Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

I decided to try the Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips this fall in my .243. I sighted them in at groups around an inch. I had to try them out on grounhogs Sunday and killed two with amazing performance. This first one was virutally gutted by the shot, the second had a good size hole blown out the side of the neck.

I just hope this round will maintain enough shape to bring down deer suffciently. It is the only round that comes up for deer on Winchester's cartridge selection utility.

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

I will take a good bonded bullet like the Hornady's any day over a ballistic tip........JMHO based on seeing a number of deer lost with ballistic tip bullets. Good luck.

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

As long as your shots are broadside you will be o.k. The 243 develops around 3000 fps with this bullet, so close shots need to definitely in the heart/lung area. Don't shoot a deer in the shoulder at close range. Once your out past 100 yards the bullet has shed enough velocity that it will maintain its integrity better and penetrate deeper. I prefer the Federal Premium 100 gr. Nosler Partition load the the load you are using for deer.

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

I have used the Winchester ballistic tips before and do not like them. They are accurate, but they are unpredictable when they hit an animal. I would try the Wichester fail safe of Federal premium Nosler Partition.

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

Was that the 243 load you used?

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

DITTO!

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

FWIW- I found this on Nosler's website:

CT Ballistic Silvertip bullets are aerodynamically efficient, impact extruded, boattail designs made expressly to maximize long-range bullet stability and accuracy. In varmint weights they are constructed for instantaneous, violent expansion on varmints. In hunting weights, jackets have been thickened and cores hardened to blend generous expansion with judicious penetration-ideal for light and medium game at extended ranges.

"Judicious Penetration?"

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

I read an article in one of my magazines about a guy using a .243 and 6mm rifles for deer hunting and he talks about shot placement as being more important than the cal of round. He said with a .243 he was told by a vet to aim behind the sholder, then move forward 4" and aim in the middle of the neck. He said you either miss the deer completely, or you break its neck and it drops instantly. I'll try to find the article so you can reference it. I'm not saying that I necessarily agree with this guy, but htough it was interesting. He also says you need to be able to shoot accurately.

Also, I think its the Outdoor Life magazine this month talks about the different bullets and they use a ballistic buffalo made out of wet paper and plywood to judge expansion, penetration, and weight retention, and accuracy. Excellent article. A must read.

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

You will find pretty much a love'em or hate'em school of thought when it comes to ballistic tip bullets.I personally do not like them because despite being generally very accurate bullets I find that they fragment too easily and over expand which causes excessive meat damage and hurts their ability to pentrate deeply. As others have said this is even more of a problem with close range high velocity impacts. I am also particularly leery of them in light weight versions like those you would be using in a 243. Common sense tells you that if these things fragment and shed weight rapidly then it would be better if the bullet started out heavier rather than light.

However if you always wait for a perfect broadside shot and then place your bullet behind the shoulder in the front half of the ribcage you will probably be okay. The problem is that this isn't always the shot youwill bepresented with and shot placement isn't always perfect either. I like a bullet that I feel confident will drive through a shoulder on a quatering to me shot if a mature monster steps into view. Of all the wounded and lost deer that I have heard of; had first had knowledgeof; or been directlyinvolved within the last 5 years I bet ballistic tips have been involved in 75 percent of the cases.

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

Winchester does have 100 gr power points for a .243 also.They work a little better in brush country,and do not fragment like ballsitics.With that said Among all of my friends and me there have been approximately 30 deer taken with the ballsitics.With only one deer being wounded and getting away.I have had great success with those power points in my 30-06.The ballsitics are very accurate,fast,and powerful.They do tear up alot of meat.They will deflect if they hit something.They may expand to rapidly in larger magnums like the 300WSM.But they do so much damage,it is hard for an animal to recover from them.I always go for the shoulders,and have gotten complete pass throughs with the ballistics.No shoulder meat,but I get the deer.I have shot deer in the shoulders with power points,and 80% of the time it will hang up right under the skin on the opposite side.That tells me he took the whole hit.I like that too.The power points are cheaper,and you can find them at almost any gas station.No wasted energy.If you hit him in the shoulders he will be within 30yds of where you shoot him.;)

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

I have never killed anything with 243 ballistic silvertips, but 270 and 300 WSM have performed flawlessly for me. My son and I have killed a total of 15 deer and NUMEROUS hogs and coyoteswith them and not one has taken a step. Every bullet has completely passed through whether shoulder or neck shots. We have killed at ranges from 30 yards to 300 yards with the same results. I havesighted in my 243 with ballistic silvertips and have had great range results out to 250 yards. I personally would not be afraid to hunt with them.

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

I used them two seasons ago. They are the most accurate bullet I have ever shot out of my rifle (.270). However, I did not really are of them when it came to knock down power and meat damage. I literaly blew a doe's head off when I shot her in the neck. It cut her whole neck in 1/2.

JMO- If I were shooting a .243 for deer, I would want a bonded bullet. My uncle shoots Cor-Lockt and he loves them. However, he did loose a monster a few years back. JMO- I would go with a 308 over a 243 for deer.

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

I have taken over 200(I hunt in two states,90% of these were bucks)deer in the past 21 years of hunting.During the last 5 years all my deer have been take with either 30-06 150 grain BST or 270 130 grain BST.Most of the deer have dropped in their tracks,even when my shot was a little off.The most a deer(only one)has traveled after being shot with a BST was about 40 yards.I have tried Seirra Game Kings,Core-loks,Fail-Safe,etc.Once I tried the BST I was sold.You will not get as many pass thru's but you will find your deer in their tracks or close by.Using the BST I have killed deer from six yards to 275 yards.I think it is because the BST use most of their enegry in the deer.If you think you need a bullet that will travel thru a deer use another bullet,but if you want to get your deer instead of a 200-300 blood trail use a shoot-thru type bullet.By the way thedeer I shot at six yards did not pass thru but fell in his tracks.

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

Thanks guys,from this forum and other resourcesI have found on the internet, I haveenough confidence to give them a try this fall. If they work well enough on deer, then this round will keep me from having to re-sight every time I go from deer to varmints.

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

I see that you have already decided to use the Ballistic Silver Tips. If you are confident in them, then good luck this season. I used the 130 grain BST in my 270 WSM last year and shot a doe at 70 yards. It was a broadside shot and I shot her a little farther back than I wanted to, right in the liver. She took off running and dropped 200 yards away. When I cleaned her, I noticed that the bullet passed completely through her without expanding much at all. The exit hole was about 3/8" big. There was a neat, small hole through her liver also. The bullet did not hit a rib on the way in which may have contributed to it not expanding well. I am going to try them again this year as there are not a lot of choices for this caliber being used for Whitetail. I think the Fail Safe and the Accubond are a bit of overkill. I will give it a second chance but my confidence is a little shaky.

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

Wow, of all things good and bad I have heard about Ballistic Silver Tips, I have never heard of someone saying that they DIDN'T expand. Maybe that was a fluke, as I have seen them expand on groundhogs even though they are deer loads. Good luck this fall!

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

StrutnBPS
How big was this doe that you decapitated? I killed 2 doeslast year with 150 gr BST out of my 300 WSM both were neck shots and both were around 80 yards,but I didn't get near the damage you are describing. Both these does were mature animals that weighed in around 130 lbs.

I agree with the recommendation that a larger caliber would be better than 243.I have killed several deer with a 243, as have my kids and my grandfather, but Iprefer a 270 over 243 for deer-size game.

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

The doe that I shot was rather small, 100lbs. I normally don't shoot deer this small at all, it was a weird set of cirumstances. I had been patterning this really nice 10pt all year that year through cam pics and scouting. One of his trails crossed a road, walking through a old loading clearing (logging).

I got out of the stand one morning and was heading home and passed by the old clearing. When I got to where I could see it, ole Mr. 10pt was standing there. I passed the clearing like I never seen him and stopped about a 1/4 away. Got out (this was still our land) and tried to circle around him b/c I knew just where he was going.

I didn't make it, he beat me, so I decided to go back to the truck. On the way out, I walked to the clearing to check it out. When I got to the edge of a briar bed, a deer jumped up 25 yards from me. Being so excited, hopeing it was the buck, I put the cross hairs on its neck and fired. (I will never do this again and shouldn't have that time). When I walked up to the deer, it was a doe that weighed around 100lbs. I hit her in the middle of the neck. I was stunned by the amount of blood EVERYWHERE. All over the ground, trees, her body. It was quite a "murder" scene.

When I bent down to pick her up, I noticed that her head was hanging on by her windpipe and a little bit of hide. The BST completely blew her spine and meat in 1/2.

I am not saying its a bad bullet, I was just stating MY opinion about it. As I also stated, the BST is the most accurate bullet I have ever shot out of my rifle. At 200yds I put three bullets in the same hole with the entire hole only being the size of a dime.

A .243 will kill a deer, don't get me wrong. My uncle kills 20+ deer a year and all he shoots is a .243. He has killed 200lb+ deer with it. I just like having a little heavier bullet and again, JMO- I think that if a person wants a deer rifle with no recoil (kids, women) or men that like no recoil, that a .270 or .308 is a better choice b/c of the heavier bullet.

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

Well, the rifle choice is a done deal. So I am working out the load choice. From what I have read, .243 is plenty. And if you can kill deer with it as a youth, why can't you kill deer with it when you are older!

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

You can kill a deer with a .243 or you can kill them with a 50cal. sniper rifle. Dead is dead. I just like having a heavier bullet. I also think that we owe it to the animals to use a weapon, bullet, shot placement that produces the least amount of suffering as possible.


All it amounts to is comfort and confidence in what you shoot and personally, I would not feel comfortable nor confident in shooting deer with a .243. That doesn't mean you feel the same.:)

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

I would think that you'd get about the same performance with a 95 gr BST in 243 as you would a 130 gr BST in 270.

The 100 gr 243 and 130 gr 270 have the same sectional density, and nearly identical velocity. With identical bullet design, they should do about the same to a deer.

Addressing the 5 grain difference when moving down to 95 gr BST: Since ballistic tips are so explosive, and a 270 has a larger diameter, it should open up to a larger diameter than the 243. Therefore, an expanded 130 gr 270 would have less sectional density than an expanded 100 gr 243. Because of this, I'd think that expanded 95s and 130s would have about the same sectional density.

All in all, you shouldn't notice a difference between the two on whitetail. Good luck...you should have a very dead deer.

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

Do yourself a huge favor and switch to Hornady Interbonds. I've shot deer with the Interlock(your basic lead bullet), the SST(pretty much Hornady's Ballistic Tip), and the Interbond. The interbond is pretty much a blend of the strength of the Interlock with the accuracy and aerodynamics of a polymer tip. the Hornady Interbond is probably one of the best overall bullets on the market. Read one of the last issues of Field and Stream ,they had a very good in depth look at the major bullets on the market today.This is the article paco is talking about.

I've had the interbond go through through both shoulders, so i really can't tell you how much weight it retained. i've had pass throughs with interbonds on every shot. The one time i found an Interlock was when it almost went completely through a deer lengthwise and i found it stuck under the hide. I didn't think the SST's that i recovered from deer and the ground behind my targets retained weight well enough. Use those for smaller deer, pronghorn, or varmints. I don't know if they make the interbond for .243 or not, but if they don't, I'd go to an interlock or something stronger than a ballistic tip. Oh, and about 1" groups, I'll say this: For 95% of hunters, 1" groups don't mean crap. As long as you can for sure put the bullet in the chest area at the ranges you'll be shooting at, you're fine. For some reason(and they did a study on it in F&S), the .270 Win(my caliber of choice), just doesn't group wortha damn. It won't make sub-MOA. i really don't spend time tightening groups. I'd be more concerned about trying to make shots in the wild that aren't off a bench, like moving shots and shots in cover.

slayer

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

AGREE!

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

I consider them indespensible during deer season. I shoot an -06 and shoot the 150's from the stand on the edge of a big field or the 165's/168's all other times. The 40+ deer I haveshot with these bullets have probably moved a COMBINED distance of 25 yards. They just usually fall over in a heap - dead as a doornail. Headshots, neckshots, lungers, heart - no matter....just flop and one or two kicks of the legs. To be honest I have also loaded Speer, Sierra and Hornady not to mention Nosler partitions and have had good performance - but a trip to Wyoming in 1991 for muleys got me into long range thinking and I have never looked back I am interested in the Accu-bonds from Nosler but have never shot them....considering how devastating the ballistic tips are I really see no resaon.

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

I own a 270 WSM (win M70 Super shadow. I have killed 3 deer an 1 elk with it. all 3 deer were shot with 130gr BST's. The Elk was shot with 140gr Failsafe. In the case of the Deers (2 Whitetail 1 muley) they dropped like sacks of potatoes. I mean not so much as a step. The shots were between 75 and 100yards in all cases. The bullet was very effective, very little meat loss. Also, I have not found a more accurate round in my 270WSM than the 130gr. BST's. Some guns have a thing about liking a particular bullet & load. The 270 wsm likes them. Not so much the 140 failsafes. All the animals I shot at are dead though. But at the range, the 140 is not nearly as accuarate

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

One other thing that I forgot to post on here about the BTs is that I LOVED the flat shooting. I would zero my rifle in at 50 yards and out to 200, i wouldn't have to adjust. I've never shot another bullet out of my rifle that done this. I wonder why this certian bullet type done this?

The comment about group shooting, I can't remember if its in this post or another.-- Well, I am different on that. I want to know EXCATLY where my bullet is going to go when I squeeze it off. I don't want to play a guessing game of aim an inch high or an inch to the left....or squeeze it off on the X and it hit the Y. ;)

I take pride in my scope setting. If I miss, its not b/c of my scope. Its me. Unless it worked lose or I dropped it of course.

RE: Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips
 

It means crap, and alot more. If a rifle is capable of 1" groups or less, then that's what it should be sighted in to do. There are too many other variables introduced in the woods not to go out with your best set-up. One inch off at 100 yards on the range can be a miss at 125-150 yards in the woods. One must consider rain, wind, elevation variances, changing sunlight, temperature etc, etc.
You owe it the animal to get your best group!