Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 7mm08 ballistic tips

New member here. GREAT FORUM!!! I recently bought a new Browning X-Bolt in 7mm08. I think it is going to be a great rifle. I have only shot a few different factory loads through it so far but the 140 Ballistic Tips and Winnie BST's shoot very well. Avg. about .8 for 3 shot groups. So the question is what do you guys think about these rounds for whitetail? The shots will be from 20 yards to 200 yards max. Of course I have heard different opinions but having found this site there seems to be alot of real knowledge from people here and would like for some of you to post your opinions and results for me. Thanks!!

Nosler 14p Ballistics kill really well on whitetails. I've done a bunch of the large Northern whitetails in Alberta and mulies in Montana with them in both the 7-08, the 7SGLC (7-08 Ackley) and the .280 Ackley.

They flat kill and you should have no worries.

I've also killed several elk with the bullet in a variety of 7mm cartridges and there have been no problems.

Another wonderful 7mm bullet is the Hornady 139-grain Interlocked. Same comments, except that the Hornady is maybe a bit tougher and the expanded bullets sure look pretty.

Steve

The 140BT is one the best deer bullets available for the 7-08.

It even works well on African plains game if the bullets are placed right.

One of the good things about the 7-08 is most 120-140gr bullets perform really well on big game due to its moderate velocity (the same can be said about the 7X57). And yet it still shoots plenty flat out to sane yardages.

MtnHtr

I'm a big fan of the 120 Nosler BT both at the range and on deer.

I am, as well.

The 120 Ballistic is a tough little cookie and it surely makes the 7-08 sing. The problem is that it is a bit "light for caliber" and those who have not used it doubt that the 120 will do the job. Regardless, the 120s jacket is wonderfull beefed-up and it kills way out of proportion to its weight.

I've killed two wonderful 6X6 bull elk with the 120 in my 7X308 Ackley and a really great moose with it in my .280 Ackley. Plus lots of mule deer, whitetails and antelope with it in my .280 Ackley.

Steve

Another plug for the 120 BT. Its pure murder on deer.

Great rifle and caliber you got there.

I had a little trouble with NBT's when they first came out. I had about 3 incidents where the bullet didn't do what it should have. I switched to Nosler Partitions. All came from an A-Bolt 7MM-08 shooting Fed. 140NBT's.

My son shot this rifle when he was younger and we almost lost a nice 8 pt buck he shot. NBT hit a rib and shattered. It got one lung, but allowed the buck to get into some hellish ravines and travel about 200 yds. before dying. No exit wound and no blood until we were within 20 yds or so of him.

The other 2 were the same, poor penetration and bullet basically disentigrated.

To be fair, I popped the biggest hog I've ever shot using them (over 400 lbs.) and my Father uses this rifle/bullet combo now and has not had one move more than a few yards.

I may have just had a bad box, as all 3 incidents came out of that box. I know they are good bullets, but it scared me, so I switched to partitions.

I heard they increased the jacket thickness over the original NB. I don't know if this is true or not, but Dogzapper or others may know.

Too many people are using them now, if it were a bad bullet, I'm sure you'd be hearing about it. They kill very effectively according to those who use them and I believe them. I just prefer bone breakers and good penetration, mainly because of the terrain I hunt in.

Best,

JM

Don't want to hijack this thread, but I just posted for 7mm-08 with 120 TSX's and BT's recipes under "reloading". Glad to hear so many like the combination I just posted a question on. Good timing I guess.

You know I just keep using those old Hornady Interloc's dumb deer just fall down and can't get up. Think they wrote a song about it.

Nosler Ballistic Tips out of a 7mm/08 are like cyanide for whitetails.

Just about any bullet that you put in a 7mm-08 is deadly on deer from my experience. I've killed a pile of deer using Winchester version(Ballistic Silvertip) and the Federal loaded ballistic tip. I've also used Hornady's version, the SST. I never had any problems with them killing deer, but I will say that I recovered the bullet just under the hide about half of the time. There was no way that the deer were going to go very far because these type bullets literally turn their heart and lungs into a jelly.
That said, I've had good luck using Remington Corelokts and Hornady 139 grain Interlokts in factory loads also.

While they were deadly, I'd advise against 150-gn Partitions from a 20" tube, on deer.

The combination of 140 grain ballistic tips from my .280, plus similar weights from myself and others a in .270 WSM, 7mm WSM, several WSSMs and .30-06s and lots of other stuff kept the churchgoers in Carrizo Springs, TX well fed for about two years.
I like ballistic tips ALOT for light game.

7mm08, those original factory '140 corelokts' were 139s.....they loaded Hornady IL's and called them 140 CL.

I shot many a deer with a 7/08 as well, one with a 140 BT years ago, went about 15 yds. Raking shot exiting behind a shoulder, nasty exit.

I am loving the 130 Accubond in my 260 and 6.5x55, and wonder just how the 140 would do in a 7/08. I know, about ANY 120-140gr is sure death in a 7/08 or similar round. I see the ABs as a combo of retention like a partition, sure expansion and wonderful accuracy of the B tip. I'd surely have to try the AB for a 7/08 if I had one. I used 140 Sierra, 139s, 130 (old Sierra SSP pistol bullet), and have used 120 HPs and SPs as well as 130 Speers in a 7mmBR rifle. All worked well.

Try as I might I couldn't get the 140gr Accubond to shoot accurately in my gun. I'm sure it was plenty good enough to kill a deer with but that's not what I was looking for. I would bet the house that someone else with more experience handloading than I have could get the Accubond to group better out of my gun also.

I like the 139gr Hornady Interlock and killed about 5 or 6 deer with it, most either DRT or ran about 20yds or so.
I'm gonna try the 120gr Ballistic Tip this year to see what that will do.

I would say don't fix it if it isn't broken. That 139 InterLoc is one hell of a bullet.

The 140 AB out of a 7mm-08 has done a great job on several white tails shot by either my wife or me over the past few seasons. I loaded her up 120 BTs this past season and the double lung shot at about 70 yds dropped the deer (medium sized 7 pointer) DRT and had a nice nickel to quarter sized exit. The performance was very good, but there is no doubt just about any bullet would have done the job.

Thanks for ther replies. Those of you that love the BT's sure have had great luck with them. I noticed Federal had a factory loaded Accubond last year and when I called there tech support the man told me that they never discontiue products that sell well so I guess that means at least in the 7mm08 caliber the Ballistic Tips were outselling them quite a bit. I will probably end up shooting the Federal 140 BT's this coming season at our south GA and north FL whitetails and it looks like they should do fine. Thanks again.

A friend of mine always said his deer never wen't more than a couple feet after being hit with that setup. I always thought he was blowing smoke until I looked at the front shoulder of one from the inside after it was dressed. It definitely a lethal combination for deer.

Pat, my offshoulder deer hit at 115 yds....mv around 2900, was pretty wrecked.....off course I could say the same about a Mulie I shot in Colorado just under 100 yds in a Winchester 20" carbine around 2850mv, using the 139 IL, it exited the neck, deer angled facing me, hind end up higher...so it destroyed some backstrap and ham.....NOT that the 139 Hornady was as or more destructive than a ballistic tip, but it did not make me happy I lost that meat.....

Having dropped the deer in it's tracks DID make me smile. Can't blame the bullet, did what it was supposed to...

FWIW, I tested years back 139s...flat base vs. ballistic tips, loaded into lands in a 700 Varmint, that was set in an HS stock, and at 100 yds, with a 3.5-10x I shot one hole groups with both using partial sized cases, once fired or few x fired...trimmed and flash holes deburred....REM brass of all things not weight sorted.

The ballistic tips were slightly tighter, as I shot several groups, but for the money for range work, as well as for a field bullet, the standard 139 Hornady is a tough bullet to beat, esp. for the money. It's BC may be a tad less but likely insignificant at most all sane ranges. It will hold up perhaps better as a BT.

IMO, it's hard to find a bad choice in 120-140gr for deer in a 7/08. Same can be said for 6.5mm's in say 260, 6.5x55 as they all do well at speeds around 2700-2900 mv.