The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

how do you rate 55 grain nosler balistic tips in a 223 for shooting roe deer (legal in Scotland) or what other expanding 55 grains would you recommend.

Sam

I use the Hornady SP 55 gn, accurate, deadly and not too much meat damage. Bambi just drops when hit in the boiler room. I use them in a .222" though not a .223"

Ballistic tips aren't the best thing for deer. They'll do the job but expect plenty of meat damage. You should also expect limited penetration as they are designed to fragment quickly. I'd recommend a soft point instead.

If you look at the Nosler website you will find that the .224 ballistic tips are listed as a varmint bullet and not as a hunting bullet.

Sam,

Ballistic tips is a common term used to describe bullets essentially intended for varmints. Please do not use these on deer as they create massive meat damage and in some cases have been known to create massive shallow wounds that have failed to kill the deer. i believe this is due to deer being thicker skinned and bigger 'bodied' than smaller, softer varmints.

For deer, you need expanding rounds. There expand upon impact, thereby creating a larger hole along the route of the bullet through the body, but retain enough of their mass to create massibe blood loss and organ failure. Like dromia, i use Hornady SPs and also A-Max bullets. Do not use V-Max bullets.

A-Max are target bullets and are not designed to expand so are therefore illegal to use for deer. Yes I know that some people have used them in the past, and that Hornady have previously muddied the waters and caused confusion by suggesting dual use, but this has all be resolved fairly recently.
In this country A-Max are solely regarded as being match (target) bullets. If you have any doubt over the legality of A-Max bullets look back at the previous postings on this site or at the BASC or NRA websites.

In Scotland, a-max aren't legal. In England, they are perfectly legal, please be clear.

Nosler 55 BT will be OK on roe. They work nicely on muntjac and I have never seen a massive amount of expansion. 55 SP will give you less expansion and less meat damage, but you're not losing much on roe anyway, and BTs are more accurate. They've never failed me in terms of penetration on deer, so I think you will be fine with them.

Not precisely 'on topic' but I have found 130g BTs a little too frangible in 270 Win on deer even though the larger calibres are reputed to have a tougher jacket than lighter bullets which I understood to be for vermin (don't quote me...just my understanding there!) ...... lots of meat damage.

I have gone over to Accubonds for both 260 Rem & 270 Win which seem better to me but I am also sure that good old soft-tips would do as well.

"In Scotland, a-max aren't legal. In England, they are perfectly legal, please be clear."

I don't follow your logic Mr_Logic ! How is a bullet that it has now been clearly established isn't designed to expand, legal to use for shooting deer in England and Wales. Surely this is contrary to the Deer Acts?

No of course it's not!

The law in England makes no mention whatsoever of a bullet's intended purpose. There is not a requirement in England to use a bullet that is designed to expand. There is a requirement to use one of soft or hollow nosed construction. Those are the words of the Act.

Any HPBT is legal for use on deer (though a bad plan IMHO). A-max are also legal because they have both a soft and hollow-nose construction - the plastic tip is softer than the copper jacket, so 'soft'. There is also a cavity underneath it, making the bullet hollow nosed.

Clearly, it complies with the terms of the Act in terms of legality. There is a question mark over its suitability and ultimate effects on animals, for some. For me, I think it's a damn fine bullet and it stops rabbits, foxes and munties in a reliable, humane way, without masses of meat damage. I would always recommend its use based on a number of dead animals!