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Are the 308 diameter Nosler Ballistic Tip 150's as tough as the 180's? I just picked up a .308 W to start loading for.

The 180s are one of the heavy-jacket models, where the jacket is at least 75% of the total weight of the bullet. As far as I know the 150s are not.

But I once put a 150-grain Ballistic Tip from a .308 into the chest of a pronghorn facing me at around 250 yards. It exited the right ham.

Have also killed broadside pronghorns and deer with the 150 in cartridges up to and including the .300 WSM, and never recovered one.

In my experience the 150 performs really well in the 300 Savage. Maybe even the perfect bullet for the speeds attainable with that cartridge.

I don’t and haven’t owned a 308, but I can’t see it being enough faster to make a difference.

I normally love BT's in everything I shoot, but just be aware that if you load those to magazine length in a .308, that they chew up ALOT of powder space.

I once shot length ways through a pig with a 150gn Ballistic Tip in my .308. The pig had it's head down grazing facing towards me so I shot it through the back of the neck. The bullet exited beside the tail. It must have penetrated two and a half feet at least. That was 20 years ago so I'd imagine if anything they'd be a bit harder these days.

The 165 and 168 BT have jackets as heavy or heavier than the 180.

I haven't used the 180s, but the 150s work great in full power 308 loads for deer and pigs.

The 150 BTip is a great bullet that does it all in a 308W

Good shootin' -Al

Yes, those two bullets are basically the lower end of the "heavy jacket" Ballistic Tips. Everything above those in weight tend to retain almost as much as Partitions. Though some of the lighter, smaller caliber bullets are pretty tough as well--and have been for years now.

They do very well on deer and pigs, boom. Down they go.

The last pic I saw of "cut down" Nosler BT's in 308 did not show any discernable difference in the BEARING SURFACE jacket thickness in the 125 grain on up. I don't know where Nosler ever posted information about jacket thickness comparisons of their bullets - if someone has that, please post it, not hear say.

No hunting experience with .308" 150 gr. Ballistic Tips but I have heard they work well on deer. I hope so; as they got substituted for 150 gr. FMJ's in my M-1 Garand for deer hunting. They shoot well with my normal G.I. equivalent load; just swapped the FMJ for a Ballistic Tip. One of my late uncles who had carried a Garand in WW2 thought it would be great for me to get a deer with the M-1. Never got one with it while he was still alive and now I'm thinking about trying it again this fall in memory of him.

Which is what please?

The 150 is just about the perfect bullet weight for general hunting in the 308w. You may feel the same way? I've messed with 180's in the 308w just for chidts and giggles, but the truth of the matter is any ol cup and core 150 is likely going to work extremely well in the little 308w case.

.. With bullet weights in the 147-152 gr. range that was 47.5 gr. IMR-4895 in commercial brass. Think the powder charge is a grain or two lower in G.I. brass. My memory was off by half a grain with the powder but I was close. Just dug out my notes and I was running 47.0 gr. IMR-4895 in commercial cases with that 150 gr. Ballistic Tip and it chrono's a little under 2600 FPS. That was my hunting load the few times I had it out with no luck. Might just include the M-1 into the deer rifle selection this fall.

Looking to try the 180 gr BT in a 300wsm.

It's easy to section bullets to see their construction. Have done so with hundreds over the years--though the materials also affect performance, especially the hardness of the alloy in lead-core bullets. Have done so with a bunch of Ballistic Tips for over 30 years.

But the "bearing surface" has nothing to do with terminal performance--though it does have an effect on pressure.

Have also tested hundreds (maybe thousands) of bullets in stacks or dry newspaper, which as I explained earlier in this thread is the "media" I've found that best simulates penetration of heavier bone. In fact, the second thing I did with the first batch of 200-grain .338 Ballistic Tips Nosler sent me, after sectioning one, was work up a handload and shoot it into a stack of newspaper alongside with some 210-grain Partitions. The 200 BTips penetrated about 90% as deeply as the Partitions, which told me what I needed to know before shooting any big game with them. And those "field tests" confirmed the 200 Btips worked very well.

In fact, the only one I recovered after using them extensively in North America and Africa was one put into the right shoulder of a bull gemsbok that quartered strongly toward me at 150-175 yards. Gemsbok are about the size of a big cow or medium-sized bull elk, but have far tougher hide, and bigger shoulder bones. The bullet penetrated the shoulder and lower part of the spine, and was found under the hide of the left ham, retaining 60% of its weight.

I’ve not managed to catch a 150 NBT in probably 20 years, shooting deer-sized stuff. Caught some before that, but they were old stock bullets at warp speed.

'Morning, John.

Three hunters I do rifle 'tune ups' and load work for use the Sierra 125 Pro Hunter and Sierra 125 TGK loads @ 3,175-3,200 for our white tails and antelope with excellent results.

When one took a nice sized mule deer with it in the NW part of the state, I asked him why he didn't use the 150 gr. BTip loads @2,800 I'd done for him. He shrugged his shoulders and said "I don't think he (the deer) knew the difference."

Pardon the slight swerve off the trail.....

Good shootin' -Al

Thanks 22250rem.

On the advice of another poster I'd tried something quite similar which shot pretty well. I put 46 grains of IMR4895 under a 150 grain Interlock and in my 700 BDL it was like a pop gun. I'd have no problem killing deer with it in most places on my lease.