The Silvertip that broke up on a mule deer came apart on the shoulder, not a rib, and was 150-grain .30-06 from a factory load. This happened about 1984 if I recall correctly, and I had to track the deer for a half-mile over a couple sagebrush ridges and shoot it again through the ribs, which worked.
The post-mortem only revealed the jacket, turned abolsutely inside-out. I still have it, in fact was showing a friend the remains today.
An old friend, the late Walter White, killed one of the biggest brown bears listed in Boone & Crockett with Silvertips from a .375 H&H back in the 1950's. He had to load the magazine several times, as the bullets kept breaking up on the bear's wet hair and hide. Several broke up on the shoulder. Luckily the bear was across a river so there was some comfort zone.
On the other hand, an elk-hunting buddy's father bought 1000 130-grain .270 Silvertips in the 1950's. He is still loading them and killing elk, and has a pile of recovered bullets that look much like recovered Nosler Partitions. Some went through fairly heavy bone.
I don't know about today's 130-grain .270's, but such mixed results seem to indicate that the construction of Silvertips has varied widely, perhaps both over the years and from caliber to caliber. Personally, I have had much more consistent results from Hornady Interlocks, which are just about as "affordable."
