I have used the 150 grain ballistic tip in the 308 and 30-06 for several years. I am sure some of you have used the 165 and 180 grain bullets as well. How do the hevier bullets in the Ballistic tip line perform on Large deer and or Elk?

I have taken 8 elk and 2 moose with the 180gr ballistic tip out of my 300ultramag.So far only one bullet has been recovered and after passing through both shoulders of an elk it was found lodged in the hide.The remaining bullet weighed over 111gr.

The minimal, at hunting ranges, improvement you get from boattails isn't worth the increased chance of the bullet shedding it core. Flat based bullets are more than sufficient for trajectory, and better designs for remaining in one piece.

I've used 165 grain ballistic tips to take two deer. One doe and one decent sized buck. They worked very well. The 165s don't damage as much meat as the 150s do, which I used prior to that. Both were one shot kills and both shots passed completely through the animals.

Thanks. I think I will give the hevier bullets a try next season. I have not had a failure with the 150's but they do quite a bit of damage. I try other bullets but seem to come back to the Ballistic tips again and again. I do use the partitions a lot as well.

I have used Nosler CT 168 gr ( a BT with Lubalox coating ) for several years on deer .
I have had no problems .
I recovered a bullet from just under the skin of the ham of a deer that had entered thru the brisket ,it was perfictly mushromed. It is the first 1 i have recovered.

That should be listed at snopes under "urban legend"

But the boat tail is a lot easer to start in a case.
With less chance of bullet heel damage.
And the boat tail "LOOKS" faster

yeah, I agree, Im tired of hearing on here how "unstable" the ballistic tips are. I am slowly switching all of my hunting rifles over to them (as I use up all of my old stuff) I dont think these guys who slam them, actually use them, they just read stuff or hear from friends quotes like this.

I load the bullet that I can achieve the best accuracy with. I use Sierra, Hornady, Remington and Speer. The only real reason I don't load Nosler's are the price. As far as hunting at realistic ranges I noticed no difference in trajectory between bt's and fb bullets. However when shooting at ranges past 3-400yds the heavier bt's definitely have the edge.