Winchester Silver Ballistic Tips?

[IdahoSmitty]

Does anyone have any pros and cons on the winchester sbt? I have taken a few deer without fail, but on a few bears that I have shot, I have not been to impressed. I just wanted to hear some different opinions. I have heard both good and bad. I'm thinking hard about changing my bullet but am undecided about if the win. sbt's are good/bad. I bought a Tikka T3 light chambered in .300 WSM. I bought this gun so I could be very versatile with one gun. Now I am not so sure about the Ammo. I shoot the Win. SBT very straight but some of the shots I have put on a few bears, I did not get the result I wanted. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks , smitty

 

[sageadvice]

Hi smitty, i used them for a couple years in my 280 Ackley at over 3200 FPS. They certainly killed the deer alright, almost too good. There was extensive damage, both entry and exit, though not hitting any significant bone structure, holes where extremely big.

Personally, i like a bullet that opens quickly but i feared that these BST's were not quite stout enough for my needs so i went on to the Accubonds by Nosler. These do also open up readily enough and make big exit wounds but they have the wherewithal to hold more together and bust thru bone if needed, before exiting and leaving that much appreciated blood trail. So far, two muley bucks and a lope, there has been no need for tracking.

Good luck in your search!!

Joey

 

[REDDOG]

SBT's are nothing more than Nosler ballistic tips. I have only used them in a 6/06 and 257wby, both of those carts put serious strain on a bullet, and as expected, the aftermath was graphic...however I was getting full penetration on deer and lope, that tells me they would be a great match for a cart with less velocity.

The 180 BT in 30 cal is a pretty stout bullet, are you shooting 165 or 180's?

 

[IdahoSmitty]

I'm shooting 180's. I shot the 150's for a few years and decided to go to the 180's in hopes of it making a big differenced on a bear. I did a search on here and found many people like the accubonds. Do you guys stick with one bullet for everything? and by the way thanks for the info. Smitty

 

[REDDOG]

LAST EDITED ON Jun-21-10 AT 02:03PM (MST)[p]

Any of the bonded bullets will give you the performance ur after (interbond, sirocco,accubond,A-frame, trophy bonded ect..) Mono's are also great, like Barnes, Hornady GMX, Nosler E-tip..then there's the old standby partition.

I normally stick to one bullet per gun, if my needs change, i grab a different gun. I realize this isnt an option for many people. in ur case, i'd load up a premium like on of the ones mentioned, dial it in and stay with it for everything...that would mean 180 or 200 in a 30 cal mag (except a mono, I'd pry stick a 168 in the WSM).

 

[IdahoSmitty]

Thanks Reddog, I'm excited to try something new. Hopefully I'll start reloding soon and in that case I'll probably have to pick your brain some more. Again thank you, Smitty

 

[feddoc]

I used them for one season on Mule Deer. Tore up too much meat and went with Barnes TSX. Deer still dead and I have more meat for the freezer.



Compromise, hell! ... If freedom is right and tyranny is wrong, why should those who believe in freedom treat it as if it were a roll of bologna to be bartered a slice at a time?

 

[IdahoSmitty]

Thanks freddoc,

That's kinda my take on these bullets. I to have shot a few deer and a few bear with these. On deer they seemed to tear them up pretty good. On bear they seemed not to do enough. By that I mean I have had to do some tracking for a while with no blood trail and then find that I made a shot that should have done the job. By no means am I a professional or had much experience with bullets, I basically just picked up a box and it shot great out of my tikka so I hunted with them. I think that I will try a different bullet like suggested above and see how they shoot through my gun. More meat in the freezer sounds great! Thanks, smitty

 

[Huntnfever]

I used them in a 7mm mag think they were 180 but i cant remember i shot a few deer and a elk had no problems loosing meat or tracking. It also depends on where you shot them at a well placed shot can do wonders for saving meat. Shot a whitetail doe with it and all i had was 200 grain elk loads, lucky for me i hit her in the neck.

has anyone seen my kittie