[STLContender]

Have any of you guys used the 225 Ballistic Tips on anything bigger than deer? I live in MO and dont get to do much other than deer hunting...and ive taken 5 or 6 deer with the B Tip..so i know it works well on deer, but im curious as to how well it would work on black bear and elk size game.

 

[jcunclejoe]

Never used one on a critter but I designed the tooling to make that bullet. It has a really thick base and extra thick jacket walls. It should be plenty stout enough for elk and black bear.

Take one and clamp it in a bench vise as close to the centerline as possible. Start at the base with a hacksaw and cut one in half lengthwise. Smooth it up with a file and maybe a sanding block and some fine grit and you can see exactly what the internal construction is. It will give you confidence in the bullets ability to perform.

Joe

 

[jhalcott]

I don't know how big black bear get in your area,but if a 200grain round nose can take them in Maine,The 225 Nosler B'tip will do fine.It may even be too much of a good thing! A few guys I hunt with claim to get excessive meat damage using B'tips in 30-06 and 300mags. Most of us are meat hunters first and trophy hunters second. Any legal set of antlers is going to go down!

 

[Lone Star]

It is an apples and oranges comparison between BTips in a .300 mag and in a .358JDJ. The velocity of the 'lil handgun is 'way lower than in the big case magnums, so the big bullet will not expand excessively. The 225 was designed for medium to large game out of .35 Whelen and .350 Mag rifles, so it will only perform 'better' at the reduced velocity of a handgun. I'd be more concerned about too little expansion...but if they work well on deer than that isn't an issue.

Experienced handgunners know that in most SS handguns the BTips work very well, giving controlled expansion and good weight retention along with outstanding accuracy. They were designed to expand rapidly at rifle velocities, so slowing them down makes them perform like "harder' bullets.

 

[jcunclejoe]

Well said Lonestar, I worked at Nosler as a tooling engineer for 6 years. used Partitions in everything, except handguns. Just as you said, the lower velocity with Ballistic Tips works perfectly at handgun velocities and they do indeed perform "like "harder" bullets".

The lower design limit of expansion on the Ballistic Tip bullets is 1600 fps impact velocity. Keep the velocity above that and the bullet noses should expand to at least one diameter in soft tissue.

Heck, just load em up and go kill something, they will work just fine, within reason of course.
Joe

 

[Tad Houston]

If they only made BTs in .375 :roll:

 

[jcunclejoe]

Tad, they did make them in a 375 260 grains. But they are now making the Accubond in 375 260gr. So they will probably never make the 375 260 BT again.

If you look they are probably still available somewhere.
Joe

 

[Tad Houston]

Thanks Joe,
if anyone knows where i can get some could you please pm me. They are what i need for my JDJ.

 

[EdK]

Sort of dredging up an old thread here - oh well...

I, like Tad, was looking for the 375 cal 260gr ballistic tips for a few months - no luck.

I decided to call the tech support folks at Nosler to discuss the situation. I was told that the tip mushrooming characteristic of the Accubond was designed to be identical to the ballistic tip however the bullet shank was harder and designed not to shed mass as quickly as the ballistic tip. It was designed to work as low as 1600fps.

Why wouldn't this work just about as well in a hand cannon as the original ballistic tip? Has anyone tried? I just may have to give it a go.