Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Ballistic tip failure?

Shot a mid sized eight pointer in the neck with a 110 BT fired from a 257 Weatherby and it didn't exit, this was at about 90 yds.. Fragments of bone or jacket did but not the bullet itself. I regret I didn't dig it out. I may try too before it becomes too smelly. This deer was in rut and had skin almost a quarter of an inch thick on his neck, the neck was swollen too. This was one of the most difficult deer that I have ever skinned. Almost none of the hide peeled off, it took a lot of knife work, the entire deer was covered in white connective tissue and fat.

The first time this has happened to me, was with a Sierra 180 grain SPBT out of a 300 Winchester Magnum. I think there is an almost whiplash effect that absorbs bullet energy on neck shots. Both cases I might have been pushing the bounds of the bullet but still a surprise. Both deer dropped in their tracks and the BT bullet deer just kicked once, the Sierra I fired a finisher as it was thrashing around.

Has this happened to others?

Donning my flameproof suit and N95 mask......

Conventional jacketed bullets, Ballistic Tip is only one example, will work fantastic at times (see many recent threads on Ballistic Tips blowing through elk bone, doing a 180, and repeating itself.....), and other times will go "splat".

I'm sure 257 Weatherby speeds don't help. I go by the rule the true test of a bullet is up close and personal, and hitting bone.

As Mule Deer and others have pointed out Ballistic Tips vary as to jacket thickness. Maybe the 110g 25 cal NBT is one of the thin jacketed bullets

Not to be glib, but at what point in the animals death did the bullet fail?

Not a failure, the bullet did as ballistic tips do. I don’t hunt big game with ballistic tips. They work well for paper and varmints.

Pushing a non-premium bullet very fast at short range can do that. I dont t hink the Ballistic Tip is meant for that kind of performance? That round is probably running 3200 fps to 3400 fps?

A neck vertebrae is a pretty substantial bone as far as deer bones go. And the neck muscles are some of the most dense in any critter. I wouldn’t sweat it.

110 grain is an accubond. If it was a ballistic tip it was 115 grains

My usual answer would be when I had to chase the mortally wounded critter. In this case the deer was shot in the neck. But a guy could shoot a deer in the neck with a 16 penny nail and kill them pretty handily. But I wouldn't call a 16 penny nail a good deer bullet. The question becomes what happens if it's not a neck or head shot that's available?

People fail to make that distinction.

Unless you're using a hunting ballistic tip it won't exit. I used to carry a 257 why. loaded pretty hot with 100 gr nosler ballistic tips. Always had a shot/flop. Deer absorbs 100% of the bullet energy,never had an issue. I use 120 gr hunting ballistic tips in my 7-08, loosing a deer isn't a concern with it for damn sure,but don't expect to recover a bullet or get much usable meat from the front shoulders.

Not sure why anyone would choose a ballistic tip for a 257 Bee for short range/hyper velocity kills.

What other kind of ballistic tip is available except a hunting ballistic tip?

This was where my mind went JG.

Varmint ballistic tips. In the 25 caliber the 85gr is of the varmint variety and the 100 and 115 are hunting ballistic tips.
I see nothing wrong with how this bullet performed given the circumstances.

Nosler lists them in several categories, Varmint, Hunting, etc etc.

BWalker and Michie D covered it.

Did it take a step after the "hit" ?

Absorbing energy has nothing to do with it. If a bullet penetrates one inch, breaks up and stops, the critter has absorbed all the "energy" and ends up with a wound, maybe fatal, maybe not. It's how much damage the bullet does to vital organs that kills a critter, not how much energy it absorbs.

A bullet that stays together and penetrates is going to provide more consistent results. Maybe not the bang flops, but unlikely to blow up on a shoulder and leave a wounded or mortally wounded critter to run off.

As JG suggests, using a light, more frangible bullet at hyper speeds is asking for it.......

I’ve never shot a bt at weatherby speed but at normal speed they are One of my favorites.
I shoot the 110 ab out of my 25-06ai at 3360fps. I typically don’t get exits with broad side through both shoulders. Bullet is picture perfect under the hide of offside. Never had one take step with this shot. Past 75 yards it blows right through

Me neither.

Concur.

Dead deer so no failure but there's but a single reason (IMO) to shoot a 257 Wby and it's to carry-the-mail.
A stout(er) bullet for the most part, removes the majority of doubt.