I don't like Hornady SST or Nosler ballistic tips. Too fragile. They over expand and fragment. I don't trust them to penetrate on sharp angled shots or to drive through heavy bone.
I don't care for TSX all copper type bullets either for the exact opposite reason. They seem to expand very little at all on whitetail deer. I am amazed when I read the accounts of people online who talk about how these bullets consistently drop deer in their tracks. Those folks must be launching them at about 3700 fps because at more standard velocities I never saw that happen. In fact if I had to sum my experience and the experience of my friends with them up in one sentence it would be: "never has so many well hit deer ran so far; bleed so little; and been so hard to find.
For deer sized game I like standard lead tipped cup and core type bullets. My favorite is the Hornady Interlock. They have been accurate out of all my rifles and the lead alloy in them seem to be just the right level of hardness to give good penetration while still expanding enough to kill quickly. I have never recovered one in a deer. Even the 117 grain Interlocks out of my 25-0l6 have always exited the deer I have shot.
They're not like they were, th
Ballistics Tips are not like they were years back. They have made them better. I had a similar experience with older Ballistics Tips. I lost a deer because of it. There was blood everywhere but no deer. He jumped the fence onto posted land and that was that. But they're new and improved. Nosler got it right now. They penetrate just good enough to get through bones and tough skin into the boiler room and then do their damage. I also like Sierra Game King. They penetrate just right then do their damage and fell the deer, and hogs. And they're cheaper than NBT. But I agree with you on the solids on deer. Nothing frustrates you more than to know you hit the animal good and he runs off.
