Due to location of a statement on the Nosler web site proclaiming thickened jackets and harder cores many, including myself included, believed this was only in reference to the Ballistic Silver Tip. This is not the case.

I called Nosler today to cross reference load advice from Hodgdon Powder using H4350 with the 180gr BallisticTip that has been moly coated in my .300WSM. It occurred to me to ask how much the Ballistic Silver Tip had been improved over the std Ballistic Tip. The answer is that they are identical with the exception of the lubalox coating on the Ballistic Silver Tip and the color of the tips. The statement on thicker, tougher jackets and harder cores refers to all Ballistic Tips and Ballistic Silver Tips, with the exception of the varmint bullets.

I am glad to clear the confusion for myself and anyone else who misinterpretted the info on Nosler's website.

Thanks - myself I wish they would just leave alone as for those of us who shoot small deer from old non hypervelocity cartridges they are about perfect.

When did this upgrade happen. This year ? I had liked there accuracy but had several bad experiences with the older ones. I quit using them a couple of years ago because of this.
Just a note I'm finding that the local gun shops are finding Nosler hard to deal with and have quit carrying all there products.

Not being much of a hunter,i do not have a lot experience with balistic tips not doing their job on big game.My son likes them in .30 caliber for deer though.

But i have used both them and Hornady bullets in my fast twist 6mm/257 weatherby improved (1 in 8) and the nosler 90 and 95 grains held together while the hornady 105 A-maxs blew up after a 100 yards.

muskrat
live to shoot, shoot to live!

There have been several changes in the ballistic tips which have occured since they were first introduced.I was told by nosler that there were up to four versions produced depending on the caliber and weight.The first bullets that came in the old green and red labelled boxes were very soft but these bullets were improved in steps by thickening the jackets and making them tougher.The latest versions are not even comparable to the first versions as they are much tougher and will hold up at much higher velocities.

John Barsness states in penetration tests that he's performed on dry newpaper that the ABOVE .30cal ballistic tips perform nearly identical to partitions. I asked him about the 200gr .338 and said that it retained near 60% of it's weight and penetrated within an inch of the 210gr Partition. His recommendation to me was to use the 200gr BT's to game up to 500lbs and the 250gr Partition for anything larger.

To Whom it May Concern,

I just had another massive failure with a Ballistic Silvertip this morning. I shot a large fisheating bird that was eating my fingerlings from my catfish lake. The distance was 90 to 100 yards and the bullet blew up on the big wingbone.
It didn't ever make penetration into the chest cavity, just a spot about the size of a quarter in the breast, I had to finish the bird with a stick. I don't know about the bigger caklibers but smaller than 30 caliber are pretty fragile at high speed. 270 Win. and 25-06 are the calibers I've had bad luck with.