200 grain Ballistic tips for elk?

Dawgkilla

Dawgkilla

New member
Guys,
Having SEEN what a 55 grain BT does to a 'yote I plan on reloading 200 grain BT's for my .338 for elk this year. Anyone have any experience with BT's on big game they would care to share?

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Dawgkilla
.25 for 17, but who's counting!
smile.gif


[This message has been edited by Dawgkilla (edited 03-25-2002).]
 
Nothing personal, but from .33 caliber and up the BT is designed with elk in mind. Nosler knows that people shooting these larger bores will want to use them on critters bigger than deer, and made them accordingly. Under .33 and they will advise you to NOT use the BT on elk.


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"When They turn the pages of history,
When these days have passed long ago.

Will they read about us in sorrow,
for the seeds that we let grow?" - RUSH, "A Farewell To Kings"
 
Why would I take that personal?
smile.gif

It's more than I knew before, thanks Stu!

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Dawgkilla
.25 for 17, but who's counting!
:)
 
Why would you want to use a 200 grain Ballistic Tip on elk just because of what a 55 grainer did to a coyote? I can think of several better choices for an elk bullet. Nosler Partition,Swift A-Frame,Speer Grand Slam,Barnes X,etc...

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I meant that I hadn't personally used them.


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"When They turn the pages of history,
When these days have passed long ago.

Will they read about us in sorrow,
for the seeds that we let grow?" - RUSH, "A Farewell To Kings"
 
Uhhhh, let Gronk think...
Small BT kill coyote GOOOOD....
Big BT (maybe, just MAYBE) kill elk GOOOOD...
...and since no one with your OBVIOUS command of killer elk bullets has volunteered any HELPFUL suggestions, maybe you could explain to me WHY those other bullets are better instead of just telling me they ARE?



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Dawgkilla
.25 for 17, but who's counting!
:)
 
Yeah, and a 52 grain hollowpoint also kills coyotes GOOOOD but that does not make me want to load up some 168 grain hollowpoints thinking they would be good for elk.

Weight retention is the first thing that comes to mind. I want a bullet for elk that will retain at least 2/3's or better yet more of its original weight. This also aids in deep penetration. I have seen Ballistic Tips that were used on elk come out in pieces with not much penetration. That was several years ago and I have heard Nosler has improved them for the use on big game since then. For deer,antelope,and such I would use a Ballistic Tip but for elk I want a tough bullet so I don't have to worry about bullet failure.

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Dawgkilla, in addition to any info you get here, I'm going to suggest that you do what I do when I have such a question: got to the source.

These companies want you to be happy with their bullets. You talk to a tech, explain what you're thinking about doing and see what he says. I've talked to the techs at Nosler and Hornady many times and they haven't steered me wrong yet.

I checked my Nosler #4 manual on the 338 Win Mag, but they don't address the issue with this specific bullet. You can reach Nosler at 1-800-888-3921. Mon to Friday, working hrs but I don't recall what time zone. Just ask for tech support.

If you talk to them, please post something here about what they say on this.


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"When They turn the pages of history,
When these days have passed long ago.

Will they read about us in sorrow,
for the seeds that we let grow?" - RUSH, "A Farewell To Kings"
 
I shot a bull with a 130 grain ballistic tip out of my .270. It dumped him. This was the third shot on him after 2 trophy bonded bear claws already punched through his lungs when he was bedded. He got up and started running off into the bottom of the canyon and the ballistic tip shouldered him and knocked him over and down for the count. I think any decent sized bullet will work, it is all about shot placement. I saw my cousin dump a bull in his tracks at 300 yards with a 145 grain winchester powerpoint. I have never seen anything die faster in my life than that bull. I have also seen a bull killed with 130 grain BT's out of a .270 weatherby. 2 shots at 250 or so yards the bull flopped over and went less than 20 yards from the initial shot. I dont understand people who say you need a giant magnum firing canonballs to kill elk. Granted they are tough and if you plan to shoot them in the ass maybe you need a monster gun but if you pick your shots and wait them out then I am not sure monster guns and bullets are necessary....Just my opinion
Bret Mattausch
 
dont have any personall exp. with the 200grn BL but would also like to hear input on that and on the 338 Ultru

happy hunting shoot straight

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I guess i am from the old school that it is more shot placement and shot timing more than anyhting. I still think that a .22 would kill an elk if you did the above two correct. I am going to use a 220 grain nosler partition i think for elk this fall but i may also go with 180 grain swift a frames.

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have fun and shoot straight
brad
 
Dawgkilla,
For the past two years I've been hunting with a 338 ultramag shooting 250 grain swift-A-frames and haven't had any doubt on their perfomance. In my mind I want a bullet that is tough as nails, won't blow up, and crush, break, and shatter bones and anything else it comes in contact with. Elk are tough animals and where I hunt is rough and thick terrain where other people are to smart to go off into and sometimes you only see portions of the vitals. So when I come across that bull and shoot at it I want it to go down right there by breaking bones. Shattered bones are razor sharp, penetrate vital organs, and must be needed to move. To me, shooting ballistic tips for elk would be to risky in the situations that I hunt in because they might just "blow" up on the shoulder and not penetrate. I know people do it all the time, but that's just my .02 worth.

Believer
 
Dawgkilla,

I had never seen or heard of anyone using a ballistic tip on anything until about 6 years ago. We helped a friend of mine get a nice 5X5. He used a 300 mag with a ballistic type. I called the bull within 75 yards. He shot the bull at 60 yards. The entrance was small but the other side of the animal had a hole in it the size of a grapefruit. There was nothing left of the lungs at all. This bull went about 30 yards after being hit. Just make sure that you make a good shot at a bull, they are really tough and can take several large rounds and keep going. After you shoot and IF they take off, give them the standard 1/2 hour sit time, this will set in to getting stiff and will laydown.

Just My $ .02.

Good Luck,

Gonzaga
 
Hello Guys,

Give the Barnes XLC coated X Bullet a try, its worked flawless far elk and Oryx for myself and friends from .270's to 300 Win Mags. Try lining up some milk jugs full of water. Try out the different bullets and see how many jugs you go through and how the bullet stays together.

When hunting sometimes the perfect - good shot never presents itself. Thats when you want something that can take a hard raking shot and penetrate the massive animal.

Good luck with your elk hunt, /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Chad
 
I recently followed Chad's advice and gave the XLCs a try. So far, I'm pretty impressed with them. I've only shot one critter so far - a 120 pound hog this past weekend, but performance was perfect with complete pass through. Nice 6.5mm entrance hole and ~1" exit with good bleeding. Accurate as heck in my rifle to boot, easily churning out sub-MOA five shot groups at 100 yards. Right before I left I even shot five into less than a half inch. These bullets are a little pricey, but if my initial impression stands up to the test of time (and more critters), they are well worth the investment.
 
I just got a 35 whelen and am planning on using the 225gr BT for elk/moose sized game. I originally had my doubts about the BT on big game because of having heard about a guy who shot a whitetail in the brisket as it was facing him and the bullet only penetrated 4" into the deers chest. That was when they were first started making the BT and nosler has since fixed the problem. I know another guy that shot an elk with the newer 225gr BT in the front shoulder and had the bullet lodge under the skin on the far ham. THe bullet had penetrated all the way through the whole animal breaking a lot of bones and had a retained weight of 206grs. WHen you compare that to another 35 caliber bullet that was found in another elk, it was a 250gr speer SP and was found under the skin on far shoulder it weighted 162gs. I think that any of the newwer Ballistic tips will do exactly what they were intended to do, kill big game.
 
This past year I purchased a Remington 700 in a 7mm mag. A friend and hunting partner kept telling me I would not like the performance of this caliber. Tore up too much meat and the animal would run off and would make tracking difficult. I plan on loading 150 grain Nosler Partitions to hunt elk and mule deer in Montana this yr. My reply to him on this cartridge tearing up meat and the animals running off was this - I don't eat much neck meat and EVERY deer I have shot in the neck has dropped like a rock. No quivering. No squirming. No kicking. Nothing but lifeless. My point in this is shot placement with any kind of bullet is in my opinion the most critical aspect of making a good quick clean kill. Just my two cents worth!!!
 
CaptKB, I have a 7 mag Remington Sendero and there is no problem taking down deer with this caliber. You have been given some misleading information. Something I did discover is that the Federal Premium 150 gr Ballistic Tip's that I was using at first are not as effective as the 140 gr Ballistic Tip's for my use. I think that the slighly more rapid expansion of the 140 gr is a better bullet for deer and hogs here in South Texas and it has more shock. I have killed hogs up to 250 pounds and have crashed through sholders of deer with it. I have have had 2 holes in all animals with the 140 or 150 gr Ballistic Tips. The 150 gr would work better for a heavier, thicker deer or Mulie. I shoot hogs in the neck because the ribs are just too good on the grill to waste any.
I am an animal lover. They are very tasty.
 
CaptKB, I have not killed an ElK with the 7 mag. but it is the recomended of a couple of my friends. I am going Elk hunting this year and I have purchased a Ruger 300 Win. The 7 mag Sendero is too heavy for me to lug in the mountains for me.
 
I called nosler when they replaced the old solid base bullet with the new bt. They said the bullets were designed for game. Well, I shoot 165s in 30 caliber. They work great for smaller game. Shot a couple of deer, an antelope, and 8 or 9 hogs. Nice performance for deer sized game but they did not retain weight. For bigger game, get the partition. They just don't fail.

What the heck, you have enough rifle to hunt Mack trucks. Can you shoot it? Guys coming west seem to think they need something to knock down buffalo. Better to be a good shot and you arn't going to get much practice with a 338.
 
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