Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Old Ballistic Tips any good?

I can pick up a couple of boxes of Nosler 140gr Ballistic Tips for a good price. They are in the old red/green/black box.

They are marked "39587" and "Solid Base Boat-Tail Ballistic Tip".

Are these the early "blow up" variety or solid, reliable bullets?

Sounds like the 1980's blow up models. I had some less than textbook experiences with them in eastern Montana on mulies & pronghorn back in the day.

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The most memorable performance I had with one of those was a very large (close to if not over 200 lb) 8 point wt buck at about 30 yards. All I had was a head or neck shot. I took the neck shot. Hit center of neck on his right side with said bullet from 7 RM. He went straight down, legs folded under him, and remained upright with his horns stuck in the ground in front of him. I thought that was pretty cool. Walked around to the other side and saw a drop of blood middle of his left shoulder. I dug out the ballistic tip from just under the skin. It had just broken the skin but didn’t exit. It weighed, after cleaning up, 70 grains.

What are you going to shoot them in?

Still have a few boxes of the last ones in 100 count boxes.
308 165gr.

Over a heavy load in my 20" 308 they are perfect. (For me)
Good expansion, very quick kills, full penetration, good blood trails,
Not excessive meat loss.
Dozen plus deer, every one the same bullet performance, a few deer ran
60-80 yards.


Used a few in a 300 mag. Pretty much identical, but only 3 or 4 examples.

Some of the guys that used the old 7mm 120gr and 140gr liked them.I used the 150gr in my 7mag and they didn't do that great.They were quite explosive.The new 150gr a really good bullets.

I remember when they first came out and the Solid Base bullets were discontinued. There were more lamentations, weeping and gnashing of teeth than that associated with the guest who showed up improperly dressed to the wedding.

The early 140 7mms were pretty much good to go from the beginning, especially in moderate cartridges. I used them quite bit in the late 1980s from a 7x57, loaded to around 2900 fps. Killed pronghorns and deer out to around 350 yards, and never recovered one.

I'll be shooting them in a 7mm-08, mostly for deer, perhaps a couple of hog hunts.

I wouldn't hesitate.....................

YMMV

MM

Shhhhhhh, we’re supposed to say they’re horrible so we can figure out where they are so we can get a deal on em

The old Nosler solid base suck too. But if you guys run across any, let me know..

I shot a couple of deer with the original 140gr .270s. The details of the first have popped off the stack, but the second one remains. Shot a forkie straight-on in the neck at about 25 yards. He dropped like a rock, naturally, but the bullet didn’t exit. Since I had that one butchered, I didn’t do an autopsy, but have to think it just blew up on the vertebrae, with no sign of the hit other than the entrance hole. Certainly effective, the only movement he made after the shot was a slow-pedal with one hind leg.

I imagine they’ll be good for “rib shots” as JB calls them, but I’d keep ‘em away from the steaks.

I just picked up an old hundred count box of 6.5 100gr. BTs picking through bullets at a shop. Got them for $9.95. I'm pretty certain they'll make fine bullets for reduced loads in my 6.5x55.

I love picking through stuff at older shops. Never know what you may come up with.

I shot my largest Mule Deer with the old 7mm 140 BTs at 365 yards cross canyon out of a 280AI in about 1986.I pulled the trigger and all I saw was feet up in the air after recoil.I will never forget that.

Yes, those are the ones.

Two of the damndest elk races I've ever been on was the result of those Plastic Tipped Potato Chips.

In all fairness, they were very accurate, and once the bullet slowed down quite a bit they worked......ok.

The old Nosler solid base suck too. But if you guys run across any, let me know..[/quote]

Jfc bsa1917 wish I would have known that just got done loading them 120 gr nsb 6.5 in front of 44.5 grains of StabBall for my t3x and hells canyon. Guess I can shoot some pd's with them..mb

That would be me as well.

I killed two nice bull elk with them, hit them mid section of the body, one did not kick, the other one kicked a hind leg twice, range was 150 yards or so, 7 Mag with load listed below.

I have killed numerous white tails with them, with no shot being closer than about 80 yards out of a 7 mag with a load of 65-66g of IMR 4350m, Rem case, Rem 9 1/2 primer at 3200 fps.

I have read all the horror stories like many of you, but I have never seen a surface explosion. I have 4 boxes of them still, and none will be sold. I also have boxes of the old solid base lead tip and buy them also when I see them.

The 120g Nosler ballistic tip has a thicker jacket than the 140g, we have shot a lot of deer with them also with 72-73g of R#22 with a cci 250 that shoots tiny groups, never a failure on deer, but they do not penetrate, just kill'em in their tracks or they may run 40 yards.

With the 7mm 140's at warp speed, I shoot behind the shoulder about 10-12", further than you would think, but deer just die quickly.

Yep, many of the early BTs were very tender--partly because they were designed as "deer bullet," which is what Nosler intended them to be--since they already made a fine elk bullet. Yet a lot of hunters insisted on using them on elk, due to their accuracy (which didn't make any difference at typical elk ranges), and higher BC (same comment). In fact, one of my fellow hunting writers back then used the 165-grain .30 in his .30-06 on a few elk with no problem. But I told him if he kept doing that, he would eventually end up chasing a 3-legged elk around the mountain. Turned out the next fall he shot a big cow in the shoulder, and had to do exactly that.

Which is why Nosler eventually toughened up the B-Tips that needed it. I have a local friend shot a big cow elk with the 165 with a .300 Weatherby. It was a frontal shot at around 150 yards, and the elk collapsed at the shot. He found the expanded bullet under the hide of the rump.