Ballistic tips for big game

[jsthntn]

The only thing ballistic tips are good for is load work up so you don't waste the accubonds. Work up your load with the b tip then insert the accubond for hunting.

[johndavid78]

http://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowled ... agnum.html

Good article related to this topic.

[Caveman]

I have been reloading ballistic tips in 30 caliber and 27 caliber for about 30 years. My experience shows they work good on deer out of standard calibers, but do not work well in magnum calibers as they explode prematurely. I like to sight in with ballistic tips in my magnum guns because they are cheaper and usually easy to buy.

[landscaper]

I understand not wanting exploding bullets...energy expended too early, poor penetration, fragments in meat, and all that...but I shoot 139gr BTSP's in my 7mm Mag and they disintegrate COMPLETELY in a deer inside 300 yds. I have yet to have one run over 20 yds, and maybe only two did that. The rest fall in their tracks and field dressing is a piece of cake. Unzip em and pour em out. I shoot just behind the shoulder and have never found a bullet fragment in the meat.

[GrizwalD]

BARNES VORTEX..... one bad bullet !!!

[Blackduck]

A friend of mine has been vaporizing deer and hogs with 140g BT from a 7 RUM at 3400 fps.

[BLOOD DOG]

As said before...If you like the Bal Tips, Go with the Accu Bond. I prefer the Barnes Triple Shock in my 30 caliber guns and the accu bonds in the smaller ones.

[tombstone]

A friend of mine has been vaporizing deer and hogs with 140g BT from a 7 RUM at 3400 fps.

shot one at 25 yds with a 7RUM core lokt 5 or 6 years ago. Catstrophic bullet failure!!! no exit. bullet exploded throughout cavity. Had to come back the next morning and walk the grass field to find a 120lb doe.

[duramax]

A friend of mine has been vaporizing deer and hogs with 140g BT from a 7 RUM at 3400 fps.

shot one at 25 yds with a 7RUM core lokt 5 or 6 years ago. Catstrophic bullet failure!!! no exit. bullet exploded throughout cavity. Had to come back the next morning and walk the grass field to find a 120lb doe.

Bad things happen to bullets at near muzzle velocity of high velocity calibers. The link above the JohnDavid posted was a great write up regarding bullet choice. It explains how bullets perform at different velocities. One might be a fantastic bullet at 200-400 yards, but horrible at close range because the velocities are too high and the bullet comes apart. The opposite end is a tougher bullet at low velocities never expands like it's supposed to.

[BLOOD DOG]

The easy fix is to shoot solids or bonded and shoot em in the shoulder not behind the shoulder. He always has 2 holes in him and 2 broken shoulders!. He cant get away without his runnin gear.

[kris Schaumburg]

Just before Christmas I shot an elk with a 338 wsm ballistic. Pretty much perfect shot in the snow (ie perfect tracking conditions). She did not bleed one drop externally. Just before she made the tree line, I hit her again about 1" back with another one that did the same thing. Both bullets exploded on impact and destroyed the internals. Her vitals were a bloody mess, with most of her blood already pooled in her body cavity upon cleaning. If there hadn't been snow on the ground and she had been in heavy cover, she would have been a beast to track/recover, even only going 50 yds. Literally, not one drop of blood from two rounds out of that huge gun. We actually couldn't even find either entrance wound until the hide was off, and I knew where I hit her. I wouldn't shoot them on anything you don't expect to go down immediately.