just ploughs through everything I shoot with it and exits out the other side. Good expansion by the exit holes and tough enough to just keep on going. I usually like to try quite a few bullets in my rifles but I never bothered with the 8x57. I can't imagine a better bullet for the terrain and game I hunt with my 8x57. I also have .30 cal 150 and 165gn BTs. I want to load the 165 grainers in my .30-06 but I hardly use it any more so haven't got round to it.

I'm a big fan of the old Hornady Interlock but for plastic tip bullets I usually choose the Ballistic Tips over the others.

I probably haven’t mentioned it before (grin) on the ‘fire, but my 7mm-08 really likes the 120 gr. Ballistic Tip. Deer hate it.

I use the ballistic tips and have no argument against them'
I do however have a variety of caliber and weight old Solid Base.
I use and really like them.

That should be a sig line...

My family had some bad experiences with the first version of BT, right after Nosler came out with them. There were two rodeo hunting seasons using 150's in a pair of 280's that made a mess of a deer and an elk. The elk was the most dramatic failure I've ever seen. The bullet came apart on the onside scapula at the first shot, and made a hell of a gaping flesh wound. It was a mess, but the big cow didn't react noticeably to the shot. Two more shots were required. That box of bullets was saved for targets after that, and we switched to Partitions.

I have no qualms with using BT's now, but they aren't often the most accurate bullets for me. I've loaded them up for others though. The 180 in a 308 has taken some fine bulls for a father and son I used to load for.

Those bt's in the 90's really made me leery of them as well.

A buddy jumpshot at 50 yards a running big muley buck with his 55 year old Win M100 .308 with 150 NBTs over Varget. Centerpunched him in the right lung and it folded like a bad hand. Recovered bullet was textbook mushroom.

I have at least a thousand at home, I think will throw the sorry things in the creek.

Awesome results...

Highoctane: I have used Nosler bullets since I was 13 years old and taught myself to "hand-load" (58 years ago now).
I have as yet to be disappointed in either a Nosler Partition or a Nosler Ballistic Tips performance - and that is saying something, as I am a high volume shooter/Hunter/Varminter.
I even used some Nosler Zip-E-Dos for a time way back when!
I have loaded and been VERY happy with Nosler Ballistic Tips in the following calibers: 20, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27 and 30.
Accurate, lethal and reliable - no need to try anything else IME!
Long live Nosler Inc.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

The first 7mm 150 BT I recovered from a sizable Axis looked exactly the same. At first I was vexed. But, then it dawned on me regardless of the missing lead core, it still went on through to do its job. I certainly did not have to walk too far to recover the animal.

Exactly. Looks identical to the jacket I found against the tip of the sternum of a big heavy whitetail. No measurable lead to be found. The offside body cavity looked like it had chicken pox,lol. Like you,I was pretty disappointed with what I found,but the buck bounced when he hit the dirt. Didn't have to go looking for him that's for sure. I think these days we expect everything to perform like bonded offerings. It is just a cup and core bullet,with a plastic tip to insure expansion at longer ranges. While retaining as much velocity as possible. Up close things can still get pretty violent.

I would have liked to have had an exit. I've come to expect it on deer. I've got lots of bullets on the shelf better suited to doing just that. Still,you can't argue the speed at which that buck died. Impressive.

I too soured on the first bt's. 150gr 7mm in a 7-08 through the lungs . Yes shot was close and the deer was dead. This was loaded down due to the probility of a close shot. Will have to try the newer ones. Currently using 150gr eldx. Only sample of one deer so far but good results. On the other hand I am still using 140gr Nosler solid base bullets in my 280REM. They still kill deer.

the 140 Ballistic Tips I have bought from Shooters Pro Shop on sale.....

Well the more I get the better..

those in my Featherweight 7 x 57, and 44 grain of 4895 or 4064....

I could be pretty much set for most larger game hunting I'd ever do...

I need to load some of those sorry things tomorrow.

HighOctane,
I had a 180 BT disintigrate on the onside shoulder of a big Axis. The only penetration I found was the green polycarbonate tip imbedded in an interior rib. Left a fist sized hole, knocked him down & he was trying to get up. Second shot put his lights out at 185 yards. That was in the 90’s. Aint scared of ‘em now. I still use them. I love the 7mm 150, it is my absolute favorite.

I have been shooting Nosler Ballistic Tips for years now, in fact, save for one or two rifles, BT's are my bullet of choice for each rifle's pet load. I have yet to have one fail on deer, 2400 fps or 3200 fps, 10 yards to 300, they always work, penetrating sufficiently and expanding dramatically. As a rule, they group tightly, and accurate loads are easy to come by.

I love trying different components, but I always come back to the Nosler Ballistic Tip. For my hunting, it's about as close to the perfect bullet as I have found.

Lots of bullets I like but the old nosler ballistic tip has always been one of my favorites.

The 115 Ballistic Tip has been my go to bullet in my 257 Wby for quite sometime. I've found nothing kills quicker or is more accurate. I've always been amazed at how well the bullet holds up at 257 Wby velocities. Here's a 115 NBT I recovered from an 8 point Whitetail buck shot through the shoulder at 160 yards. The bullet was found lodged under the skin on the offside shoulder. Starting velocity was 3450.

I could live happily forever using nothing but Ballistic Tips...



The bull:

You keep showing pictures of the same sorry-assed little bull and the same sorry-assed 7mm-08, let’s see something new.

Sheesh.





P

I have used Nosler 120gr BT in my .264 Win Mag with a max load of IMR 4350 since the 1980's it was my go to Western Deer & Antelope bullet.
I am switching this year to Nosler's 130 AB because I'm going Caribou hunting next year and there just a little bigger. I also want the option of being able to also hunt Elk with it as well if needed.

From personal experience, the Sierra game Kings are just as bad when it comes to meat damage.