Do any of you have experience with this bullet? What is your prefered shot placement? I'm curious about shoulder shots on whitetails using this bullet. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks guys.

I used the same bullet in my 7x57 launched at 3000 fps. Took a nice 6 pt and two hogs. All were one shot kills. The Buck and one hog were DRT, the other hog ran 30 yards before piling up.

My daughter and grandkids have probably taken a couple of pickup loads of mule deer, Coues whitetails and pronghorns with that combination, along with one 400-lb. cow elk. Hit them in a vital spot and they will die quickly.

120gr Nos kills like the plague.

Great deer bullet. Impressive as hell.

In all honesty, if I ever get back into a 7-08 all I’ll run will be 120gr Ballistic Tips, or even better, 120gr TTSX. Both bullets are almost sadistic toward game animals.

mngunhead,

With this bullet you are going to get a lot of positive feedback, and for good reason. It is a tremendous bullet.
I ran it exclusively for 2 years in my 284 Winchester and over those 2 years it got tested on a truckload of deer

I prefer to shoot Deer with that bullet broadside about 2" above the elbow joint clipping the plumbing and shotgunning the oxygen storage compartment before exiting. I often see a 100 yard death dash with a scenic blood trail left behind.

Again, a tremendous bullet for Deer in that 7-08.

With deer , pigs and antelope I've been a fan of placing the ballistic tip in the ribs. My 7mm08 shoots those great with 3 different powders. Great lights out results

I've only killed one big with a 120 grain 7mm ballistic tip, a 100 pound hog shot with a 7mm/08. I shot her quartering away hard, with an entry right in front of her ham and exited the opposite shoulder. Impressive penetration!

Just one of the many poster children on the c.f. extolling the virtues of a 120 grain nosler ballistic tip, 7mm-08 combination. It speaks the truth on elk.

I've drop quite a few whitetails and one hog with 120 gr 7mm NBT. All one shot drop. Can't ask for a better bullet.

It will stop Deer and Antelope from playing quick fast and in a hurry !

I remember this story!





P

I have quite a bit of experiance with that combo.
Prefered shot placement is neck or center of chest right behind shoulder (placement is not bullet/caliber specific its the same for 30 caliber as well)
Have taken shoulder shots on whitetails...no issues.
Have taken some large hogs with rifle'bullet combo...no issues.
For the type of hunting I do in South West Ga, and the game I hunt, the 120 BT is my prefered bullet in 7-08

not to derail the thread but what are y'alls opinions on the 120 grain sst vs 120 grain bt as far as bullet construction and on game performance?? i've got some hornady custom lite 7mm-08 ammo loaded with the 120 grain sst is the reason i ask and my 6yo does great shooting with these. but, my plan was to slip some 140 grain core-lokts in the mag as i didn't figure he would notice when shooting at a deer. my tikka shoots the aforementioned ammo to approx the same poi with the cl being 1" higher at 100yds.so,would y'all try the 120 grain sst on the mag or do the ole switcharoo and slip 3 140 grain core-lokts in for a broadside 60yd shoulder shot??

From what I’ve seen done with the 7mm-08, I’d take a dozen 7mm Nosler 120gr Ballistic Tips over 200 SSTs. I wouldn’t think twice about it, either.

The 7-08 and 120 NBT go together like chicken fried steak and eggs. They kill chit like el Diablo himself.

Arrow:

Not in the same class at all. The 120 BT was the darling of the silhouette shooters and accidentally became a great game bullet. The SSTs I have shot were like fragging the deer although I have not tried the 120x7mm iteration nor will I be likely to do so. They will without question kill deer and fast too but if they are like the other SSTs I have used don't shoot for any part you want to eat.

I think they would really shine in the 08 or 7x57 or lesser velocity 7mms but when you have such a great bullet like the BT or even better the Barnes why use it? On the other hand the SST would be great for a reduced recoil load for the young lad. I think it opens up at 1600 fps or somewhere around there so a reduced load would be good for as far as a youngster should shoot.

To me most of this is moot as practically anything that goes bang will kill a deer.

i


You answered your own question. Hit a deer in the right spot, you can kill it with a stick...a rock on one end and feathers on the other.

We finally got a deer shot with the 120 BT out of wife's A bolt Micro Hunter with a 20" barrel. Light load 40 gr RL15. 170# buck quartering slightly to at 60 yardish maybe a few more. Landed a couple inches in front of near shoulder centering the spine. Light enough load that she saw him fall in the scope. Lost the core in exchange for a 2" hole thru the cervical spine. Jacket traveled on thru the rear of far shoulder and apparently trampolined of the skin because I found it finger deep back up the exit hole. Obvious bullet failure.

Sarcasm? If deer died promply, bullet did its job.

Did you weigh the jacket?

The 120 NBT is my favorite deer bullet in the 7-08. Wife and I have killed deer with at least one of us shooting a 7-08 since 2005. We've used 120 NBT, 120 TTSX, and 140 NAB. All worked - really well. The 120 is just about half the price of the others and has had similar performance in our experience.

i asked about the comparison between the nosler bt vs the hornady sst as i've read where they are very comparable projectiles but just wanted y'alls real world experiance is all. i like my bullets to hold together and penetrate to create 2 holes just in case a track job insues.i started my 6yo off with the reduced recoil custom lite 120 sst just to keep him from being trigger slappy and gunshy. here recently imma front shoulder shooter due to the impenetrable thick southern thorns and generally thick stuff that is 2 leaps away should you make a bad hit. we have tried the behind the shoulder shot and they run aways so this yr i know i'm going to lose some shoulder meat but i want drt or real close to it.

Yeah. It’s funny. In open country- 20 yard death run = DRT you see the place they died from where you stand and from where they where standing when the Bullet hit them. Now back in south ga where it’s palmetto and aliagtors andnscrub and water moccasins 20 yard death run = bullet failure, or bad shot placement or whatever you want to call it- but it’s a pain in the ass to find a 70lb deer in that situation. I been shoulder shooting again too in the main. I want to see white belly in the scope after The recoil where I do most of my hunting at the moment.

Other than BC are there any differences between the 120 and 140 that are meaningful specifically construction- will the 140 hang together like the 120?

I don’t hunt where you do but if you really need DRT on a 70 lb deer, the extra velocity of the 120 vs the 140 certainly won’t hurt.

Just weighed the jacket with a little meat left on it. 53 grains and you can see it's obviously a thick base and lower shank. Lots of folks on here with more than a sample of one with pretty much the same results. Impact velocity couldn't have been over 2700 and it penetrated rutted up neck muscle while blowing up substantial bone then penetrated some more. Would expect similar effect on shoulder bone but would rather shoot around it. For a light bullet with powder puff recoil I guess we'll keep using them for a while <<grins>>. Plus wife is convinced it's a death ray and she's Lagertha with a gun. Now a 120 Accubond with the same jacket would be a mean beast indeed.

The SST is not even close to this BTip. Don't substitute on shoulder shots.

I sure do not understand why Nosler will not make us a 120 & 150 gr Accubond.

According to a well-known gunwriter who shall remain nameless (Mule Deer), Nosler only makes ABs in various calibers and weights if the design offers a significant inprovement over BTs of the same weight.

Limited testing so far shows that my .308 may prefer the 165gr AB blems over the 165gr BT blems a bit from an accuracy standpoint. Only killed two deer so far with the BT and none with the AB, so that part of the question is unanswered so far.

They kill like lightening

Maybe because they wouldn’t be any tougher than those current bullets...

150wise probly because the 140 and 160 cover the need, for other than really, really loonies. 120wise it should be unique in the realm of lead core bullets in the low weight arena. Specially with an even heavier jacket up the shank (if engineering ain't too busy). I'd buy a couple.

Who said anything about a 70lb deer?our avg sized does are 120ish lb. so, the sst's aren't as heavily constructed as the nosler balistic tip?

Only a sample of 4, but I used them in a 7x57 with MV of a bit over 2900. Whitetails and pronghorn, none real big but all on the ground within 50 or so yards with one shot and all bullets exited.

Will be using them in 7mm-08 soon, won't be worrying about performance, that is for sure.

I did. I’ve been back in coastal ga for a few years now and I’ve been shoulder shooting primarily the last 2 years for the reasons mentioned in my post despite the fact that it uses up a lot of meat in a critte threat hasn’t got much. And I’ve gone back to 120grn tsx’s Because my encounters are frequently inside of 50 yards and I found the few options i tried in “deer bullets” were too messy or couldn’t get through the shoulders at that speed. I’ve got 140 ballistic tips loaded that I never even messed with and I never even looked at 120s because my experience has been with ballistic tips go heavy. I lately saw mentioned somewhere around here about the 120s stout construction for sillioutte shooters etc. I’ve basically always used 140 partition or 120 tsx/ttsx I got my 7-08 built the first time in 2007 and where I lived I had. No reason to look at other options.

175rltw did.





P

Do a search on here, there is a lot written about the 120 NBT and performance. If you can find some of the older threads written by Steve Timm, you will have all the confidence you need.

In 7mm Ballistic Tips, the 120 and 150 grain both have heavy jackets and penetrate well. The 140 is softer.

The SST is much softer than any Ballistic Tip.

120 BT is an excellent bullet. Keep the MV around 2900 - 3000 and go kill stuff.

Same thing Pappy pointed out. Had not considered that part of the equation..

Indeed. I have his 120 BT recipe for the 280 AI if anybody wants it.

JBcommented on this and "basically" said Nosler tested all their BT's and the ones that didn't pass the test, got bonded.
I dont know the jacket to lead ratio, but from a bullet jacket I pulled from the neck hide from a straight to me shot between the eyes which was weightd 53 grains...so even when shedding lead, the jacket sorta becomes a mono metal, and it diggs deep like one would also.

I've used them quite a bit, I've just never caught one. So that's about 45% weight retention after doing a lot of damage.

I run Steve's 120 NBT load in my .280AI ( 3325 fps) and so far it has killed 32 deer all dead in their tracks from distances of 15 steps to 300 yards and we have yet to keep on inside a whitetail.

This thread among many other 120 BT threads makes it hard for me not to try them in my 280.

Loaded up some 140 Partiton, Accubonds and 150 Ballistic Tips a little bit ago. I guess if they won't play I might try some of these 120s.

Any broadside shoulder pass through on whitetail?? At the moment I'm using 140 core-lokt in my 7mm-08 cause it put 3@100yds in .3" but am very interested in using the 120 bt when they come back in stock at midway. Haven't busted a deer with it as of yet but just going on that particular bullets history I haven't made a bad decision. Just always looking for the better mousetrap.

Before you buy anything from Midway, check ShootersProShop.com for blems and overruns on Nosler bullets. I've never seen them for a lower price!

Ive killed 20+ at ranges pg 10 yards to 300 yards and at all angles.... This bullet has been the epitome of perfection for me. If you wonder how it works... picture claymore.... 44-45 grains of Varget and enjoy the show. I dont see me ever using anything else in the 7-08 with the performance this bullet has given me. The 95 gr bt in the 243 has been equally as impressive.

Yup 100 yd shot pass through both shoulders 40yd death run and crash

I have used the 120 NBT over 45 grains of Varget with less than stellar results. I was really hoping that they would be the do all bullet for me since they shoot tiny little groups but their performance on game has not been impressive at all. It is only a sample size of 2 but with all of the other good 7mm bullets available I decided to move on. As you can see there are many who praise it so I'm not sure why I had issues. The buck shot at 20 and 35 yards behind the shoulder. Both ran off like they weren't even hit and both were found after extensive tracking and following some ruffled/kicked up leaves with zero blood on the ground. We found them both after 125 or so yards. Both were shot behind the shoulder with no bullet exit. I have had such good luck with a standard cup and core bullet (core lok, power point) in 7mm-08 that I now decided to load up some hornady interlock 139s and I am hoping that they work better for me. With the lack of a blood trail we were very lucky to find these deer. I was hoping the first time was a fluke but after having the exact same thing happen again I am moving to a different bullet. I prefer having two holes and at least some type of blood trail to follow.

With that bullet, the absence of an exit hole as stated above is confusing, But 2 dead Deer 125yds from where they stood is Not.!

In the last three seasons I have used the 120 gr. BT in my 7mm-08, three bucks at 55 yards, 140 yards, 225 yards. All three had complete penetration from shots just behind the shoulder. None ran over 30 yards. No recovered bullet. That is my report.

I run 48.5 Varget in my 308, 155 Scenar's. I get 2900 fps.

45 gr don't sound too fast. What speed are you getting?

45 gr Varget in the 7mm-08 is the book max load per Nosler, which claims 3139 fps. I get close to this with 51.5 gr Big Game.





P

Yesterday I averaged 3000 fps in a 20" barrel with 45.0 grains of Varget and 120 grain NBT.