Nosler Etip bullets

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Springville Shooter
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Nosler Etip bullets

Post by Springville Shooter » Sat Sep 10, 2011 10:53 pm

Just wanted to post up the results of some work that I've been doing with Noslers Etip bullets in my 25-06 Ackley. I have been working up a load for my wife to use on an upcoming hunt. Along time ago, I had a custom reticle built for the 100grn Nosler Ballistic tip by Premier Reticles. Since then, I have gone away from these bullets as their construction is not sufficient for the velocity of the Ackley at 3500fps. I tried the Barnes TSX and TTSX but was unable to make up for the lack of BC with the extra velocity that I got from the TSX. I worked up a good load for the Swift Scirocco, but ran into pressure problems before I got to the velocity I needed to match the reticle. Looking at the BC for the Etip, I noticed that it was very close to the Ballistic tip and started working a load. While researching these bullets, I read alot of bad reviews and guys that had lots of problems so I was skeptical. After working up a great load that matches my scope perfectly I can say that if any of you are considering these bullets, never fear, they are great. Two things that I did notice are that they they do build pressure a little faster than other bullets of the same weight, but that I was able to still reach normal velocities before maxing out on pressure. Also, the bullets seem to like being seated a little farther from the lands than most conventional bullets. My final load pushes the 100grn Etip at 3485fps with a 20fps spread at around 58000 psi. 100 yrd accuracy was 3/4 MOA, 200 was 1 MOA, 300 was 1/2 MOA, and 400, 500 were both MOA printing center on the targets with my custom reticle. Nosler has always been my favorite bullet maker, and it looks to me like they have another winner.
"Only accurate rifles are interesting"-----Col. Townsend Whelen

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Re: Nosler Etip bullets

Post by sneekeepete » Mon Sep 12, 2011 8:59 am

Good info Shooter. I have been eyeballing these for a while. I was wondering how long it would be before someone posted about them.
On a different not how much did you pay for that reticle?
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Re: Nosler Etip bullets

Post by Springville Shooter » Mon Sep 12, 2011 9:33 am

At the time I paid $180.00 for the reticle from Premier Reticles. They have since quit making reticles for Leupold scopes. I liked this system because it allowed you to custom design your reticle exactly for your load. I was just unwise and had the reticle designed for the Nosler Ballistic Tip before I realized that these bullets could not hold up to the velocity of the 25-06 even on light game. I have several of these reticles still and hang on to them like gold. I find that they are the fastest holdover system for hunting application and provide very precise aiming points as I got 1/4 MOA dots out to 500yds and 1/2MOA out to 1000. These aiming points allow you to aim at a very small target, or very small spot on a big target which leads to better placed shots.
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Re: Nosler Etip bullets

Post by dahlmer » Mon Sep 12, 2011 2:33 pm

Did you ever mess around with the Acubonds and if so what are your thoughts?

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Re: Nosler Etip bullets

Post by waspocrew » Mon Sep 12, 2011 2:43 pm

That reticle sounds pretty awesome. I've heard about the etips before, but I haven't had the chance to try them either. I'm a big fan of the .25-06. Sounds like you've got a winner with that set up.

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Re: Nosler Etip bullets

Post by Springville Shooter » Mon Sep 12, 2011 4:58 pm

I have killed lots of animals with the Accubond and I would say that it is my favorite bullet. If I could get the 110 to match my scope, I would have never messed with the Etip. I shoot accubonds in my 7MM Dakota as well as my 338 RUM, and 300win. They are #1 hands down in my opinion. Perfect flight, perfect performance everytime. I've killed big game from less than 20 yards to WAY out there and had the same result every time. Perfect one-shot kills.--------SS
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Re: Nosler Etip bullets

Post by dahlmer » Tue Sep 13, 2011 3:18 pm

I wondered if it was just a ballistsics issue as the Accubond is a great bullet. I prefer the partition once it gets to the animal, but the accubond is superior in every other way.

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Re: Nosler Etip bullets

Post by Snake River Marksman » Sun Sep 18, 2011 7:00 pm

There was a little note in the box of E-Tips that said to start with the lowest starting load and not go over the mid load. It also said to seat the bullets .050 to .100 off the lands. These were 180gr 30 cals
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Re: Nosler Etip bullets

Post by Springville Shooter » Fri Oct 21, 2011 8:49 am

Just a follow up on this post.
While my wife was unable to connect with a muley on her hunt, I took the 25-06AI to Idaho with me for some whitetail action and to try out the etip bullets. I shot a nice buck at 298 yards and made a perfect heart shot hitting the pocket just behind the shoulder. The buck hunched up and started to do a stiff-legged walk toward brush. When he paused, I put one through both front shoulders and put him down. The second shot was not needed, but I don't like to take chances. To my suprise, very little meat was lost even on the shoulders, (around five pounds) as the wound channels were pretty narrow, both passing all the way through. The heart and lungs were destroyed from the first shot and the buck was well on his way to the ground before the second shot.

My friend also shot his deer with my 25 due to the longer range shot that we were presented with at a great buck who lived in a clever spot and was very wary. The closest we could get to him was 408 yards and with a great shot from prone position, my friend placed a perfect shot into the chest from a front angle. The bullet actually passed through and grazed the ham on the way out the back door! This deer also stumbled down hill but kept his feet. Again, a second shot put the buck on the ground at 384 yards ensuring that he would not make it to the steep tangled brush at the bottom of the steep draw. Wound channels were that same and very little meat was wasted.

All-in-all I am very happy with these bullets. Even though second shots were taken, they weren not needed to cleanly kill the animals. We are simply very careful to get deer killed and down as quickly as possible to limit any chance of wounding, losing, or allowing them to run to bad terrain. Accuracy of these bullets is very good and the best feature is that they match their BC ratings making them easy to map with ballistic programs. Wound channels were narrower than I've experienced with lead core bullets, but were still plenty sufficient for quick kills with little bloodshot. Fouling in the rifle was equal to all other bullets and I was able to achieve great velocity with these bullets before pressure was a problem. My only hesitation with these bullets would be in using them in slower velocity rifles with the larger bullet weights like a 180grn in 308 Win. I'm not sure that you would get the expansion that I would want in a big game bullet. Seeing that I still have 45 of these loaded and they match my scope perfectly out past big game yardages, I will probably be hunting with them for a while.--------SS
"Only accurate rifles are interesting"-----Col. Townsend Whelen

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Re: Nosler Etip bullets

Post by waspocrew » Fri Oct 21, 2011 11:02 am

Sounds like they work awesome! Congrats on the buck... would love to see a pic!

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