168 grn barnes ttsx or 165 grn nosler balistic tip

mudd_bogger

looking for some imputt about these two bullets.
which one is more accurate?
will withstand high vol. almost 3700fps?
best deer, antlope bullet an long range shooting bullet?

using this in a 30-378 with a 1-12 twist 28"tube with 115 grains of retumbo with the noslers. i know that im going to start over from scratch an work a load up if i go to the barnes.

swearengine

I don't know which would be more accurate. Better accuracy does not always equate with best hunting bullet. I think of the two, your best bullet for hunting thin skinned game would be the Barnes. The Ballistic tip will tend to mushroom and fragment shortly after impact. From personal experience, I have seen numerous deer shot with Ballistic tips that resulted in long tracking affairs or chases and some of them were ultimately lost as other hunters killed the deer. Upon after death inspections, the Ballistic tip had not provided a killing wound, quite often superficial with minimal blood loss.

Now it could be that the Ballistic tip will provide superior accuracy for target shooting or also for prairie dog hunting.

You will just have to work with both bullets and numerous powder charges in order to determine the best for both applications.

Good luck and Happy shooting.

eastbank

i have been useing nosler 165gr 30 cal. B.T.,s since the mid 80,s and have shot over 35 deer with then and have only lost one and that was my fault, i hit it to far back. just stick the nosler in their lungs and they die quick. 3006 57gr imr 4350. 300wby 83gr hodgens 4831. eastbank.

JustC

no better whitetail pill than a nosler balistic tip. They are noteably (from my experience)as accurate,. or close to as accurate as a match grade bullet. I have harvested a sika deer at 7yds with a 125gr NBT from a 30-06, and although the expansion was violent,..the deer fell right there. It opened her up from shoulder to shoulder (head on cheast shot) but still dropped her on the spot. Penetration was minimal,...but the 125gr 30cal pill being a varmint pill,..and launched at 30-06 speed, it still took the game. I use the NBT as my go-to bullet for deer and anything weighing less.

They fly like a match pill,..and hit like a train.

Mobuck

I consider the 165 Ballistic Tip a good deer bullet and the Barnes would be more suitable for elk sized game. My experience with Nosler B T is that it is a quick expanding bullet and might lack penetration on bigger game. The Barnes will open up slower and penetrate deeper.

Odawgp

I use the 165 bt's for both deer and elk

I have had a few runners when shooting deer inside 100yds but they go down upon delivery of second 165gr BT either to the noodle or neck.

I think this is do to the high velocities in which the boolits entered the body relative to the body being of a smaller mass (comparatively speaking as say an elks body) they punch a small 30cal hole right threw the deer up close.

every elk (5) I have shot all have dropped on the spot the closest 70yds the farthest 350+ yds D.O.I.

I've used Barnes X boolits in a 50cal smoke pole they were hard to load but deadly.

BT's will work find in my opinion, I have also use 180gr BT's they are a little slower but do not seem to poke holes in the deer like the 165's.