JB they are the old ones. I didn't really need anymore 375 stuff but I'd dang near go to hell to try the stuff of yesteryear. I find going retro pretty interesting so I do when I can...mb
The original Silvertips were all over the place as far as expansion/penetration. Once had a 150-grain from a .30-06 factory load come apart on the shoulder joint of a forkhorn mule deer buck, the range about 200 yards. The core disintegrated, and the jacket came to rest on the ribs behind the joint. Luckily, I was able to track the buck down after half a mile, and put another in the ribs behind the shoulder, which penetrated and killed it. On the other hand a friend killed a pile of elk with a particular lot of 130-grainers from his .270 Winchester. The ones he recovered from under the hide on that far side (and he had quite a few) were all perfectly "mushroomed."
A good friend, the late Walter White, killed one of the biggest brown bears listed in B&C on Kodiak Island, using his pre-'64 Model 70 .375 H&H and 300-grain Silvertips. The bear was on the other side of the Zachar River, and it was a wet day--as so many are on Kodiak. The bullets mostly came apart on the bear's wet hair and hide and mostly failed to penetrate the chest. Walter didn't know exactly how many times he shot, but did remember reloading the magazine twice before one got inside the chest and killed the bear.
