The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Are premium bullets really needed for whitetails?

bergie · June 17, 2000, 02:23 PM

Are premium bullets really needed for whitetails? no. Are they desirable? depends on the circumstances. Will standard off the shelf softpoints kill a deer as dead? yes, provided a good hit.
About the Nosler bullets, the Nosler manual has a good article by Rick Jamison on choosing the Partition or the BT. It says that all BT's of .26 caliber or larger are designed as "hunting" bullets, not "varmint" bullets. He tested the Partition against the BT, 165 gr in .308, and .300Win mag shooting into a "wet newsprint expansion medium". The BT did open up at lower velocities and would expand at longer ranges where the Part. would not with his light loads in the .308. At 2460 fps at 12 feet the Partition penetrated 17" and retained 127.7 grains (77%) the BT 14.5" and 126.3 gr (76.5%).
At the high end 3,143 fps out of the .300 winmag at 12 feet, the partition penetrated 16.5" and retained 67% of its mass, versus 12.7" and 56% for the BT.
He says for large heavy-boned game, or at velocities over 3100 use the Partition, at lower velocities (less than 3100), or on long shots on deer, antelope, or sheep the BT is the choice due to its higher b.c.
bergie

June 17, 2000, 02:23 PM	#16
bergie Senior Member Join Date: April 19, 1999 Posts: 567	Are premium bullets really needed for whitetails? no. Are they desirable? depends on the circumstances. Will standard off the shelf softpoints kill a deer as dead? yes, provided a good hit. About the Nosler bullets, the Nosler manual has a good article by Rick Jamison on choosing the Partition or the BT. It says that all BT's of .26 caliber or larger are designed as "hunting" bullets, not "varmint" bullets. He tested the Partition against the BT, 165 gr in .308, and .300Win mag shooting into a "wet newsprint expansion medium". The BT did open up at lower velocities and would expand at longer ranges where the Part. would not with his light loads in the .308. At 2460 fps at 12 feet the Partition penetrated 17" and retained 127.7 grains (77%) the BT 14.5" and 126.3 gr (76.5%). At the high end 3,143 fps out of the .300 winmag at 12 feet, the partition penetrated 16.5" and retained 67% of its mass, versus 12.7" and 56% for the BT. He says for large heavy-boned game, or at velocities over 3100 use the Partition, at lower velocities (less than 3100), or on long shots on deer, antelope, or sheep the BT is the choice due to its higher b.c. bergie