October 2, 2013, 04:48 PM | #1 |
Senior Member
Join Date: June 18, 2013
Posts: 263
|
Nosler E-tip on deer
I shot this buck yesterday. Nosler 150 grain E-tip 4350 powder 280 Remington
Deer was quartering to. Clipped right front leg, entered ribs and destroyed the heart and lungs. No exit wound and bullet wasn't recovered. I lost the shoulder and ribs on the right side. The bottom 1/2 of the heart was gone and the rest was turned mush and this deer still made it into the timber over some downed logs and went 70 yards before piling up. |
October 2, 2013, 05:13 PM | #2 |
Senior Member
Join Date: February 12, 2013
Posts: 669
|
You can blow the heart to shreds and the lungs to soup, but what matters is how much oxygen the muscles have on board. Unless you blow the brains to grey-red goo, you're not guaranteed an instantaneous drop. (If you get one, all well and good.)
That being said, almost everything I've read on big game hunting has hammered home the same point: DO NOT take the head shot; take the guaranteed killing thoracic shot. Which you did. Blowing the heart half to bits and wrecking both lungs is about as much as you can ask for from any bullet. With damage like that, it's academic whether it makes it out the other side or how much weight, jacket or core it sheds. It's done its job perfectly. |
October 2, 2013, 05:15 PM | #3 |
Senior Member
Join Date: December 11, 2009
Location: Northern California
Posts: 1,766
|
Nice job and congrats. Wish you could have recovered the bullet, would have been interesting to see how much weight it retained.
|
October 2, 2013, 07:04 PM | #4 |
Senior Member
Join Date: April 12, 2010
Location: Lake Martin, AL
Posts: 3,311
|
Interesting article in the Nov. Issue of Guns & Ammo on the subject. Here are a couple of quotes from the article: "A polymer tip remains in place until impact and is practically impervious to battering. Upon impact, it initiates expansion as it is driven down into the nose of the bullet." In another paragraph it states: "They usually won't exit". Overall, it seemed the author considered it a good deer bullet. The article was not on reloading, but was entitled "DEER BULLETS 101".
Congrats on your first deer of this season. |
October 2, 2013, 09:09 PM | #5 |
Senior Member
Join Date: March 30, 2011
Location: Lompoc California
Posts: 274
|
The E-tip is a good bullet but you do lose some velocity due to it's gilding metal construction. I have focused on the Barnes and it has done well for everything. Usually you don't recover the bullet, but when you do it's like an advertisement from Barnes.
|
October 2, 2013, 10:08 PM | #6 |
Senior Member
Join Date: February 18, 2013
Location: closer than you think
Posts: 967
|
I've used Nosler Accu-bond in several calibers with good success. Generally speaking the front third of the bullet breaks in to 3-4 small fragments, the center rolls back into a perfect mushroom and the base remains mostly intact.
Lately I prefer the SST because in my experience the SST is a bit tougher and holds together a little better. I'd put the Accu-bond between the SST and the V-max in terms of expansion. I haven't tested the E-tip but I read they have better weight retention than the Accu-bond. I guess the gilding metal holds together better than traditional Core and Jacket bullets. Nice dear. Boomer
__________________
The number one cause of death in the 20th century. 290,000,000 citizens were first disarmed and then murdered by their own governments. This number does not include those killed in war. We're from the government, we're here to help |
October 2, 2013, 10:42 PM | #7 |
Junior member
Join Date: October 3, 2012
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 1,046
|
Yea I used them too. They're good but since I started with the SSTs, that's all I use now. That's been about 14 years ago and I've killed anything from buzzards to hogs to deer. My opinion they're the best that I've ever seen.
|
October 3, 2013, 08:29 AM | #8 |
Senior Member
Join Date: April 25, 2010
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 3,309
|
My experience is different that what I see posted here and other forums.
Most of my deer have been taken with a traditional muzzle loader using a soft lead. .45 cal. ball and moderate charges. Several have been taken with a 30-06 using Nosler Ballistic Tip or Partitions. All, both the muzzle loader and '06 dropped where they stood. There was very little meat damage or loss from hydro shock. Internal damage was impressive but not 'explosive'. The two with the '06 were fairly close ranges. e.g. 10 yards and 50 yards. Personally, I do not favor high velocity modern rifles for deer due to the excessvive meat damage. Plus there is no need. Maybe that is why the old 'thuty-thuty' with round nose bullets was so popular for so many years. Works and brings home the meat. |
October 3, 2013, 08:52 AM | #9 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: February 18, 2013
Location: closer than you think
Posts: 967
|
Quote:
Boomer
__________________
The number one cause of death in the 20th century. 290,000,000 citizens were first disarmed and then murdered by their own governments. This number does not include those killed in war. We're from the government, we're here to help |
|
October 3, 2013, 11:45 AM | #10 |
Senior Member
Join Date: January 2, 2012
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 3,876
|
Looks like someone is eating fresh venison. The rest of us can only hope. {including me for another month yet.} Looks like that E-Tip did what it was suppose to do. Good shot there Reloader 2. _
|
October 3, 2013, 02:22 PM | #11 | ||
Senior Member
Join Date: May 20, 2001
Location: Oshkosh wi.
Posts: 3,055
|
Quote:
Quote:
I'm surprised the E-tip didn't exit. It should retain most of it's weight. It would have looked like these GMX bullets I tested in water jugs from a 300 WSM. Notice the 2 numbers next to the bullets, that's retained weight of 165 grain bullets. I'd bet the bullet is in the gut pile.
__________________
The more people I meet, the more I love my dog They're going to get their butts kicked over there this election. How come people can't spell and use words correctly? |
||
October 3, 2013, 06:30 PM | #12 |
Senior Member
Join Date: April 12, 2010
Location: Lake Martin, AL
Posts: 3,311
|
"Looks like someone is eating fresh venison."
"I've killed everything from buzzards to hogs to deer." How did that buzzard taste? LOL In Alabama, buzzards are employees of the State Department of Transportation. They are the clean-up crew and take their job very seriously. |
October 3, 2013, 06:42 PM | #13 |
Junior member
Join Date: October 3, 2012
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 1,046
|
Cooked in a pressure cooker. Tender but alittle rank.
|
October 3, 2013, 07:26 PM | #14 |
Senior Member
Join Date: July 31, 2000
Location: Middle Peninsula, VA
Posts: 1,588
|
I'm also surprised it didn't exit. I've shot three deer with E-tips in 243. All were broadside but all sailed through. I had the impression that if anything they were a bit stout for our smallish whitetails.
|
October 3, 2013, 09:39 PM | #15 |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 17, 2004
Posts: 567
|
Congrats on getting the deer.
Why did you post on a bullet performance when the bullet stayed in the deer, left no exit wound or blood trail and not bother to recover the bullet? A gunwriter observed that the old Barnes bullets did not fragment and were slow killers of deer. Looks like your bullet is the same. |
October 3, 2013, 11:13 PM | #16 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: June 18, 2013
Posts: 263
|
Nosler E-tip on deer
Quote:
|
|
October 4, 2013, 12:24 AM | #17 |
Junior member
Join Date: October 3, 2012
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 1,046
|
As far as performance goes - I think it did great. It dumped all its energy into the deer and didn't come out. That's what I want. I use SSTs and I get same results. Performance is excellent - turns everything inside to mush. May or may not exit.
|
October 4, 2013, 09:41 AM | #18 |
Senior Member
Join Date: March 8, 2013
Location: Rittman, Ohio
Posts: 2,074
|
I can't argue with your success, but for me, total disintegration of a bullet without exiting while desireable in a self defense round, its not something I look for in a hunting bullet for deer and larger game. Bullets that come apart after entry can do the same if the hit heavy bone before entry.
|
October 4, 2013, 01:08 PM | #19 |
Senior Member
Join Date: June 18, 2013
Posts: 263
|
Nosler E-tip on deer
I didn't recover the bullet so I have no idea if it came apart or not. I highly doubt that it disintegrated but have no proof that it didn't either.
But I've seen bullets do some strange things. We once recovered a bullet that went from the front to the back of an elk and it looked like it could be reloaded except for the rifling marks and a bit of a bend in the shape. |
October 4, 2013, 04:39 PM | #20 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: December 11, 2009
Location: Northern California
Posts: 1,766
|
Quote:
How far was your shot? |
|
October 4, 2013, 05:34 PM | #21 |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 20, 2001
Location: Oshkosh wi.
Posts: 3,055
|
Have you butchered the deer yet? I'd bet that bullet is embedded in the back or off side back leg.
My nephew took a nice buck with his .280 while using my handloaded 139 Hornady interbonds. Hit was straight on the brisket, bullet was half-way through the back leg round/ham area. Nicely expanded, while making a mess of the heart and lungs.
__________________
The more people I meet, the more I love my dog They're going to get their butts kicked over there this election. How come people can't spell and use words correctly? |
October 4, 2013, 11:58 PM | #22 |
Junior member
Join Date: October 19, 2004
Location: michigan
Posts: 578
|
strange, the reports of actual use we get on these solid copper rifle bullets.
manufactureres claim complete pass through, nosler for one admits on their website they physically havenot been able to make one explode or disintegrate. have seen a few tales of shed petals in game. |
October 5, 2013, 11:29 AM | #23 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: February 18, 2013
Location: closer than you think
Posts: 967
|
Quote:
The load data in all my manuals shows gilding metal bullets generally lose 50-100 fps compared to conventional bullets. Boomer
__________________
The number one cause of death in the 20th century. 290,000,000 citizens were first disarmed and then murdered by their own governments. This number does not include those killed in war. We're from the government, we're here to help |
|
October 5, 2013, 07:22 PM | #24 |
Senior Member
Join Date: December 10, 2012
Posts: 6,165
|
That is why they started cutting grooves in the bullets. The bearing surface of a triple shock is about the same as a traditional lead jacketed.
|
October 5, 2013, 07:24 PM | #25 |
Senior Member
Join Date: December 10, 2012
Posts: 6,165
|
Bezoar, many of the earlier Barnes X bullets did shed their petals. They remidied that problem a couple of years after first hitting the market.
|
|
|