When the Nosler Ballistic tip came out and up until recent times they were known as a quick killer, but many complained they were "soft" and came apart too easily. I never had a problem with these characteristics but put them on the same level as the Sierra bullets being accurate, quick kilers but soft. I preferred the Hornady Innerlock bullets due to performance on game and that they displayed a bullet with a "tougher" construction. In the past few years it seems Nosler has thickened the cups on several models(usually using the same blank to draw cups for different bullets in the same caliber). This produced "tough" bullets like the ever more popular 120gr 7mm BT. These bullets seem to perform better than they should. Recently, I have no clue when, it seems Nosler changed the cup and core shape of the BT and thickened the cup and base which in my opinion is a good thing. I cut a few Accubonds and some 308 cal BT to see the construction recently. I noticed that most of the BT I cut shared the same internal shape as the Accubond. My pictures did not turn out well but this picture was posted on another site so I stole it.
From left to right
7mm 120gr BT, 7mm 150gr BT, 7mm 140gr Accubond, .308 168gr BT, .308 180gr BT
Here is a picture of some Nosler bullets with the older internal shape I was refering to.
You can see in this picture some of what I have been witnessing with my own bullet dissections. The 7mm 120gr Bt has a thick cup and traditional style core. They perform very well on game and are known as a tough bullet. The 7mm 150gr BT has the old style cup and core construction. The Accubond and newer BT has a noticeable different shape. The .308 180gr BT is known to be a tough bullet and has a very good reputation.
I have always been a big fan of 165gr bullets out of my 30-06 rifles. Recently I have been looking at the new 168gr BT and after cutting one apart and seeing it shares the same design characteristics as the well respected 180gr BT I am excited. I hope I can find a load that shoots as well as the 165gr BT and 165gr Accubond and I am expecting it to perform very well. Enough of my babbling, what are your thoughts and observations?
