re: odd bullet damage?

clsp's and clpsp's since about 1966...

quote:

---

(No message)

---

i was trying a balistic point... it blew up before it hit the page..

I always heard they were designed for semi-autos, to feed without tip damage that threw the bullet off? Seems like they are just a HP with a tip that will ensure expansion.

:kige:

I have heard that a few times.

The term "ballistic" tip has nothing to do with it's expansion characteristics. It is designing the bullet to be "ballistically stable" and have a more flat flight path. If you're curious, go to bing and search for ballistic coefficient. The ballistic-tipped bullets are designed to reduce this value.

Every bullet has a different design. I'll stick to two opposite ends of the spectrum here for comparison...

I handload Hornady Vmax as my varminting/kill-shite rounds for my AR15. This bullet is designed for very short penetration depth and maximum energy transfer. To put it in simple terms, this means the bullet will enter something small and disintegrate on contact, which is perfect for shooting varmints. Since the targets are so small and the meat is unused, this round is great. It's also great for coyotes because it basically drops a grenade in their chest cavity. This is also a TERRIBLE round for deer hunting since their hide is bigger, they are tougher, and it does a great job of destroying meat without exiting. So, the Vmax has its purpose. And just as a side, you can buy these with either a flat base or a boat tail.



Then there is the Nosler Partition. It's designed for medium penetration (for comparison sake, we'll say FMJ is for max penetration). When it enters flesh, it's designed to slow down gradually as it expands. the partition technology is designed to hold the bullet together so fragmentation and jacket separation don't occur. It's hard to completely prevent these things from happening though. This is a good deer hunting round because it transfers enough energy in the deer to create a good permanent wound cavity and it also possesses the traits to make it exit.



If you want the ideal ballistic-tipped bullet that will leave a good blood trail, give the Barnes TTSX (tipped triple shock) a try. It is an all-copper bullet and has 3 interlocking bands to prevent it from expanding further. It is designed for medium penetration and will almost always leave an exit since there is no "jacket" for it to separate from since it's all copper.

quote:

---

When you slow it down you just make it less likely to fragment, and more like a core-lokt,

---

exactly..... in fact, the last picture that he posted looks pretty similar to a core lokt, so if that's what he wants anyway, why not just buy rem. 130-150-180 gr., cl, or psp????????????.... alot cheaper, as well..

quote:

---

If you want the ideal ballistic-tipped bullet that will leave a good blood trail, give the Barnes TTSX (tipped triple shock) a try. It is an all-copper bullet and has 3 interlocking bands to prevent it from expanding further. It is designed for medium penetration and will almost always leave an exit since there is no "jacket" for it to separate from since it's all copper.

---

I shoot these. I've had one kill with them so far. It was pretty devastating. It was a double lung shot, and probably clipped the heart. Ran about 40 yards. You know how you barely cut a garden hose on, and it's just a constant low pressure flow? Yeah, blood trail looked like that.

I shot a box a while back. I went back to federal fusions

Just a side note, but Nosler makes two types of Ballistic Tips, hunting and varmint. For the most part, hunting BT's seem to be very good deer hunting bullets. But, periodically one hears about a deer that's been hit w/ a BT, but is not recovered. Of course, these shots are almost ALWAYS thought to be hit in the vitals, but who can know for certain. The lost deer usually have little, if any blood trail. No one can be certain what happened w/o a wound to examine, but what I suspect happened was one of four things: 1. The point of impact was NOT in the vitals. 2. The bullet didn't penetrate deep enough, resulting in only superficial or less than immediately fatal damage. 3. The bullet velocity at the entrance wound was excessive. From what I've read, this seems to be more common at close range w/ a muzzle velocity of 3000 fps or more. 4. At the point of impact, the bullet impacts bone, e.g. middle of a rib, shoulder, etc., causing it to expand prematurely. I'd be curious at to the muzzle velocity of the round, the distance and WHERE Lil Choup's entrance was and the course the bullet took. Something caused the bullet to expand so early. Depending on the circumstances, 'Lil Choup's experience may not be unexpected.

Results w/ the BT seem to be really great or disappointing, depending on the above factors. I've killed a bunch of deer w/ 140 gr BT's in a 270 Win, but most of these were before the 'net gave me widespread access to gazillion other hunters. For many years now I've been hunting w/ rifle type rounds in handguns. In this arena, the BT is the gold standard. The muzzle velocity of these rounds is usually 2200-2700 fps. At these reduced velocities, the BT works really well, providing deep penetration and reliable exit wounds. OTOH, the Hornady SST is too "hard" when shot in my 308 Win handgun w/ muzzle velocity of 2500 fps. Unless it hits bone on the way in, it may not expand.

When my son first started deer hunting, I developed a reduced recoil load for his 308 Win using the 125 gr NBT at a muzzle velocity of 2400-2650 fps. All deer shot w/ the load were killed w/ one shot and had nice exit wounds w/ good blood trails (except for one that had an exit wound in the flank....bad shot on his part). Next year I'll probably deer hunt w/ the 125 gr BT in my 308 handgun. Having read about so many NBT "failures", I'd be cautious nowadays hunting w/ BT's in a rifle w/ muzzle velocity of 3000 fps or greater.