Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting .30 125 Ballistic tip for Deer?

36 grains of 4198 is the sweet spot for that bullet weight.

If you ever want a mono bullet, the Barnes 110 or 120 black tips work spectacular from a 30-06 lightly loaded.

My late wife shot them in a Remington 788.
308 at 2900 Fps.
Recoil is light compared to big guns.
She took a few big 8 pt. bucks with no problem.
I bet it would well on coyotes.
She always got one shot kills.

Seen more than a few killed with them, all have been bang flops.

I'm going to load some of the Barnes 120s for a friend's young daughter in a .30-06. Please describe your loads and experiences.

You can run the 125 NBT and 125 NAB as well as the 130 Hornady SP (not the varmint version) at full throttle with great results. And even at 3,100 fps, they don't kick like heavier bullets. Even the 130 Hornady will blow thru a WT chest with good exit, lots of internal damage and usually DRT.

If a 125/130 will exit a WT, you may not need heavier bullets on that class of game. And the extra speed helps.

IMO.

DF

Dirtfarmer nailed it. I run 125 nbt at 3275 in my 06. Only good things happen.

exits????????? behind shoulder or front axles or both??? exits again very important?????? my boys tikka 308 win likes 150 bt's but if the 125's are more heavily constructed then i'll move to them.
thanks,
Big Ed

I've never shot a critter with it, but that stubby little 130gr Hornady has proven VERY accurate in a few .308's and the one 300 win mag I shot it in!

Roger that. I have some load data somewhere with both 4198's and two different 118gr match bullets.

I've been very impressed with it in the '06, on WT's, hogs and coyotes. LOTS of one shot DRT's.. Bullets do a lot of damage, hold together and usually exit. About perfect performance at reasonable ranges where we hunt. And, they're not expensive. Never tried one in the .300 WM.

59 gr. BG in the '06 with mag primers is a great load.

DF

The 125 grain Sierra ought to be a good one too. You're not pushing for blowup impact speeds.

The 125 Sierra is much tougher than most realize.

My uncles hunting pard has shot the Sierra in his '06 for probably close to 40 years. Never heard him complain and they are shot at archery ranges most of the time.

There's a video on YouTube of the blackout with the 125 penetrate 2 full blocks.

Has anyone shot the Blackout 110 gr. Barnes .30 cal out of a fast round?

I wonder if they'd be too expansive on critters at 3,200+ fps out of a .308 or '06.

DF

I've sent the black tips at blackout velocity.

dirt not a complete answer to your question but a hunting pards son shot a buck this past wkend with said 110 barnes outta 300 bo at whatever velos come in factory loaded guise. i'm assuming 2,200ish fps at the spout and the buck ran over 100 yds with little blood to follow after a perfect tight behind the shoulder shot by the young lad at approx 65 yds. the bullet penciled thru it appears and i let it be known that barnes bullets need to run warp speed to be useful and not slow where they don't even open much prolly. i recommended the 125 bt if he was gonna run em slow for the boy. looking at the deer you couldn't even see an exit unless you peeled the hair and found a pencil hole.
Big Ed

I've s3n the Barnes actually exit higher than the impact hole...like it planes upward.

Good info. I have 110’s and the machinery to blast them at “impressive” speed. Bet they’d make a splash at 3,400 or so. Maybe too big a splash. I’ve seen what a mess the 120 TTSX makes at 3,450 out of my 26 Nosler.

I’m a big advocate of balancing bullet design with speed for optimal performance. Monos are said to not have a velocity ceiling. Not sure that’s completely true.

DF

125s work great on whitetail. My 308 loves them.







200 yards