Plastic tips - Graphic

[HDShark]

I wasn't sure about posting this, but I have decided to out of interest if others have seen this happen, or if it it specific to my rifle/bullet combo, or possibly a faulty batch....

20" .308 shooting hornady SST 150g @ 2898fps for 2797ft-lbs.

Now I have shot circa 50 deer with this combo and the majority have been absolutely fine, showing clean entry holes and a reasonable but acceptable exit, even if a non perfect shot and hitting some hard bone. However, I would say about 1 in every 10 deer shot, the bullet has seemed to absolutely and (in my mind) inexplicably exploded on entry. Photo below from yesterday, a yearling buck @ 182 meters, hit well behind the shoulder bone hitting only muscle and soft rib, and the bullet has gone off like a grenade on entry. No picture of the exit....because there wasn't any!

Now, what I don't want this post to turn into is a slagging match on the suitability of ballistic tips. I have found them to be fantastic in general with very acceptable damage and particularly useful for putting deer straight down in difficult terrain, where even a dog might struggle. What I am asking, is if other people have seen this with different setups or different brands of ammunition? Obviously the thing to do would be to buy different brands and go shoot a load of deer to see how they go, but obviously this is a long winded process - hence the question here.

Remember, this is an entry hole!....

 

[TomT3]

Bloody hell! Looks like it’s been shot with a cannon ball! I personally wouldn’t use ballistic tips but I do not shoot a 308 so my comment isn’t valid!. I will be untested to see how this thread progresses though. That is some entry hole!

 

[User00003]

I reckon you shot that quartering away and caught it a touch back, hence the mincing

 

[stubear]

Thats SST (and other BT type bullets) for you. They expand extremely quickly and can get a bit explosive. Some of the worst damage I've seen was a roe shot with Nosler BTs out of a .243, but I've shot roe with .300WM and it just pokes a hole right through them with very little damage using 170gn soft points.

Try a standard lead cup and core bullet, the damage is way less from what I have seen.

 

[reloader54]

I use nosler balistic tips in 223 for foxes, almost exclusively , they bang,flop without fail, however I often get an explosive result as shown in your photo, and sometimes not, I put it down to various causes, striking or missing bone on entry, or as suggested by PKL, the angle of entry, It only happens occasionally, but I refrain from using them for deer in both 223 [muntjak] and 243 roe,fallow. for this reason. but that's just me, I have my personal code when shooting as others may have theirs, some will agree some will differ.
ps, you have not indicated a range this damage occurs at, is it at various ranges or a specific range? when quoting 1 in 10.
pps, I note you did say 182mtrs in this particular case. how does that relate to other similar damaged beasts from the distance perspective.?

 

[Malxwal]

I'm baffled how you can get a 150gr bullet to do 2898fps out of a 20" barrel ? Sorry, that sounded wrong. I had a 20" 308 and even using RS52 hose velocities were out of the question. Is it Superformance factory you're using, they are quick.
I used Amax 155gr and then moved onto 125gr Nosler BT, the latter doing about 2950, and I never encountered such damage.

 

[HDShark]

ps, you have not indicated a range this damage occurs at, is it at various ranges or a specific range? when quoting 1 in 10.

I would say when it has happened, it's at slightly longer range. Shots maybe around 200m+. Close range you would be pushed to tell it was a ballistic tip...very clean entry and exit. Pictures attached are sub 100 yard shots, and HAVE hit hard bone without the exploding effect.

Yes the animal was very slightly quartering, but have again shot plenty the same without this happening. There must of course be a factor in common but I'm struggling to understand it, other than a discrepancy in the manufacturing of the bullets.

 

[Fiadh]

I had exactly the same problem with 150 grain SST's both on roe and reds, some would expand predictably while others would break-up like a mortar shell. I no longer use them.

 

[HDShark]

Is it Superformance factory you're using, they are quick.

Yes, superformance.

 

[HDShark]

I had exactly the same problem with 150 grain SST's both on roe and reds, some would expand predictably while others would break-up like a mortar shell. I no longer use them.

Thanks, I think this is the reply I was looking for to make sense of things. What did you change to?

 

[John_R]

I remember when I first chose to reload with Hornady Interlock I made enquiries about the SST. I was warned of this very thing and stuck with the Interlock.

 

[HDShark]

I remember when I first chose to reload with Hornady Interlock I made enquiries about the SST. I was warned of this very thing and stuck with the Interlock.

Thanks John. Shame really because most of the time they are fantastic. Just a lottery if they will perform as expected or go off more like a plastic explosive, it seems.

 

[Cyres]

That is pretty extreme, never had and issue with 75/87 v max in 6mm.

I will dig out some pictures

D

 

[Leupsak]

I use Nossler, SST, Interlock and many others out of large and small calibers with varying velocities and in all cases you can get odd events.
I have had deer run on 60 yards to find the heart had been obliterated, Ive had deer collapse with little more than a pencil hole running through them and also had a bullet hit a rib, turn and run through the body exiting at the haunch. There are too many variables to guarantee what a bullet will do, sales blurb is a statement about what it is supposed to do in optimum circumstances at specific range ie the test results.
In the end I decided to find a bullet I had confidence in and bought loads of them however they can all act oddly given the wrong circumstance, so sorry to add nothing to the discussion!!!

 

[CarlW]

I use Nosler BT in .308 at 2850 fps from a 20" barrel, using H4895. Have never seen damage like that. Really interesting. Thanks for sharing.
Kind regards,
Carl

 

[devonair]

Stopped using sst's in 6.5x55 too much damage for my liking.
Gone back to heavy and slow for woodland stalking(.308/6.5)
I've come to the conclusion that a heavy, flat based, round nosed, conventional soft point driven at modest speed will do the job nicely with minimal meat loss. Far too much willy waving when it comes to reloads.....

 

[HDShark]

Far too much willy waving when it comes to reloads.....

Not really willy waving, these are by far the most accurate in my rifle.....

 

[VSS]

Looks like it broke up before hitting the animal, for the entry to have covered such a wide area. Or could it have been tumbling in flight and hit the deer side on (as in when you get "keyholing" on a paper target) or even backwards?

 

[jb1]

150SST out of my 30.06 do around 2900, damage is not normally that bad at all, but as you have found, sometimes it happens.

 

[devonair]

Not really willy waving, these are by far the most accurate in my rifle.....

Fair point, no offence meant, sst's were very accurate in mine too but terminal ballistics were not good. Most of my deer are taken sub 100yds so top end accuracy is not needed. I hate waste and was throwing a large amount of bloodshot meat.