30-06 and nosler 125gr ballistic tip ?

[sk330lc]

I have a load for my 30-06 ProHunter using the 125gr Nosler Ballistic tip bullet.  The 28" barrel loves this bullet . Has anyone Used this bullet for Deer.  It is a hunting Bullet not a varment Bullet.  I think it would do fine. But would like to know if anyone has used it. 
Thanks   

[Shooter973]

I've used the Sierra and Rem. bullet in this weight (125) for mule deer and they have worked well. They hit like the hammer of Thor.   This may not be the bullet you want to used if you have to take a raking shot or anything but a perfect broadside shot.
My shots using this weight bullet were perfect broadside shots and went thru and thru on both shots. Deer dropped right there, dead. Not even a twitch. I like them but have moved up to 150gr bullets for a bit more piece of mind. I use 150gr Bronze Points now as I have a lifetime supply, and they shoot very well for me.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  sk, For a time I shot these bullets in a 28.5 in barreled .300 mag. for winter coyotes. They did a number on coyotes. I have since moved up to 150's for several reasons. Over the years I also used Serria 125's, on coyotes and one mule deer. Why, I don't remember. But over time one antelope was shot with the .300 and 125 grain Nosler BTBT, they were really explosive, far more than the Serria.  Honestly I would be a bit leary of shooting any big game with them, but this was also a .300. The distance was not great.

[Graybeard]

Many years ago back when I still had time to visit other sites before GBO became so large it takes all my time I used to visit a site started by another reject from The Coffee Shop. Marshall set up Hunt America just before I set up GBO and Rick Bin set up The 24 Hour Campfire. We all posted at the Coffee Shop before we set up our own sites.

At any rate at Hunt America there was a regular there from New York I believe who used the Nosler 125 BT in his .30-06 at some really fast velocity. He claimed it was like a death ray on deer with all one shot kills and generaly DRT performance. He claimed most exited. Me I dunno but he claimed to have something over 30 kills with it with no malfunctions. I've long ago forgotten his name.

[BBF]

My first impression was that they are a bit lighter then what I would use. Not having any personal experience, I can't say.

This does bring up a question of my own. I have a box of factory 125 gr WW cartridges for the 284 Win. That load has been discontinued. Does anybody know if it was designed for deer size game or meant to be a varmint round only?

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  My relatives shot the 284 quite a bit when the 99's first hit the market in that caliber. As I remember the 125 grain PP was designed to match the 130 in .270. I am almost 100 percent certain that was designed as the deer bullet for the 284. Being a lever, I dont think it was loaded for varmits.

[BBF]

WCH
That make sense. 
I had forgotten that the .284 was designed for a lever gun. Mine is a rechambered 7mm-08 Ruger 77.

[the jigger]

I have used the 125gr NBT in 308 and 30/06 with good results. Here I have to say that they were used on relatively thin skinned Florida deer. The largest whitetail I have killed wiyh the NBT was 128lbs; 100% penetration, double lung and heart. He went about 3 jumps and piled-up. I load the 308 .7gr below max and the 30/06 a full grain below max. That seems to take care of the frangible nature of the NBT.
GOOD LUCK and GOOD SHOOTING!!!

[jro45]

I have shot the 160gr Nosler Partition using my 7mm thats what I killed my Bore with.

[v-man]

I can't speak from expereience but I've always assumed the 125gr BT would come apart at .308 or 30-06 velocities at the close ranges that I often hunt. Some of tree lines and bottoms I hunt are adjacent to large open or cleared fields and I might have a 200yd shot but it is often a 20 or 30 yard shot. What should I expect from that rapidly expanding BT at 2800+fps and only 30 yards?

[quickdtoo]

Read Nosler's recommend impact velocity info for the ballistic tipped bullets.  FWIW, they list data for it to well over 3800fps in the 30-378 and 300 RUM.

Tim

http://www.noslerreloading.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1347

[sk330lc]

Thanks guys,  I got on midway and Midsouth sights and read the reviews there . Five stars from many.  Would love to hear More.

[v-man]

I have shot 2 deer with Nosler Ballistic Tips and my wife has shot 1. Hers was with a 90gr in a .243. No exit wound in a small doe quartering away. Hit a rib on the entrance side and blew a hole in the chest about the size of a tennis ball. Expanded so violently that bits of lead were under the near side hide. never made it through the 2nd lung and only small fragments could be found. One of mine was a med size 4pt with a .308. turned all the insides into soup but no exit wound. the third was a med doe through and through with a fairly small exit wound. Yes, all were very dead but the performance was a little too eratic for me. I now use TSX's in my hunting loads.

[Halwg]

Many years ago when speed and shooting a long way were the things my buddies and I thought were "way cool" I loaded 125 gr Nosler BT in my 30-06 to some pretty high velocities.  We were shooting at the 300 yard range and they shot quite well.  I used them with some success, but as V-man said, I got all kinds of crazy wounds and blow ups.  I stopped using them when I shot a 9 pt at about 250 yards broadside and he ran off over a ridge down in a hollow, and when I got to him he was still alive with I hole the size of my fist behind the shoulder.  I finished him off with a neck shot, but the first shot never actually penetrated into the vitals.  I now use 165 gr interlocks.

[84Jim]

Years ago I loaded up some 125 Sierras for my Dad's .308.  While not Noslers, he had the same result as Hal and v-man on a doe.  The bullet blew up inside and never exited.  No blood trail.  We finally found it, but it took some looking.

I know others who swear by 30 cal 125's for deer, but I feel safer w/ 150 or above.

[Redford Bohica]

Back in the late 80's/early to mid-90's, I was on a kick of using your deer rifle for varmints. I had varmint loads made up for the 25-06, 7MM-08, and 30-06. With the 30-06, the load I used incorporated the Sierra 125 gr soft-point bullet.

The Sierra 125 gr. bullets were very accurate in the '06, but when they hit a woodchuck at just under 200 yards or so, they literally cut the 'chuck in half!!! No way, I thought,  with that kind of destruction on a soft target, would I use something like that on a whitetail!!!!

And to kick this one in.....in the mid to late 80's, I hunted deer with a crew here in north-central Pennsylvania. This was in the "old days" when doe season was two (or sometimes three) days after the 2 weeks of "buck-only" in our beloved Commonwealth. On the end of that first day of doe, we got ten deer, and I assisted in hanging the deer and skinning them out. Two deer were taken with a 30/30, one with a 30-06. The other seven were with rifles chambered in the .243 Winchester cartridge. I do know that out of those seven deer taken with the .243, three of them were taken with the factory load of Federal  100 gr Hi-Shok ammo; I don't know what the remaining four were taken with.

The snapper to this one is that.....every one of those deer taken with the .243 had, what I would call, "extremely shallow" wounds! There was a gaping hole in the rib cage where the bullet entered.....there was no exit wound! Even my brother-in-law would know that the bullet blew up as soon as it hit the rib cage!

It's not that I'm against the .243 Winchester...but that's what happened. This is why you see guys posting in this thread going to heavier bullets.

FWIW....

Red

[BBF]

I see merit in using a partition/premium type bullets in a .243 cal bullet on deer. The bullet will expand readily  to any sane range* and will penetrate at very close range as well. Solids like Barnes etc will do the same.

* Nosler's cal 243 85 gr PT launched at 3300fps still has more then the reliable min impact velocity to expand at 500 yards.

[lgm270]

About 30 years ago I read a story in Gun World magazine by an Alabama hunter who swore by 130 grain Speer bullets for deer in the 30-06. He said deer dropped as though thunderstruck whereas sometimes they took off when shot with heavier bullets.  I've always used 150 grain .308"  bullets  for deer hunting.  Have never gone lighter than that.  I like Nosler Partitions.
 

[v-man]

All of this is interesting but the original point was about ballistic tips. I swear by the Nosler Partitions. The combinaiton of expansion and penetration is great. Some question the accuracy but for hunting purposes they are fine. BUT . . . back to the ballistic tips; for varmits they are great but for deer/hog and up, never again for me.

[BBF]

For the Ballistic Tips,I would go heavier for caliber then some other types and they are pricey for what you get, at least here.

[LHitchcox]

Personally, I think the place for the 125 BTs is in reduced loads in .308 and .30-06 for youth. At the reduced velocity they will work well as a deer bullet. Currently I use them in a Contender .30-30 Ackley for the kids I take hunting.

[v-man]

Thanks LH.
You just convinced me of a 2nd way the BT's can be useful.

[BBF]

agreed on good bullet for reduced V loads.

BTW. unless you need the extra range, reduced loads using Remington 150 gr 30-30 bullets are just fine and a lot cheaper and the recoil is mild.

[nomosendero]

Thanks LH.
You just convinced me of a 2nd way the BT's can be useful.

I know another way, use the heavier for caliber BT's, they are better for longer ranges anyway, esp. wind drift with their higher BC & then if you shoot something up close, they are long enough to penetrate Deer sized game every time. The first generation Bal. Tips were much softer than they are now, alot of people don't know that. With these 2nd generation bullets, a 165 is great for 308 or factory 30-06 speed, if you go with a hot loaded 30-06 or hotter, the 180 is great. The 180 is the only BT that I know for sure has gone through a 3rd generation, this was done because some use that bullet for Elk, I would rather use an Accubond or TTSX for Elk, but due to this 3rd & last toughening of the jacket, I will load the 300WM with THIS bullet for Deer, some of my friends have for Black River Bottom Bucks with 100% success. I believe the BT will likely not change again, because they got it right now, as long as you match up properly & for Deer sized game.
But the 125BT is short for caliber, even though this bullet & the 120BT is designed to knock over Sil. Targets. Being short for cal., if they hit bone or something to activate the tip, thus expansion too early, penetration will suffer for the very basic reason that it has a short shank, have you tried to drive a flat washer through something? Use the right length for caliber & matched to the proper velocity.
I saw where someone used a 125BT in a Contender, you can do that well. I like a little longer in my Contender. I use a 150BT in my Super14 30-30AI, I get 2,400fps. I get total penetration every single time & I probably always will. For the original poster, I don't know a reason to load a 125 over the others at all, unless they won't shoot.

[skarke]

I LOVE the Nosler 125 BT in a contender 3030 14" barrel.  It mushrooms nicely at lower velocities seen in this rig, and really thumps.  I've always thought of this bullet as a lower velocity projectile, but I really don't have any experience with faster ballistics.

It'll probably do just fine, but any 125 anywhere near max loads in a 3006 might be best evaluated with some cheap ballistic gel (the stuff lasts forever) before you use it in the field.  You can also use plain jello at double strength which is really super cheap.  Just use a light color, or the unflavored stuff, in a sonotube.

The brownells stuff is here http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=22956/Product/THE_BULLET_TEST_TUBE

[nomosendero]

Yes, like I said in the previous post, I can sure see where the 125 would do well in the 30-30 or AI Contender. I like the accuracy and extra insurance of the 150, but from what I have seen I don't doubt at all the 125 would penetrate fine in Deer at those velocities.

On the bal gel, I don't know that it will account for bones contacted in the first few inches. The gel test is fine, but I don't see advantages of a 125 in a 28" 30-06, it could be used, but I see no way it would be a better load than so many others.

[skarke]

What Nomo said, Plus 1

[Sourdough]

Last year I used the Nosler Ballistic tip in 180gr in my 30-06 for Caribou.  Now I shot a small Caribou, about the size of a large Mule deer.  I had the bullet that is for hunting game also not the varmit bullet.  First shot blew a hole about the size of a soft ball in the side of the neck.  Caribou trotted away.  caribou stopped and looked back, when he did I put a second shot right in the middle of the wound and dropped it in it's tracks.  That shot only broke the spine, it did not travel beyond the spine.

While I love Nosler bullets, I will not recommend the Ballistic Tip for anything bigger than a coyote period.  I use the Nosler Partition, or the Accubond.

[nomosendero]

Last year I used the Nosler Ballistic tip in 180gr in my 30-06 for Caribou.  Now I shot a small Caribou, about the size of a large Mule deer.  I had the bullet that is for hunting game also not the varmit bullet.  First shot blew a hole about the size of a soft ball in the side of the neck.  Caribou trotted away.  caribou stopped and looked back, when he did I put a second shot right in the middle of the wound and dropped it in it's tracks.  That shot only broke the spine, it did not travel beyond the spine.

While I love Nosler bullets, I will not recommend the Ballistic Tip for anything bigger than a coyote period.  I use the Nosler Partition, or the Accubond.

I have shot alot of Mule Deer & I would not be able to duplicate those results. You say the bullet was for hunting game, well the 180 always has been, but they have been toughened twice as I said earlier.
The 115BT in my 25-06AI at 3,400 penetrates better that your deal, odd how weird stuff happens I guess.

[R.W.Dale]

here's my report on using this bullet at a good 1K less velocity than 30-06 generates.   I agree this bullet's place in an 06 case is as a reduced recoil load. At close range at high impact speeds I've not been entirely pleased with heavy b-tips performance.

http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,155958.0.html