I have been using 180 grain Ballistic Tips in my .300 mag for years with great sucess. However, last year I bought a new rifle chambered in .260 Remington. I lost 1 deer and alsmost didn't recover one. I never got an exit hole on any of the 3 deer that I shot with it. The main reason I had no trouble with the first one was it was a neck shot at about 75 yards, he dropped like a rock. I recently read an article by Col. Craig Boddington in the current issue of G&A. According to his personal findings, the Ballistic Tip bullet is great for smaller game and varmits "in the smaller calibers", but don't expect pass throughs all the time on larger animals on anything less than a .30 bullet. The Tips in the calibers less than .30 are thin jacketed for violent, rapid expansion, not deep penetration. On the calibers of .30 and above, which are usually for larger game anyway, the jacket is much thicker therefore helping with deep penetration & controlled expansion. This year I'm trying the Remington Premier in Nosler Partition, 125 grains. This factory load chronographed an average of 2850 fps out of a 22" barrel on my rifle and should hold together much better for me. For anyone interested, the name od the article is "Plastic Fantastic?" in the current issue of Guns & Ammo.