Win Ballistic Silvertips

[SDShooter79]

What are your thoughts on this ammo. I picked up a box at Cabelas today for my 7mm/08. Hoping they group better than core-lokt, but we'll see.

[Hog Buster]

There’s no way of telling if they’ll group better in your rifle than Core-Lokt’s without trying them. However, I will tell you one thing, Winchester ain’t lying about them fragmenting. They damn near explode.

A few years back while Mule deer hunting (180 grain 30/06) I found out just how much. Small hole going in, large hole coming out with bullet fragments thru the entire wound channel. If that’s your bag, then Silver Tip’s your bullet.

[DeerSlayer86]

Depends on what your shooting. They work as advertised, thats for sure. I shot a mulie with a 270 130gr ballistic silvertip a few years ago. It was almost comical how much damage that round did. At about 70 yards baseball sized entrance and the exit wound was easily twice that size. It did the job but it was a little overkill haha. I changed to the barnes tsx after that and prefer that one. Its a beast of a hunting bullet. Go to barnes website and watch the video. Awesome bullet.

[camper4lyfe]

For what it's worth, I use those in my .22-250 for woodchucks. It makes an absolute mess of them.

[30-30remchester]

I dont know that much about them but a gunwriter got one of the first boxes to arrive in 300 Winchester Mag. in 180 grain. He shot a 4 pound porkipine 2 times and the bullet failed to exit on either shot! He the proceeded to shoot an elk with little effect and required many shots and much followup to finally put the animal down. I wish I had saved the article. As to their being as good as the cor-lokts, I couldnt imagining them being any worse. I have had terrible luck with the cor-lokts built after 1970. They desintegrate on inpact for me.

[Wyosmith]

Basically, they are varmint bullets regardless of caliber or weight.
For any game over 50 pounds I'd stay away from them.

[warbirdlover]

I've had excellent luck with coreloks with my .300 Win Mag (150 gr). Deer never went more then 10 yards after being hit. And my brother uses .270 Win 130 gr silvertips and has had same result as me. :)

[BIG P]

They do make ugly wounds.Insides looks like jelly.

[bamaranger]

Pretty sure that a Win Ballistic Silvertip is not much more than a Nosler Ballistic Tip with a Moly coat.

If that's the case, the B. Silvertip/Ballistic Tip is thought by at least one big time writer (Barsness) to be an "ideal" bullet for deer, provided its in a cal/weight intended for big game.

I shot the bullet (as a reload0 for a while in .270/130 and it did not prove massively destructive like some report. It simply produced dead deer like other slugs. I did find it a particularly accurate bullet and stayed w/ it for that reason.

[warbirdlover]

I think bamaranger is correct since Winchester could not use "ballistic" in their product name.

And from what I've seen in their product list they make a hollow point silvertip for varmints and the ballistic tip silvertip for deer etc.

[hooligan1]

If you still have a "grouping" problem, try the Hornady "Custom" ammo it shoots pretty consistant. Handloading the 7mm08 is the way to go but if you need to buy Factory stuff, then try Hornady!:)

[SDShooter79]

Definitely plan to handload, it's just a little late for deer season this year, and I need something that shoots for next month.

[LSnSC]

Ive killed a bunch of deer with em and it seems they are always one of the most accurate factory rounds out of anything Ive used them in.

[SDShooter79]

Shot the silvertips yesterday, andi was pretty impressed. Shot from 1 - 1.5 inches, with my best group being .8 at 100 yards.

[Saltydog235]

I've had great results with BTs though never the moly coated or other monickered variation. For deer the results have been very good. Since September 1 I have shot 4 deer, 3 does and the buck I posted here. 2 with a .243 and 2 with a .308. Nothing has been blown up or destroyed as some report. I also have killed man with my 7mm08 and 150 grn bullets that are all DRT. Remember though, its all about shot placement anyway.

[Wild Bill Bucks]

Been using BT's since they came out. Have shot lot's of deer, yotes, and hogs with them. I have the same results on all of them. Top of a tobasco bottle going in, and bottom of the bottle coming out. Leaves excellent blood trail, that you really don't need if the shot is well placed. Most of the animals harvested with this bullet is DRT.
I don't use anything smaller that a .30 caliber so I can't speak as to the bullet in lesser calibers, but in the .30 cal, there is nothing out there that works any better. My velocities are around 2800 fps with hand loads, and they don't fragment at that speed, but I have heard that if the bullet is driven faster than that, it has a tendency to fragment, but that gets into doing the research required before loading your own rounds for any caliber.
As for me, I could not be happier with them.

[jimbob86]

I am not sure if that is the same bullet as the "Winchester Silvertip" of 20 years ago ...... but my experience with those was not the best at short range/very high velocity in .270 WIN. Large shallow wound, and bullet fragments everywhere.

[Big Pard]

Pretty sure that a Win Ballistic Silvertip is not much more than a Nosler Ballistic Tip with a Moly coat.

If that's the case, the B. Silvertip/Ballistic Tip is thought by at least one big time writer (Barsness) to be an "ideal" bullet for deer, provided its in a cal/weight intended for big game.

I shot the bullet (as a reload0 for a while in .270/130 and it did not prove massively destructive like some report. It simply produced dead deer like other slugs. I did find it a particularly accurate bullet and stayed w/ it for that reason. +1

[Saltydog235]

I am not sure if that is the same bullet as the "Winchester Silvertip" of 20 years ago ...... but my experience with those was not the best at short range/very high velocity in .270 WIN. Large shallow wound, and bullet fragments everywhere.

I've found that BT's give the best result running in the 2500-2800 fps MV range. Any higher than that they can and do have tendancy to blow up. However, I was suprised that the 90grn I used to take the buck last Saturday held togther or appeared to from the exist wound. There was very little shrapnel in the shot area and it was all through bone. That one was running 3200-3300fps.

[GeauxTide]

SaltyDog said it best. Most standard bullets at impact velocites of 3000fps+ make a mess. If you're under, like the 7-08, most will do fine. My own choice is Hornady Interlock SP.

[FrankenMauser]

I dont know that much about them but a gunwriter got one of the first boxes to arrive in 300 Winchester Mag. in 180 grain. He shot a 4 pound porkipine 2 times and the bullet failed to exit on either shot! He the proceeded to shoot an elk with little effect and required many shots and much followup to finally put the animal down.

That's just stupid. Winchester and Nosler both warn shooters that the Ballistic Tip is not designed for tough game. Increasing the velocity of the bullet just makes things worse (a bullet designed for the .30-06, loaded in .300 Win mag).


Pretty sure that a Win Ballistic Silvertip is not much more than a Nosler Ballistic Tip with a Moly coat.
I think bamaranger is correct since Winchester could not use "ballistic" in their product name.
Bamaranger was more correct than people are giving him credit for (though, still a bit off).

Winchester owns the patent for the "Lubalox" coating (it's not a Moly coating).
Nosler owns the Ballistic Tip.
The two companies partnered up for the "Combined Technology" line of component bullets and ammunition. Since Winchester wanted the Lubalox bullets to be differentiated from standard Ballistic Tips, and have some type of name reminiscent of their classic ammunition, they went with "Ballistic Sivertip".

It's a Nosler Ballistic Tip with a special (grey) tip, and Winchester's proprietary "Lubalox" coating. You may experience some velocity and POI differences, but terminal performance will be identical to the "plain" Nosler version -- it's the same bullet.

[MOshooter65202]

Years ago I shot a deer with a 150gr. nosler ballistic tip with a 7mm Rem. mag :eek: LOL I'll never do that again!
What a mess! I hit the deer right behind the shoulder,that bullet blew up inside that deer all the internals were mush! I have always used the nosler partitions after that field dressing :D

[bamaranger]

The "Winchester Silvertip" of 20 yrs ago, and the "Ballistic Silvertip" are not the same bullet.

In fact the "old" Silvertip is a bit hard to find these days, least in my area. Its nose cap is tin or alloy or some such. The "new" ballistic version is made from polymer space plastic. Costs about 5x as much too!

[jgcoastie]

Ballistic Tips/Silvertips work great on deer if you stick to neck shots. In magnum cartridges, you'll have explosive results with a lot of meat damage if you take body shots.

In a non-magnum big-game cartridge, you'll have good results with neck shots, and a little less meat damage on body shots than you'd get with the magnums.

I would not recommend using Ballistic Tips/Silvertips on any game bigger than whitetails.

[Kreyzhorse]

I gave up on Core Lokts a few years ago and made the switch to Winchester Ballastic Tips. First, I never had any issues with the Core Lokts regarding their accuracy or their function on an animal. After hunting with a buddy who used Ballastic Tips, I saw just how much dirtier the Core Lokts were than the Ballastic Tips so I decided to give a box a try and see how they ran in my gun.

After running a few Ballastic Tips through my Savage, I found that my 7mm Rem Mag really liked them and they are very accurate. As far as their use on deer and antelope, they have performed well with several dead deer and antelope to their credit. None ran any further than 40 yards and a few died where they stood.

In my experience, they seem to be a little more accurate through my Savage but they won't save you from making a bad shot either. They perform well on game but then I've never had a problem with Core Lokts either.

My suggestion is buy a box and see how you and your gun like them. They may or may not be worth the extra cash to you.