Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 180gr Nosler BT for elk?

Using in a 300 wby at 3150 fps. A friend has killed a truck load of bulls and cows in this combination. I was planning on using it in Wyo this year however after a recent experience with this combination on a Pronghorn buck last weekend Im reconsidering. Bullet appears to have blown up on the ribs at 350 yards. Behind the shoulder fully broadside hole in the ribs
with no exit. No internal damage on the inside near entry. I had to make a very hasty second shot as he crested the roll of a hill and a final shot as he tried to regain his feet after finding him bedded under some sage. Second shot seemed to have either have went up his a—hole as there was some damage just inside and a broken bone in the ham. No external bullet hole found there. Although it’s possible my final shot destroyed any evidence of either exit wounds as it was poorly placed.
After talking to a nosler rep he believed the bullet blew up on the ribs and said its not a elk bullet. So what say you? I do have 180 gr partitions and Barnes TTSX bullets but have not made a load for either. I may just take my 338 as its ready to go with 210 partitions.

Nosler had trouble wirh the ballistic tip from the day they started selling it. My elk load in the 30-06 was the 180gr Hornady interlock, never had a problem with it. I recall one story a guy reported was a BT bullet blowing up in the skin of an antelope. Sounds far fetched to me but who knows, maybe it did. At any rate just been to many report's of blow ups over the years for me to mess with them. Nosler probably should have stuck to just the partition for big game bullet's.

Those problematic Ballistic Tips went away 30 years ago.

Don't push a BT past 3000 fps and you're fine. If you're wanting that kind of velocity, I'd use monometals.

Iv'e shot 2 elk with 180gr Partitions (300 Wby), the one bullet that a recovered was a perfect mushroom (about 65% retained weight). I would use the Partition or the TTSX.

This ^ ^ ^

IIRC Nosler went to thicker jackets for the .308 180gr bullet and above.

The 150 and 165 have also been stiffened since their introduction. I've shot both through deer and pigs with no blow ups.

I believe our fellow Campfire member Shrapnel has taken some elk with the 180 Ballistic Tip with his .300 Weatherby, including a mature cow he shot in the front of the chest--and he found the bullet in one of the hindquarters. Maybe he'll see this and comment.

Nosler developed the Ballistic Tip hunting bullets in the mid-1980s for hunting deer-sized game, and emphasized that back then, because they already produced a bullet suitable for bigger game. But the trend even then was to higher BC's, and many hunters ignored Nosler's advice. Which is why early Ballistic Tips didn't penetrate well on larger animals.

But demand continued to increase, and in 1993 Nosler introduced the first "heavy jacket" model, the 200-grain .338. I got to test them that year in my custom .338 Winchester magnum, first by shooting a few side-by-side with some 210-grain Partitions into a stack of dry newspaper (still my preferred "media" for supposedly tougher big game bullets, though newspaper is getting harder to find). They penetrated about 90% as deeply as the 210 Partitions, and retained over 60% of their weight.

Took my .338 to northern Quebec that fall, and killed the biggest-bodied bull caribou I've take, about the size of an average 5-point bull elk. It was standing almost broadside about 200 yards away, and put the bullet in the little angle behind the near shoulder. The bull collapsed instantly, straight down on his belly, ready for the trophy photo. The bullet had broken the far shoulder just above the big joint, and exited, leaving a 2" hole.

A few years later I used the same load to take my first bull gemsbok in Namibia. It was standing quartering slightly to my right at 150-175 yards, and I aimed for the near shoulder. It also collapsed at the shot--and the bullet had not only broken the shoulder but went through the bottom of the spinal column, before ending up under the hide of the left ham, retaining around 60% of its weight. (Which, by the way, is about the weight of the jacket in the 200-grain .338, now available as the Combined Technology Ballistic Silvertip.)

A few years after that Nosler acknowledged that hunters weren't going to use Ballistic Tips only on deer-sized game, and similarly beefed up the jackets on several others, including the 180-grain .30. If somebody has one "blow up" the bullet was one of the early ones, and a surprising number are apparently still around.

In 2005 I killed buck pronghorn at around 250 yards with a Federal factory .308 load featuring the 150-grain Ballistic Tip. The buck was facing me, and dropped at the shot. The bullet exited the inside of the right hindquarter.

Now that was a .308, and the muzzle velocity was probably around 2800 fps--but that's the kind of penetration many hunters brag about from monolithics.

Why not the 180 gr accubond ?

I'm not an elk hunter, but should I avail myself of the opportunity to hunt elk and my two choices of projectiles were the Nosler Ballistic tip or the Nosler Accubond at equal weights, I would go with the Accubond, eleven times out of ten.

Ya!

GWB

Once in awhile when I’m over at JB’s house pulling horseradish from his garden, we will talk about guns and ballistics. I hate to admit it, but he has never steered me wrong and one of his suggestions has become one of my favorite varmint cartridges, the 204 Ruger, and not to forget the 17 Hornet. I did have to discover all my elk killing by myself though.


The issue of what a NBT bullet will do, will never reach total resolution. What’s best vs what failed will be discussed for as long as we shoot modern firearms.

I probably killed 40 or more elk with a 30-06 and 165 grain Hornady spire point bullets. They worked great, but I decided I wanted a longer range cartridge and tried the 300 WBY, then the 30-378 WBY and then back to the 300 WBY.

I used Hornady 190 grain Interlock, and then Nosler 200 grain Accubonds in the 30-378 until I decided it was too much gun. Over the years I shot dozens more elk with the big 30’s and finally have ended up with a combination that is real hard on elk. Many can make claims of better bullets and ballistics, but I can verify firsthand through experience that a 300 WBY with IMR 7828 and Nosler Ballistic Tips, will kill the hell out of elk.

I also believe that specialized and premium bullets may have some affect that others are looking for, but I have killed a butt load of elk with that combination and seen many others that were made just as dead in their 300 Weatherbys, that I’m more than convinced it is a great bullet for killing elk…

Bonding a bullet never made it shoot better

I have killed elk with the 180gr BT out of a 300 Ultra. If there is a tougher cup and core, non bonded 30 caliber bullet I am not aware with it. They are hell on elk and they typicly are less bitchy than the 180 accubond which is the same bullet with a blonde core.

Some guys love the AB. Personally, they don't/have never shot as well as the BT in my rifles. Other's mileage may vary.

I’m reading this and my first thought was “300 Wby for pronghorn? Why?” Because you wanted to is the obvious answer, I understand.

I’ve seen one bull shot with that load and he behaved perfectly. 343” 6 by shot at approximately 250 yards. Spun around once and died right there. I shot a 6 by the next day with my 300 and a 180 grain AB and he pretty much died the same way. I’m sure the BT in your rifle would do just fine if you do your part.

Perchance I come at my choice of Accubonds from a different perspective.

I've killled a number of critters with both Ballistic Tips and Accubonds from 6mm through .375 caliber.

Additionally, geography has a major influence on my choice of bullets, in that if a critter is not DRT, and a blood trail is not found within say a +/- 20' diameter circle from the POI, most time there is no recovery. Perhaps lack of blood and distance traveled is not a major concern for some.

On numerous occasions I have shot game with ballistic tips and there was no animal DRT and no blood to "trail. IIRC out of all the critters I've taken with Accubonds, I've only recovered one bullet, and typically enjoy significant "sign" on the occasions of having to track.

Years ago when I was in the "insurance' business, I had a mentor who had a mantra, "when you know you know, and you know you know, confidence replaces fear.

I'm sure your mileage may vary, but the elk hunt I did in 2008 cost me around $8,000 all in. I carried as my principal weapon a 338 RUM, loaded w/200 gr. Accubonds, my back up was a 300 Win Mag with 180 gr. Accubonds.

Took a mulie, but no elk.

I had no doubt that either load would suffice. For me, with Ballistic Tips I would not have had that same confidence.

If I had a shred of doubt about whether I had the proper bullet and had lost an animal, I'd be bummed to say the least.

Best,

GWB

Section a ballistic tip and an accubond, get back with me...
I stripped the action of the .300RUM that I built including removing the barrel and scope & mounts to add an external bolt release. Put it back together, took it to the range with me to verify the zero. I was shooting 300 yards that day, prone with my F-class rifle. When I was done with that I threw a bipod on my ultramag, dialed in my scope for 300 yards and put three rounds downrange. 200gr accubonds at 3200fps. The target dot is 1" diameter. A few elk have been taken with this rifle...

I've only killed four elk with a rifle, and all were 180 Accubonds out of a .300 Win Mag. I wouldn't want to step down to Ballistic Tips.

At the risk of sounding like Big Stink, get back to me when you have killed a few elk and lost more with a Ballistic Tip…