Been thinking about this for a couple of days now.

Didn't need another gun but wanted something with a synthetic stock. Ended up with a remy 700 in .308 a couple of months ago. Anyway after several range sessions found it liked to shoot the win 168g ballistic silvertips. Consistent 5 shot touching groups. Never used this ammo hunting before but because it shot so well in this gun, this was my ammo of choice for opening day. Took a center of neck shot on deer facing me at 105yds, which flipped her over and never moved.

While the bullet did it's job as far as killing the deer, it seems like it exploded when it hit the spine so there was no exit wound. I used to shoot core-lokts out of my 30-06 and I was always comforted by a decent exit wound. I guess my worry might be that I hit bone on a future shot and the bullet fails to carry on to vitals leaving a wounded deer out in the woods.

Does any one have an opinion/experience with this round as a hunting round. Is my experience normal and is my worry realistic or am I over thinking this? Would any of you look for another round or stick with what seems to shoot the best out of this gun.

The Win Ballistic Silvertip bullet is made by Nosler and is a rebadged Ballistic Tip. So it should be quite accurate. And it will expand violently on impact and likely not penetrate deeply in comparrison to premium bullets. The violent expansion will tend to destroy more edible meat too, if that bothers you.

I believe, as do many gunwriters, that this bullet is a fine choice for game up to hog- and deer-size, but if you choose it for bigger animals like elk, you need to be careful and take only broadsize lung shots.

If your gun likes the round, go right ahead and use it here in Texas. Its a fine choice.

Just don't try and shoot through the shoulder blade.

Thanks for the feedback dawaba. My experience pretty much mirrors your description. I'm going to try it on hogs, hopefully this week, and see how it does . I'll likely continue to use the round at least for a while to try and let it become more proven to me with consistent kills.

That's one of the first thoughts that came to my mind.

YEP!

I have seen the balistic silver tips fail multiple times in 180gr 300win.

My cousin shot a HUGE buck in the face, I mean right under the left eyeball and the bullet didnt even penetrate the skull. There was an entry wound and NOTHING else.

He then loaned his gun to another guy and he lost a hog and a buck while aiming for the shoulder, one of which I was sitting in the blind and witnessed the bullet make impact. All I saw was and explosion of hair on the bucks shoulder and it ran off with what looked like a broken leg....WTF?

Bad box of ammo??...he bought some more of them from a different store and we had the same results on hogs through the summer, even checked the lot numbers on the boxs.

Also depending on which grain BT you are using yoi might want to try Accubonds most of my rifles shoot both same POI.

I guess people get different results. I shot a deer that was looking at me right on the nose, with a 300 Win Mag 165BT. His eyeballs went 15 yards forward. Total explosion of the head, gross but effective.

Splash, the Ballistic Tip bullet has worked just fine for me for several hundred deer (mostly in my 270). I shoot em in the lungs and they rarely run far. The bullet does open up fast, so I try to avoid leg/shoulder bones and frontal quartering shots. And like someone else mentioned, that isn't the bullet I'd use on elk. I did however use it on a 400 pound boar hog once, and it put him down quite well, though it didn't exit the hog.

Most problems with the Ballistic Tip or the Ballistic Silvertip are due to poor bullet placement rather than the bullet itself.

I wouldn't say poor shot placement just poor for the bullet used.

My typical shot on a hog is in or just behind the ear. Hopefully this will work although a previous poster indicated it won't penetrate the skull. I'm sure to find out. Where did you hit the 400 lb'er?

I'll have a look at them next range session.......Thanks

BT are great bullets IMO for long range or when not pushed hard. 7mm 140's started at 2600 fps rarely stay in a deer on a broadside shot even if shot through the shoulder at less than 100 yards, take the same bullet and run it at 3200fps and it behaves a lot differently. They seem to me to work best with impact velocity between 1900fps and 2500fps, which works well at long range in the fast steppers

For the most part I have switched to Siroccos or Accubonds in the faster stepping rounds but will still continue to use the BTs in shorter barreled rifles where I run them starting at 2600fps and the handguns chambered for rifle cartridges.

Other that the coating they are identical to the Ballistic tips. have used them on deer from the 25-06 and they work great

Splash, that 400 pound hog was the very first hog I ever shot. I had no idea where to shoot him. He was only maybe 60 yards from me. I remember thinking that maybe I shoulda brought more gun. I finally decided to shoot him behind the shoulder, though I had heard that there was a thick gristle plate in that area. So...I let him have it right behind the shoulder and down he went. The reason I was so nervous was that the rancher had told me that if I saw that big hog, to please shoot him but for heavens sake don't just wound him. If I wounded him WE would be tracking him in the thick brush. I had a BAR in 270, so I would have had a quick backup shot or two if he didn't go down fast. The Ballistic Tip I was using back then was the first generation version, with the thinner jacket. It worked just fine at about 3000 fps and partially penetrated the gristle layer on the other side of the hog.

I'm thinking that the Accubond is probably a better bullet, but the truth is that I don't need a better bullet. I've shot more than 200 and less than 300 whitetail deer with that bullet and (going on memory) I don't think that I've lost one due to poor bullet performance. I've missed a few due to poor shooter performance.

Country,

Great story and thanks for the feedback. I can almost picture your thoughts on that first hog!

i shoot the 120 grain bt in my 25-06 kill hogs,deer,you name it my gun realy likes the load i will agree not in shoulder if you want to eat it it will destroy the shoulder

Nosler states that the original ballistic tip has been improved with a thicker jacket (some years ago)...and that they developed the accubond which is a premium controlled expansion bullet with the same tip.

I believe most of the bad rep is will earned specially on short range shots in magnum calibers. Where the high impact velocity rips the bullet apart. I shot three whitetails with early ballistic tips with shoulder shots, the bullets all desintegraed, by the way, killing very effectivelty. But I too like an exit wound.

I have not used ballistic tips much since then, but switched to accubonds, in march I shot an aoudad at 300yrds with my .300win mag...it worked perfectly...I will keep using accubonds

I shoot a 30-06 with 125 Nosler BT and they do a great job of taking down deer. True in most cases there is no exit but so far tracking has been very short trip (50 yds or less) with most shots DRT.

This is correct, and John Barsness and other gunwriters have verified that NBTs for hunting (not varmint NBTs) do indeed have stouter jackets nowadays. And if there is a better bullet for deer-sized game, I haven't seen it.

Now, if you move up to, say, 500 lb animals, I think you might be asking the bullet--and any other C and C bullet of similar construction-- to do a little more than what it was designed for. Here, you're getting into Accubond and Partition territory.

Didn't do enough damage for me...changed to Hornady ST

This is the entrance hole. No exit bullet blew up on hide at 200 yrds. last time i will use BT . I dont like injecting lead into anything i am going to eat. Barnes only now

Sorry, left for overseas. The above entrance wound is/was similar to what I experienced on the doe's neck. I assumed it exploded on her spine because the spine was severed but it probably started upon initial impact. Pretty devastating entrance wound but of course the worry is when it hits bone like a shoulder will it carry on. Looks like both shots gave a drt result. Since this thread has shown mixed opinions on the bullet. I'm going to continue using the ammo I have and make a decision to buy more once it's proven to me (or not).

WOW....dwoo what caliber was that pronghorn shot with?


The misshaps with BST that I mentioned having were in .300win 180gr Balistic silver tips, looks like the same thing but our failed to produce lethal results....except for a head shot.

7mm mag Funny that is exactly the same question the guide had when we flipped him over to take pics. He ran about a hundred yards with that hole in him. Antelope aren't known to be very tough. Ballistic tips look good on paper but I wouldn't recommend them as a hunting bullet