Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 7mm-08 120gr BT

Can't see needing anything more than 120gr BT clipping along at 3000fps they work and have never let me down
Texas last week killed 2 large Axis and a hog recoved a 120gr BT from one of the Axis(1st I've been able to catch ever) just under hide on off side
Shot was 121 yds and bullet weighted 84 gr after recovery

I agree. One of my 7mm-08's loves the 120 as does my daughters. My main 7mm-08 unfortunately loves the 140 BT but that's ok it works well too.

awsome bud. when you get a chance could you please post a pic of the recovered bullet sitting base down? did the lead separate from the jacket? did the pictured projectile bust shoulders or behind the shoulder?
thanks,
Big Ed

The only one I've seen recovered was from a Texas whitetail buck taken north of Abilene, where they get bigger-bodied than South Texas whitetails, more like axis. The buck was angling away at around 120 yards, and the bullet hit the middle of the right ribs, ending up in the left shoulder. He went 20-30 feet before falling, and the bullet looked like yours.

The axis buck I killed last year with Ingwe was taken with that same combo and bullet looked exactly like that as well. Axis didn't take a step.

Through the neck shot dropped in it's tracks not my preferred shot but had a volleyball sized opening to shoot through and that's what was presented no separation of core

Over the years, I have bugged NOsler about making a 7mm 120g accubond.

120 NBT out of a 7-08 is a deadly WT slayer.

Not hearsay. BTDT.

I even have used factory ammo.

Go figure.

DF

Good stuff as always Cap'n Dan,


FWIW,

140 grain Accubonds in the 7mm-08 is my "go to" and has been for a number of years.

ya!

GWB

JB has written, IIRC, that Nosler doesn’t make a NAB when they already have a tough hunting NBT of the same weight and caliber. Think I wrote that right.

I’ve used the 120 NBT on enough game to not really want or need a 120 NAB, at least in my 7-08.

DF

I caught one on a large 8 point on an angling shot that went in thru the ribs and was against the offside shoulder when I started dressing it. Was only the base which weighed around 40 grains if I remember correctly. Not impressive but it got the job done. I have killed a bunch with this bullet but this was the biggest deer Ive shot with them and I had also raised the velocity of the load from 2850 to 3020 by switching from Varget to CFE223. I hunt in a thick area so it may have possibly caught a branch going in but either way I have went heavier for this year.

My friend Dirtfarmer is spot-on.

The 120Ballistic is one heck of a tough bullet. I've killed bull moose, a good number of mature bull elk, big-honking Northern Alberta whitetail & mules and quite a few American pronghorn with the 120. Maybe thirty++ kills in all and though the 7-08 Ackley (7SGLC) and my .270 Ackley Improved

Every single one of my 120Ballistic kills have been one-shot kills. The only 120s I've ever recovered were from two very-mature 6X6 bull elk … one at 375-ish in the vertical spine and one dead-center through the shoulders at 450-ish.

The two recovered bullets are around here somewhere in this mess. If memory serves, the bullets opened to .750"-.800" and both expanded bullets weighed about 100-grains.

I've told the story multiple times, in this forum, about how the 120Ballistic came to be. So I won't bore you.

Trust me, the 120Ballistic is all the 7mm bullet I've used for many, many years and it's always proved to be all the danged bullet I'll ever need … or use.

God Bless,

Steve

Whereabouts??? Our Ranch is 60 miles north of Abilene. Definitely bigger body whitetails here.

My Model 7 Custom Shop Mannlicher in 7-08 prefers the 140 grain BT. Killed a bunch of deer & tons of hogs with that combo here at the Ranch.

Fortunately all my 7MM-08's really like the 120's so thats all I use. No complaints with performance so far, now critters on the other hand don't much care for them:)

Congrats to you success, those axis deer are cool looking animals.

chlinstructor,

On the Nail Ranch, just west of Albany.

The 140 BT is a good bullet too, as is the 150!

Thanks. Nice place. I’ve been there too.

By an odd stroke of fate, hunted the next-door Stastny's Cook Ranch about two months later! But for pigs, not deer.

Killed some pigs on the Merrick Davis Ranch, which is just across the road from the Stastny’s Cook Ranch. Also hunted the Lambshead, Watt Mathews place, and the largest Albany area Ranch and the Hendricks Ranch just west of Albany over towards Haskell. Some outstanding bucks in that country and tons of hogs.

We border the Swenson Ranch west of there in Stonewall County.

I've always used the 140s. I know the 120 is beefed up a little. Has anybody noticed any difference in the end result?

Yep, the 120 penetrates deeper … noticeably.

Blessings,

Steve