A bad day and a rifle cartridge question

[Rudey]

The last deer I ever shot with a rifle about 10 years ago was with a 7mm Rem Mag using 140gr Ballistic Silvertips like you used. Not only was there an exit wound, but you could have easily put a softball through it! The bush behind where she was standing looked like it had been spray painted red. But, this was right behind the shoulder, nothing but ribs, lung, and heart. No big bones hit.

That's the only experience I've ever had with ballistic tips.

[Joey~AP]

I aint gettin an exit with the Win SilverTips on axis. 140gn 270

Hi Rudey!

[Devin]

I reloaded the Ballistic Tips for many years and also swore by them until my brother, Dru, had a similar incident with my reloads on a couple of decent sized OK deer and I had one instance on a deer Blaine shot with the same gun, entry wound and no exit. I did recover the one Blaine shot and couldn't find any decent sized bullet fragments or definite wound channel. All I could find were very small pieces of lead & copper. Really strange. The entrance wound did center a rib, but still shouldn't have done that to the bullet.

I'll not use the BT's on deer anymore. Barnes X or partitioned bullets only.

[mathewsoutback]

one of my buddies shot a cull buck at our place this weekend with a 3006 and was using fedral ballistic tips and the shot was about 80 yards with no exit wound just about a quarter sized extry with about 6 ribs blown out in the inside and lots of blood i personally don't like them

[Snakelover]

I don't think I flinched.

It doesn't take much of a flinch to send a bullet off course. From her reaction, I wonder if the bullet whizzed by right in front of her. If the shot was a good one, a .270 in 130 grains will knock a deer off their feet from 100 yards more often than not no matter what particular brand or style of bullet you're using. No offense, but I kinda think you just missed.

[Cotton]

They should be outlawed on big game!!!!!!!!!!

My Dad quit deer hunting because of them. He was shooting a 30.06 and the round was a 150 grain ballistic tip. He took the same shot he had always taken on deer but this one was the biggest buck he ever shot. The buck dropped in his tracks, after he was motionless for 15 minutes my Dad walked up on him when the buck jumped and ran off. He looked for that deer for two days and came up with nothing. I wasn't there but he called me and told me he was getting too old to hunt and that was the last animal he would pull a trigger on if all he could do was wound them.

Dad was always a great shot and I found it hard to believe it was his shooting. He could drive tacks at 200 yards with his hand loaded .243 rounds. The next weekend I put the bow down and took his rifle with the same round. I shot a doe broadside and the bullet exploded on the ribs with minimum damage to her vitals.

The next year a friend shot this buck on our place and his right knuckle was a big knot of fused together bone. He had been walking around on three legs for over a year. Any other round would have exploded his heart. You’re better off shooting field point at a deer than one of those junk rounds!

Dad never deer hunted again.

[Mexico Hunter]

If indeed the bullet entered the doe than it did what it was supposed to do, spent ALL its energy inside the animal. Pass through is not a good thing, you are leaving energy unspent.

I shoot a lot, with balistic tips and others without any problems. 17HMR through 300 ultra mag. with shots videoed over 300yds to the head. I don't think it is a bullet problem.

My question to add to the list is have you shot the gun again to ensure it is on? Did you video the shot to review placement? If not, did you review it from the stand to look for limbs in the way which you could then look at to see if you grazed them?

[Chew]

Innergel...between me and my sons we shot 6 animals with that same exact bullet over 2 years. 5 of the animals literally dropped in their tracks without taking a step. One doe went about 10 feet before dropping and that was a slight quartering away shot that my son took at 180 yards. I bought the same bullet for their .243 rifles and will be using those as well. Not sure what happened on yours.

[Cotton]

A bullet should have controlled expansion, exploding is not controlled by any means. The only way a 30.06 150 grain bullet would not exit a Texas Whitetail would be for it to explode. That's NOT how a bullet is supposed to work.

[wilded]

Believe me the major manufacturers have tested the ballistic points and they perform as designed. Bullet placement is not the fault of the bullet. JMHO

[Shoot Low]

There's lots of wives tales on BT bullets, but until you section all of them and look at how they are constructed, then you don't have a clue.
I use Nosler BT's almost exclusively and have cut these in half took out the lead weighed the components etc. Most Noslers in .30 cal and larger will have a tapered jacket with a solid copper base and the jacket can out weigh the lead core. The jacket on my .338's actually out weigh the lead on 180gr bullets. Any bullet that uses the thin J4 jacket is subject to disintegration and will sometimes vaporize 50ft out of the barrel if loaded to velocities over 4200fps.
A bonded core bullet with a polymer tip is about the best thing going for most game, even African plains game.
Biggest problem is too many people shoot big animals with varmit calibers and expect a bad shot placement to still get the job done.
JMO but in the Elmer Keith fashion, I consider anything less than 7mm a varmit gun.

If I didn't reload all my own stuff, I would use the el cheapo Remington
core-lokt's. Probably the best all around factory reliable cartridge made.
Makes a nasty wound channel and provides huge amounts of shock for the bullet size.

No warranty implied

[Cotton]

If a 1.5 year old whitetail doe's ribs cause a 150 grain bullet to explode with very little penetration after that point. Then my question would be to the major manufacturers just where is the right bullet placement?

Heck I hit the buck in my profile in the exact same place my Dad hit his. I guess a 30.06 is no match for a Mathews XT?

[texag93]

They should be outlawed on big game!!!!!!!!!!

The ballistic tip is a great bullet for THIN-SKINNED GAME. They are not designed for big game. I don't consider Texas white tail big game. I would use them on anything up to Mule deer and black bear...not elk, moose, or larger animals. The new Inter-Bond from Nolser is suppose to hold together better and retain more weight. I have only recoverd 1 BT from a white tail in 18 years of shooting them. Best I can remember thats about 25 deer. The one recover was a 70gr BT out of a 6mm Rem. It made it all the way through to just under the skin of the off side shoulder. I have had complete pass throughs with my 7mm08 and 308. Its not the bullet, it the bullet placement. Sorry you didn't get your deer. There will be another chance. Don't give up on the BT's. They are great bullets for deer-size game.

[Richard M.]

I agree with what your lease guy was telling you. They can definately explode not leaving an exit. That's ok if they fall dead right there, but not if you have to trail them. A nozzler partition will leave a hole on both sides guaranteed. I switched from a nozzler to a ballistic tip because they weren't expanding. I had a small entry and exit with all the energy going out the side. I tried ballistic tips on a doe and got an exit, but that was the only deer I tried. You just don't have any forgiveness if you get in the shoulder or hit bone. If you want to go middle of the road I would suggest a Remington core lokt or Hornady interlock.

[Cur_Dog]

When I rifle hunt, I use a 270. The last deer I had that ran was using the Fail Safe bullet. Since then all I have ever used is 140 grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claw. Federal makes them and they are the High Energy rounds. I only take neck shots, whether it's a doe, buck, axix etc.... I have shot them from 15 yards out to 175 yards. I have NEVER has one take a step after getting a 140 grain TBBC!!! My .02