Originally Posted By: joshm28
Here's a good rule of thumb

Muzzle Velocity above 3300fps = Mono Bullets

Muzzle Velocity between 3000-3299fps = Bonded Bullets

Muzzle Velocity below 3000fps = any big game bullet


Of course this is MY rule of thumb and based on MY research and real world testing. But...there is a lot of truth to the above. The faster the bullet the more violent the entry. At 3300+ the Ballistic Tips have a higher probability of coming apart too quickly. At .308 speeds, or equivalent they can be absolutely devastating. Choose your bullets based on speeds in which you are pushing them.


I agree completely with your conclusions, though all of my experience with bullets faster than 2920 is based on what other people were using. I don't own any rifles faster than a .308 or 30/06. I have never hunted game bigger than deer and I don't hunt where I can see over 400 yards, so I have no use for anything bigger. My uncle had his 300 Magnum for a caribou hunt, and I think he developed a flinch from shooting the thing and has never been a good shot since.

The first deer I shot with a NBT was sometime in the early 90s. I saw a buck walking across a cutover at 180 yards and had to take a quick shot before he got across. He went out of sight at the shot and I didn't know if I had even hit him until I got there. I caught him high in the shoulder and had a fist sized entry with a small exit. I wish I had made a pic; it was the most devastating wound I've ever seen from any gun. A deer has no chance of surviving a hit like that.

So I then loaded some 120g NBT to shoot out of my 7x30 Contender at 2400 fps. I killed several deer with it, and then lost one of the biggest bucks I've ever seen on our place. He was directly facing me when I shot him, and I tracked blood the rest of the day and never recovered him. I switched to a 130g bonded bullet after that and never lost another one. If I'd been using that to start with I have no doubt the deer would have dropped on the spot.

An NBT is a great deer bullet in 30 caliber below 3000, but it's a bad choice in dinky calibers or at higher speeds.

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