The idea behind ballistic tips or silver tips is that the bullet will fragment into pieces upon impact and become more like buckshot as it passes through the deer. The problem with that is the fragments do not have nearly as much penetrating ability as what one solid bullet would have. If you hit the deer in the shoulder then there’s a chance that the bullet with explode on impact and then the meat of the shoulder will absorb most of that penetrating punch from the fragments. Even if you don’t catch a lot of meat the fragments may still not pass all the way through the deer.

I used silver tips in my 30-30 for a while back when I used to shoot a lot more deer than I do now. I always shot deer behind the shoulder and the silver tips would make mush out of the inside of the body cavity….but I would often times find the fragments embedded in the off side rib cage and not get a pass through. That made for several tough tracks where there little to no blood and I quit using them.

I've been super impressed by the fusions. I've shot a bunch of deer with them in a 3030 & 270. My son shot his first with a 7mm08 yesterday.the deer that did run left amazing blood trails. I've yet to have one that didn't exit even on a deer facing straight away with the 3030. I know the Barnes would work well but at twice the cost

I shot a small buck in the throat patch with a 7 mag at maybe 10 yards and the silvertip exploded and didn't exit. It nearly took his head off but that was an eye opener for me. A big buck that close and the same bullet in the shoulder might end up with a superficial wound

Don't like them. My son used to shoot them in a 7mm mag and although he killed the deer, they didn't bleed well.

Not all ballistic tips are created equal.

Ran across this https://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase.html
Lot of reading but interesting to me. Not all factory ammo and not all test on deer but looks well done

I have used them for as long as I can remember. Won't use anything else in my 270 they do the job!

They catch a lot of flack, but I have had great luck with Winchester's Deer Season XP's. I've killed six deer with them and have not had one run yet. They're also more affordable than Winchester Ballistic SilverTips.

130 grain.

I shoot a .300 mag with win ballistic silver tips. They are wicked

No doubt! Shooting a little ole deer with a 300 Win mag,you could probably kill him with a rubber bullet.

I have shot 5-6 deer with them complete pass through on every one and lots of damage all the way through. I would guess you would not get a pass through if you shot directly in the shoulder. But I don't shoot there so they work for me. I like them and my gun likes them.

I shoot the Winchester ballistic silver tips and I really like them and the damage they do.
They’re all I will shoot.


Entry

No reason an entry hole should ever look like that

I believe I have always gotten a pass through with silver tips out of my .270. I am a fan and haven't found any reason to leave them.

I've had great luck for several decades with handloaders Ballistic Tips in my .308. At 2920, you get giant holes and at least part of the bullet will pass through. It really doesn't matter, because they are always DRT or make it only a few yards.

But I would not use them in anything smaller than a .30 caliber. I've seen too many run off with no exit that others used. I hunted for years with a guy who insisted on using them in a .243 and it's a terrible bullet for that round. No telling how many deer I helped him track, and we never found a lot of them. Troy has said they gave mixed results in his .270. And I think even the .30 caliber can fail at velocities above .308/30.06 levels. My uncle lost one on a shoulder shot using a .300 Magnum. I tried to tell him the bullet wasn't designed to go that fast, but he had to find out for himself.

I didn't have a large sample size, but the 30 caliber also was very impressive in a 30/30 Ackley Improved at 2560. I think they would be a good choice in a 30/30 but you would have to handload them.

If I shoot a deer with my .308 it's gonna be a buck and I want him DRT, and I haven't found anything as likely to produce that as a BT. If I am using any other gun, I wanna drill a hole all the way through the deer and plan on probably having to track him. I am gonna try again to kill one with my Colt .45 revolver, and I'll be using a cast bullet that will hopefully pass through. Match the bullet to the gun is my philosophy. Good luck!

Exit wound on a deer shot at 8 yards with a 150g .308 BT:



Entry wound on a deer shot at about 45 yards with same setup:



Exit wound on the same deer:



These pics are nothing unusual and are what I expect from my setup. If a deer ever runs off after I've shot him then I am gonna be sure that I missed. A deer doesn't get away after this kind of damage.

I don’t know what brand bullet he was using but I tracked a big buck for a guy last year that had been shot in the point of the shoulder with a ballistic tip out of 300 mag. He said the deer dropped down on his front side leg nearly to the ground and then spun around and took off. It apparently just exploded on its shoulder and didn’t penetrate well. We tracked it 14 hrs after the shot and jumped it up still alive about 300 yards from the hit site.

Ive shot em since they came out and I high shoulder or neck shoot every deer...and I just drive up to where they dropped in their tracks. Just threaded a needle on a nice buck in the thicket. 8 inch window,..nothing but head and neck. He smelled me snorted,.ran a few steps...gave me that neck and dropped like a turkey.

I like them. Aim at the shoulder and not the lungs. Especially on a mature buck as they will take some lead, especially if theyve been shot before and survived.

HEY! Now you watch that talk!

I love shooting my Winchester Silvertips.