Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Hey, Dogzapper, tell me about the 120 gr. 7mm Nosler BT.

Bog,

The deer was a big Montana mulie and was 61 yards. I stalked him from over 500 yards away. He was under the muzzle for probably an hour and I could have shot him at most any time, but I prefer to be a hunter rather than a just a shooter.

There is no honor in being simply being a shooter and every honor in stalking close to the animal.

Yes, I've hit the carotids at much longer range.

Neck shots are quite deadly, contrary to what the fools in the press say. The shot in question, being close, was perfect for a lovely placement of the bullet.

Basically, the buck lowered his head and grabbed a bite of winter wheat. I put the Heavy Duplex right at the point of his jaw and shot him. A lttle higher would have picked up the spine and the deer might not have bled out perfectly. Yeah, he would have been dead and it would have been a great shot, but I can do better than that.

Gad, I've killed hundreds of deer and it's just something that comes from lots of field experience.

The .280 Ackley is almost identical in case capacity to the 7 RSAUM and the 7 WSM is a few grains larger. The Weatherby is a big honker and it recoils too much for my elderly body to shoot it well in the field.

The .280 Ackley, of course, needs a long action, while the 7 RSAUM and the 7 WSM work on short actions. I'll probably not change, now that the major makers figgered out where the sweet spot is. The .280 Ackley is good enough for the likes of me.

I would suppose the efficiency is about the same.

I've done some serious killing with the 7-08 Ackley. It is a short action round, is wonderfully efficient and it works well in the field. It kicks a 120-grain Ballistic Tip (a very strong bullet, by the way) out at 3250 fps. It simply murders deer and elk.

Hope this helps.

Steve

Dogzapper, have you had a chance to use the Hornady SST's on any big game animals yet or heard of anyone who has? I was curious how they performed compared to the BT.

Mike,

I haven't used the Hornady SST bullet on big game yet. I WAS planning on using the 129-gr .264 SST on deer and antelope this year in my new Gordy Gritters 6.5-'06 Ackley but we didn't draw any tags.

I have a reader who lives in International Falls, Minnesota who has killed several deer with the SSTs. He claims they are considerably more explosive than the regular Hornady Interlocked. My reader is a really sophistocated hunter and I surely value his opinion.

To answer your question: No, I haven't drawn a drop of blood with them yet, but am itching to try.

Steve

Steve,

I hopefully will get a chance to give them a try on a upcoming mule deer hunt, will post results if successful. I figured they should give pretty close to the same performance as the BT.
I know you also do some yote hunting have you used the BT's on dogs, do they tear them up pretty bad or do they tend to stay together.

Erimicus, I can vouch for the Hornady 139gr BT in the rem 7mm mag caliber. I bought a box of their HM (or is it LM) ammo last year (several boxes now) and have yet to duplicate the performance of it on paper and in the field on Whitetails, Mulies and Elk and all 3 at some considerable distances. Most all were one shot, in the tracks kills. I'm real close with reloads on the paper part but not quite as good. I find this a little frustrating! I'm very fortunate to have a place that allows me to practice and shoot at distances from point blank out to a measured 400 yds. I think these things are the killa from manila. Could be a case of "some guns like'm and some guns dont" but mine does. I do want to try the 120 Nosler bt's, too but it will have to wait till spring.

Just a general comment if you don't mind. I don't like shooting at a deers head or neck. It's because they move them so fast. If you look at the data on moving game even a 120 gr out of a 7mm WSM will miss by 0.65' at 100 yds when an target moves at only 5 mph! Sure enough a deer will bring it's nose to the ground and then snap it's head up. However a shot at the base of the neck where it meets the shoulder has good effect and that's easier to hit.

Another thing about shooting big game with bullets that will not exit and loose their cores to boot is not the best choice. One can carry more than one load for a rifle by the way.

On the other hand the 7-08 class does not start out all that fast with 140's and a 120 game bullet is of interest.

Got a question. Where is that guy from Paradise, AK on this one?

Yes they do! But, how many times have you seen them with their heads up, snap them back down? When they do move their head back down to resume feeding they usually give you a clue, wagging the tail or moving the ears slightly.

When I take a neck shot I like to whistle and get the deer to stop and look at me. Then I shoot the center of the white patch under their chin. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Can you buy the Nosler BT 120 gr. in any factory loads. I can only find the 140's....

That Pic really does about say it all. Makes me wanna section some of the 6.5's that I have for comparison. Of course it's 16* outside right now, (meaning my garage/loading shop is about 32* or so) so I'll probly wait 'til morning.

JimF

Dogzapper, Where did you find the Nickle 7-08 brass. I have been looking for some put cant find any of the Win Nickle brass.

Thanks

Darkside

Those of you that have had considerable experience with both the 120 and 140 Ballistic tips--what are your preferences for use on deer?

btt

Wow David, this thread is a blast from the past!

And I agree, that 120 is a great little 7mm hunting bullet! A couple of my hunting buddies use them in their .280 & 7mm-08 rifles with decisive, one-shot kills, time after time. That's on mule deer, pronghorn, whitetail & hogs.

Regards, Guy

I believe this will be a good bullet for a 7x61 Sharpe & Hart with a 1:12 twist.

120 NBT is the gold standard out of my 284.

The 120NBT should be perfect for that rifle.

Might want to step back a few paces or things are gonna get messy.

I'm thinking 33-3400ish (+?)

I run them at 3325 out of my .280AI and they hold up well on our whitetails even inside 100 yards.

I was just gifted an older box of Nosler 7mm 150gr solid base. Loading some to try in my 7/08. Having no experience with these, are they a pre BT bullet or another previous line that was dropped?