G'Day,
Does anybody use this bullet for deer hunting? Nosler list it as a hunting bullet but is it similar in design to the 7mm 120gn Ballistic Tip with heavy jacket? Has anybody sectioned one? Does it hold up to 6.5 CM, 260, 6.5x55 velocities? Or was it made for the smaller 6.5mm cartridges like the Grendel? It seems that this bullet never gets mentioned much.
Thanks for all replies.
I'm not a gun writer but there are 1112 reviews of this bullet on midwayusa alot of them are 6.5 grendel but plenty of them in your choice of cartridges.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1010508373?pid=667545Good luck and shoot straight y'all
I have used it a lot on big pigs in my 260AI, it will be great on deer
I like the 140 Ballistic tip’s in my 7 mags, I bet the 100 grain 6.5’s are good too.
I know an outfitter who uses this bullet in Nosler factory ammo in Africa. I wouldn't recommend it, but he swears by them.
I’ve killed a dozen or so deer with that bullet, and it does a fine job. I shoot them in the heart/lung area. For a time I thought maybe the 120 gr version would do better than the 100 gr version, but after more hunting and ‘testing’, I don’t really think it matters. As for the Ballistic Tip Nosler bullets in general, I used them in my 270 since they were introduced, and they have never failed me. I have lost a small number of deer over the last 40ish years, but it was never the fault of the bullet, but rather the placement.
For what it’s worth, I’ve also killed a bunch of hogs of various sizes, and it’s rare when I get an exit on a medium to large size hog with the 100 or 120 gr bullet. I quit shooting hogs in the heart/lung area, but go for CNS placement. They die either way, but tracking hogs in the heavy brush here got old fast.
They work for me but stay off the shoulders at close range. My pics are in google images. They are a bit ghastly. They will penetrate the shoulders though. I’ll try and post a link.
I used to burn quite a few 100 gr bts in my 264. I loaded them to 3000 fps and used them on ground squirrels and such. They shot with the same trajectory as my 140 spitzer boat tails and pretty much same POA.
They were much easier on the shoulder and the barrel than running full house loads for every target or varmint. And they blew hell out of ground squirrels.
I have used this bullet in a 6.5x55 on several antelope between 125 and 350 yards with one shot kills on all animals. Works for me.
I suppose it all depends on the size of the animal, but the Texas Whitetail I’ve shot don’t ever look that bloodshot. The exit hole is usually about the size of a quarter or a bit bigger. Of course, I shoot them behind the leg, through the lungs and not through a leg bone. I try to avoid shooting the edible parts.
I run them out of a Ruger 260 with a 22 inch barrel at 3350s fps...it is a very flat shooting load...
for antelope sized deer tho at that MV, I have had a lot of blood shot meat on the shoulder on the side it exited on... multiple times.
it didn't happen on heavier animals...if using on smaller sized deer, you plan on eating, throttle it back to about 3000 fps MV..
even at 3350s fps, the recoil was low enough, I didn't lose sight picture of the deer with the Leupold set on 4 power even at 300 yds. for deer it is my main go to bullet with the 260 Rem...
also have downloaded it for kids and it seems to perform just fine to an impact velocity estimated to be in the 1200 to 1300 fps range....
if you need more OOOMPH, Nosler also does make a 100 grain 6.5 partition, that many people don't know about it seems..
for foreign markets they also make a private label 105 gr SMP Partition in loaded ammo...
I have bought some of the bullets at Nosler's Pro Shop, that were overruns... and they perform quite well....
toasted a bear that tried to come after me out hunting one time...it dropped it on the spot....
10 years ago someone sent me a VZ24 action to test.
I put a 10" twist 260 barrel on it.
I don't buy 10" twist 6.5mm barrels any more.
Range report 2009-08-05
VZ24 action
260 Rem, 22" Douglas long chambered #3 taper 3 pound barrel
VZ24 stock with barrel channel milled out but no epoxy
Weaver #45 and #46 two piece steel scope mounts with Devcon Steel
putty
under the mounts and Loctite 242 on the threads. Burris Low tactical
rings with 6 screws on the cap and a bolt on the Weaver rail.
IOR 2.5x10x42 scope with MP-8 1/2 mili rad reticule in first focal plane
and moa turrets. Rubber tube extensions on both ends of the scope. Scope
center is 1.9" above bore center.
100 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip moly coated # 26100 bullet moly coated ,
45.0 gr canister IMR4895,
2.940" over all length, almost no insertion of the bullet into the neck,
due to the short bullet and long throat.
Quickload prediction 61,328 psi 3261 fps
chronographs as 3,236 fps
0.99" 3 shot group at 100 yards, still perfectly sighted in on third
trip to the range.