For 15+ years I have had 100 Nosler 150-grain bullets in my inventory. This winter I loaded fifty of them for range ammunition in .300 Savage. My preferred hunting bullet in that round is a 165-grain bullet.
For a number of years the 150-grain Remington Bronze Pt. in 300 Savage and 130-gr. In 270 Winchester were the GoTo bullets. Now days Remington describes the Bronze Pt. as a rapid expanding bullet which is a correct description. Having grown out of my teenage fascination of velocity at the expense of penetration I quit using them. I do not believe my Dad, brothers, or myself ever recovered anything but fragments from deer.
Many would argue that there is not a problem because the bullet killed the deer. The problem was that a deer shot behind the shoulder ended up traveling a 100-yards in heavy cover. The downside is somehow I became the family tracker. Nobody wants to lose an animal and recovery is a serious business. When we switched to bullets that penetrated a deer on a behind the shoulder shot the two holes provided a better blood trail and quicker recovery.
The point is that my experience with the Bronze Pt. prejudiced my thinking when the first Nosler BT bullets appeared on the market. When reports started coming in regarding explosive results in the field I decided to use other bullets for hunting.
Looking at pictures of cutaways of the Nosler BT it appears to have a heavier jacket then the Bronze Pt. Comparing 150-grain Nosler BT bullets to my remaining supply of Bronze Pts. I found the Nosler bullet better finished, and bullet weight consistent at the advertised weight. I found a high variance in weight with the Bronze Pt. bullet, up to two grains. On paper the two grain variance was not a problem at 100-yards. I never tested it at four hundred yards, but feel that long-range accuracy most likely degraded.
I have considered buying 150-grain Nosler BT bullets for the .270 Winchester feeling the extra 20-grains of weight will penetrate a deer even if the bullet breaks up some.
I have not loaded them yet, but a friend has had good results using a 140-grain Nosler AccBond bullets. I have also heard of good results with the bonded Hornady bullets. For the hunter who wants to use plastic tip bullets, I think the bonded bullet is the answer.
In recent years I have taken deer with the Nosler PT in two different calibers. Performance of the Nosler PT was outstanding, but I do not think it is needed for deer, good old standard Remington C-L, WW Power Points, and Speer Hot Core bullets do the job in the appropriate bullet weight.
