I'm currently shooting 168 gr. Win. ballistic Silver tips out of my Winchester .30-06 classic super grade, and am happy with there performance. But, Last week I got myself a box of Remington Scirocco Bonded 150 gr. bullets and they also shot extremely well, I'm sure all of you have heard that on occasion the BST does not hold together espesially when it comes to hitting bone and such. I was wondering if the scirocco bonded bullet performs a little better in this area? (have never hit an animal with one), and if its just a better bullet overall for deer? Ballistically there the same, just want to hear some opinions...

I have used both the Winchester CT 168 gr and the Swift Scirocco 165 gr on deer .The last buck I shot with the 168 CT in a 30-06 broke the the off shoulder before exiting .I have only shot 1 deer with the swift 165 gr .Both bullets preformed perfictly for me . Some of the pore proformances with the BT with 300 mag and up at close range.IMO shoot the bullet that you have more faith in .If you dought a bullet , you may fail brfore you start

Just a quick quesion?

Why not use a soft point factory round on deer, Like the Rem. 165 gr. ?
I have used the soft point on deer for years now and they have allways done the job on deer sized game, and they are cheaper than the Silver Tips , and the Swift bullets.

To each their own, but just woundering if it is becouse they group better than the soft points do. Or if it is becouse of the fact that you want to shoot a prem. type of bullet for deer? I am NOT trying to be a smart a$$ . Just woundering??

hunter338.

I do like to shoot the premium stuff, mostly because they group better, I find that the tip on the soft lead tipped bullets are more often then not inconsistent with the other bullets in the box, I've had a couple missing almost half of the lead tip! polymer tips dont seem to ever have problems like that..And the flater the bullet flys the better! I like bullet to hit where I'm aiming.

GorV, don't let anybody diss you b/c you favor premium vs plain jane for little old deer. I feel the exact same way and it is really cheap in comparison to what I spent each year to hunt. It is an age old arguement which will never be solved...self confidence and experience is all that matters.

If you can get the Scirocco to fly it would be just fine. However other bullets like the Accubond(Nosler) & Hornady Interbond now available will do the same thing - Polymer tip with bonded core just like swifts offerring. However not nearly has hard to load or get flying like the Scirocco. If you buy factory ammo then they should also be cheaper than the rem factory ammo. Hornady load the IB in their Custom ammo line and Nosler Accubonds are loaded in Federal Premium and Winchester Supreme(CT).

Personally I use BT's for deer hunting and never complained once with the job it has done. Basically I think your 168's are a solid choice as well.

Best of luck and shoot what ever floats your boat(as long as it flys good).

Once you are reloading, the cost of bullets should not be the issue, but rather which bullet shoots the best groups at the highest velocity, out of your rifle. Some cartridges take longer to work up the best loads then do others, but once the best load is found, why not stick to that load, even though it may be with the most expensive bullet? 100 rounds per year to keep yourself and your rifle tuned up, would be a lot for a rifle that is used for hunting. If you factor in the total cost of hunting big game, those 100 bullets per year that you would use each year, is not a very important issue, dollar wise, even at $1 per bullet! Sure, for white tail deer, most any garden variety bullet will kill effectively, especially in the east, where shots are usually short. But, why not work up an optimum cartridge, while you are doing all of that reloading. Why not work up a cartridge for all game on which you will use that rifle? If you shoot white tail deer with a bullet capable of taking a bull elk, the white tail deer will not know the difference, but you will be getting ready with each hunt to take a world class trophy, should one present itself, somewhere in your future. The more you shoot the same rifle/cartridge combination, the better you will get, with that rifle. Switching off cartridge loads for different game not only takes up time, in terms of working up a new load and getting used to that new load, but it detracts from your overall skills as a rifleman by causing you to have to shift from one cartridge combo to the next.
I am in the process of working up a load for 7mmWSM in a Winchester M70 Ultimate Shadow. When I am satisfied with my load, I will be ready for any deer type game, from Sika deer up to the largest bull elk. I like that situation.

I have been using the Winchester BST in .270 Win 130 gr. for whitetail deer since they came out, at least 6 seasons. Never had a problem with them. Keep in mind that that ballistic tip bullet was designed for distance, they have a high ballistic coefficient giving them a flatter trajectory and slightly greater retained energy. The bullet was designed to function properly at longer distances when the bullet energy is lower. If 100 yards isn't a close shot for you this is most likely the right bullet. At closer distances the bullet will expand rapidly and make an impressive hole, but the core/base of the bullet will punch through say a deer's shoulder still hitting vitals. If you are a relatively short range hunter and hit bone on a regular basis (and ribs do not count, the bullet will rip right through them without the "explosion" people "talk" about) don't use this round, you don't need it. Is a 1/2 MOA improvement @ 100 yards great if you only shoot 100 yards or less? I have found that at the 250 yard range and up that softpoint solids have a hard time expanding to create an adequate wound channel, hollowpoints will open at ranges over 250 yds. but still not as effectly as at closer ranges and you usually pay the price with a loss in accuracy. In steps the BST, high BC, Boat tailed design. This bullet fills the void, at 250 -300 yards they will drop a whitetail like a rock, dead on the spot if you hit the bread basket, where say a power point or core-loked would not expand as dramatically and they will walk off and die 30 - 40 yards away. Choosing the correct bullet for the game your are hunting and the distances you plan on shooting is as important as choosinmg the rifle you will use, too many folks do not weigh this selection so heavy. If you loaded say a CXP 4 bullet (for extremely heavy game / African safari) and shot a whitetail he would know the differance, the bullet will simply not expand and while the deer will die at some point, he will run quite a ways even with some of the best placed shots. Turn the table, load a CXP 1 (for vermon, super rapid expansion) and shoot an elephant, the bullet would expload causing a superficial flesh wound and you a bad day. The new bonded BST's seem to be created simply to address the folks that say the BST will errupt like c-4 when you hit a deer. If you wanted a bonded BST get the origional CXP3 same thing, it will not expand enough at distance. For closer range I would consider the Fail Safe bullet personally. Good luck.

The ballistic tips are perfect deer bullets if you get a broadside shot. But if you can get the scirroco to shoot, a bonded bullet should perform much better. Lots of good bonded bullets out there. I have shot a bunch of deer in my favorite quarter shot thru the shoulder to the heart at ranges up to 15 yards, and have yet to not get penetration thru that shoulder to the heart. Now at that close of range, the bullet will fall apart some. You got to pick your shots. And realize the bullets weakness's and strengths.

I love the BT, but haven't used them for the past few hunting seasons. I like to play and test out new bullets all the time. My recent favorite is Barnes TSX. Can't wait to see what it does from 15 yards to 200 on deer.