Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Pronghorn Bullet

I am planning on a pronghorn hunt this year and have a question on bullet selection. I have only shot one pronghorn previously, it was taken at 120 yards with a 130 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip out of a .270 Winchester. I hit the animal high and got into its spinal cord area, needless to say it went down like it had been hit by Thor's hammer. I have shot several deer with .30 caliber Ballistic Tips with satisfactory performance. I have read over the years of some concern with the Ballistic Tips performance on game, mostly that it may be too lightly constructed. John Barsness's recent article brought up this concern again, he says that a hit on a large bone of even deer size animals can cause problems for the Ballistic Tip. Should I try a different bullet or am I worrying about nothing?
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<br>Jeff

And this is where you have to ask, at what point in the animals death did the bullet fail? I have seen hundreds of deer and caribou shot with the ballistic tip without seeing any failures. Of course, the weight does have to be matched to the game being shot. If you look at the nosler web site, they show which bullets are for varmits and which are for big game. All those reports of failure usually go hand in hand with promotion of some other type of bullet, so consider the source and motive. I use ballistic tips from 22 to 35 caliber and have no complaints. Sure they expand more than some bullets, but if you're not shooting elk size animals, it will not matter. And I would not hesitate to use the 358 ballistic tip on elk either. I certainly wouldn't worry about shooting pronghorn with them.

Also, the ballistic tip should match the velocity of the gun. A light ballistic tip at higher than normal velocity at close range will cause problems. You would not want to shoot a good size deer in the shoulder with, say a 257STW with a 100gr BT at 25 yards. Or a 120gr BT in a 7mm ultra at 25 yards. I am sure the deer would be dead, but there would be nothing left of one if not two shoulders worth eating.

admittedly my experience w/ on-game performance w/ the nosler ballistic tip is limited...but, after the lackluster performance they offered me on deer this last fall, i will have no more experiences w/ them on anything bigger than a coyote.
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<br>some people swear by them, i know. that is why i tried them in the first place. won't do it again, though.

What were the details of the lackluster performance?

i loaded the 100 grain b.t. in a 25-06 at 3400 fps, the 115 @ 2950, and the 90 grain in a 243 at 3000 fps.
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<br>1st deer was about 15 yards (100 grain 25-06) broadside. bullet more or less disintegrated upon impact. single lung penetration, no exit.
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<br>2nd deer at about 60 yards (100 grain 25-06), shooting downhill. bullet impacted just off-center of spine. bullet never went deeper than top of spine. opened up a football-shaped hole in the hide (half the size of a football, same shape).
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<br>3rd deer at about 80 yards (115 grain 25-06), broadside. single lung penetration.
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<br>4th deer at about 95 yards, (90 grain 243) broadside. this deer was never recovered. the bullet did exit though, as indicated by off-side blood spray. going by blood during tracking, was a good hit, though. pink, foamy blood (since this deer was not recovered, i can't blame this one on bullet performance).
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<br>like i said, my experience w/ on-game performance is limited.
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<br>i expected (hoped) that the bullets would exit the animals, especially on the broadside shots. i don't shoot the shoulders, i shoot low, just behind the shoulders.
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<br>in no way am i being critical of somebody's choice to use b.t.'s; i know many people swear by 'em, especially for deer, but i don't.
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<br>at similiar ranges i have had better luck w/ sierra gamekings and pro-hunters, and hornady interlock bullets.
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<br>i am aware that the b.t. is at its best over longer ranges. but these 4 experiences indicate that conditions can't be predicted; in s.d. on the prairie, one can generally expect longish shots. no long shots were presented.
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<br>again, not being critical of anybody's choice of bullets, only stating that i won't use b.t.'s on anything bigger than a 'yote.

Big Time, If you were usinga 100 gr or less bullet at 150 yds or less at +3000 fps, Just what were you expecting? Your 'e living in fantasy land if anything othe than what happened, was expected.
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<br>There is not a bullet on the market that will perform optiminaly at 100 yd and + 400 yds.If there were, one of the bullet makers would be shouting it from the sky.
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<br>All Boat tail bullets along with ballstic tips are designed for longer ranges. Typicaly, the core becomes undone from the jacket. Even if you find it under the hide, on the far side, you can usually lift the core out of the jacket.
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<br>Pick any caliber you want, but if you don't match the bullet to the shooting conditions and the game, you are in for some problems.
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<br>Also for all the peple wo shoot .243 and 6mm. and think it's good for +200 yds, look at the energy remaining at that distance for a 100 gr bullet.
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<br>Although a lot of goats are shot at +200 yds, many are not. For about the last 8 years, I have taken one every year, and not one was past 200 and most were under 150. I use a 6.5 Swede mauser, loaded with 140 gr Sierra BT pushed at about 2600 fps. This is definitely not a speedster, but does the job
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<br>A .270, 130 gr load is just about perfect with for antelope. Realizing that at close distances , your'e probably going to get a lot of non edible meat. I fyou are worried about it, load up some at lesser velocities and keep yhe rifel loaded with them. Long shots uaually give you time to slip the speed demons in and take your time.

Load a heavy for cal Matchking and never look back.Yes Matchking's do work.And they will leave an exit hole.A real big one.......

ok, i can see where this thread is starting to go, and i don't want it to go there...
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<br>i am just saying in my limited experience w/ nosler b.t. on deer (never tried 'em on antelope), i have had a negative experience.
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<br>absolutely, i expected poor performance on the very close shot, and would have probably found that the sierra gamekings/pro-hunters or hornady would have done the same. but, the two other recovered deer...i would have liked a little more out of the bullet, especially the one shot w/ the 115 grain bullet.
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<br>i wasn't trying to start a debate on whether the b.t. is a viable big game bullet. i was just stating my experience w/ them, and stating my feelings about them.
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<br>if somebody has better experiences than i w/ them, then that is great. i wish them continued success. as for me, my future hunts for big game won't involve the nosler b.t.
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<br>i do not like the b.t. for big game, so i won't do it again. these are my feelings on them.
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<br>now on to something else, and off of my experience w/ the b.t.

I,too,have had disappointing experience with the Nosler B.T. in 25 caliber.I also was not well served by the Sierra Gameking.After those experiencec,I'd be a fool to keep using them.
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<br>If your experience with B.T. bullets has been good [ and my gunsmith swears by them ] you would be foolish to toss them aside just because I dont like them. It all boils down to confidence.Confidence in your ability,your rifle,and the bullet.Anything that promotes that confidence- like lots of practice with the rifle - is good.Anything that detracts from that confidence - like poor bullet performance in the past - is bad. It takes a lot of good experiences in the past to allow us to forgive one poor performance.I just never accumulated the good experiences with the B.T. in my 257 A.I.
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<br>In truth,though I've killed a lot of game with it,I simply dont feel as confident with it as with a 7 mm or larger.

This is one of the reasons I use Nosler Partitions for everything.
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<br>I can shoot in the woods or the open with my .270 and 130gr partition. It has a high bc for a game bullet, not necessarily the highest but plenty high enough for normal ranges(<500yds) it gives me the flexibility to take any angle or location shot I need, I usually try to get both shoulders and the heart, but the little button head I shot this year(45 yds) only got one lung due to angle and my squeezing the trigger while aiming too high(very quick shot, probably 5 seconds or less from time of seeing deer to shooting). I had an exit hole that I could stick two fingers in, the deer went 80 yds and piled up, this after leaving a blood trail Ray Charles could follow!
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<br>The deer prior to this was a 4 pt angling toward me (50yds)and to my left, I hit him in the shoulder, through the heart and out the offside lung and it looked like he had been hit with a bolt of lightening. I don't recall the size of the exit hole on him!
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<br>Prior to that a doe at 50 yds through both shoulders she flailed for 40 yds and piled up.
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<br>Now for the rest of the story, I shot all of my deer prior to these with core lokts and couldn't tell much difference other than my peace of mind that no angle shot was undoable. On little 90-150lb deer and I assume antelope would be the same it gives good sized exits and I don't worry about hitting bone with it...Plus they shoot an inch or under depending on the loose screw behind the trigger!! I shot my best three shot group ever with them the other day while badger was over, and I didn't even measure it or cut off the corner of the target....May have to see if it survived the last rains we had and save it...
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<br>Next year I will try the 200gr BT out of the .338 I hope! I will try to refrain from carrying the .270 until I shoot one with the .243(100gr Partitions) and the .338.
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<br>I have shot BT's in my .270 and they shoot better than the Partitions and I have three friends that swear by them I just feel better with the Partitions and it gives me something else to argue with them about
<br>Mike

I disagree. I've used, or seen used, the Nosler Partition in such things as the .243 Win, the .240 Weatherby, the 7X57, the .280 Rem. , and the 7 mm Rem. Magnum.
<br> I've killed stuff, both deer class, and elk class, from 30 yds. to better than 500 yds. It has always opened for me. At high impact velocities, say 2800-2900 plus, it will shear off the front core. No matter. The base has always exited, or broken an off side shoulder.
<br> It will open OK at impact velocities as low as 1800 fps.
<br> Except for losing it's front core, at high impact speeds, it's close to perfect. I suspect the bonded core, or X style are even better. I know the Federal Throphy Bonded works better.
<br> It never ceases to amaze me. That bullet has been around for many years. It attributes described by such greats as Warren Page, Bob Hagel, Jack O'Connor, and even Elmer Keith. But not many have listened, or even tried it much.
<br> Too bad. It will make a giant killer out of the .243. E

E, I load 100 grn Partitions for my daughter's 243 to about 2850 fps. Performance has been stellar on the 3 deer she has taken so far. Good exit wounds, some of which have left pieces of lung and bone on the ground. Haven't recovered one yet so can't say whether they "failed" or not. badger.

Big Time
<br>Now on those three deer you did recover, did you have to shoot them more than one time? If not, three shots, three dead deer doesn't sound like bullet failure to me. It just didn't do what you thought it would.
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I, too, agree on the Partitions with R.O.R., Eremicus, and Badger, although I have to qualify that by saying that I've shot nowhere near the amount of game they have.
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<br>I killed my first antelope and deer with 130 grain Partitions, at 240 yards and 20 yards, respectively. The antelope ran about 80 yards and then folded, and when I got to him there was absolutely nothing left of heart or lungs. He was dead, he just didn't know it. It looked like a grenade went off inside his chest. As an interesting note, there was a pretty large exit wound--in the front of his chest--but very little meat damage.
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<br>The deer shot with the Partition jumped up at 10 yards, moving very slow, and my first shot hit him at 20 yards just far enough back to be called a gut shot. He humped up and stopped and I put the next one in his neck. Both bullets exited leaving very small exit wounds but hellaciously large wound channels through the body and neck...in the neck there was almost nothing left between the pencil-sized entry/exit holes.
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<br>I've also shot deer this last fall with both Hornady Interlocks and Nosler Ballistic Tips, but in an 8x57mm Mauser. Both bullets performed as well as could be hoped for, but the Hornady destroyed a heck of a lot of meat. One instance does not make a case for anything though. With the 180 grain Ballistic Tip, the gun went off and the next thing I saw in the scope was all four of the deer's hooves in the air, literally. I mean the deer literally never moved a step. He raised his head once for about 1.5 seconds and then was dead. The bullet hit him broadside right behind the foreleg, and disintigrated everything in the heart/lung cavity. It was quite impressive. Again, one case means nothing, except that, given proper bullet placement, in these particular instances, the bullets worked as hoped for. Justin