I use the silver ballistic tips in my 30-06 BAR. The combo works great in my case.

My two 30-06's shoot 180-gr. Ballistic Silvertips very well and this is my prefered choice for light-skinner deer. Suggest you stay with your choice of BT's, but upgrade to a heavier bullet than the 150-gr. that normally would be OK in a less fragile projectile.
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AlphaMan:

Ballistic Tips (BT's) were designed by John Nosler for violent expansion / explosion and medium penetration on light-skinned animals like deer.

For most calibers shooting fragile BT's, you're better off using heavier projectiles with larger Sectional Density's (SD's) than you would normally use for a regularly constructed bullet.

Why?

1. Heavy for caliber bullets are better in a BT because they tone down the violent expansion a bit and still have enough weight leftover for a extra penetration or a complete pass-through. Lighter BT bullets often fail to penetrate to the other side of the animal.

2. The shock-value with the heavier BT will still be more than lighter standard bullets like 150-gr. and you get more downrange energy on target with the 180-gr. (fragile) load.

3. Short range shots also suit the heavier 180-gr. round with a higher SD versus lighter weight BT'd bullets with less mass.

4. Raking quartering-away shots obviously benefit from a heavier bullet for adequate penetration.

5. A larger BT'd bullet is also more forgiving if you shoot accidently into the shoulder.
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* Nosler says that beginning with the 30 caliber 180-gr. Ballistic Tips (and larger), the jacket's profile is changed or upgraded to a much stronger contour similar to the AccuBond (shown below). The lead core is also hardened over the 165-gr. and below bullets - to include the 150-gr. you're considering.

Lighter weight bullets like 165-gr. 30 caliber and lower (shown below) do not have the thicker contour which starts in the middle of the shell and goes down to the base.

In summary, one might infer that the 180-gr. Ballistic Tip is simply a non-bonded version of the AccuBond.

In Summary:

* Standard bullets generally perform better on deer in lighter to mid-weight sizes, but BT's do not!
* For best performance, Nosler recommends heavy for caliber BT's.
* Reported problems of a BT blowing up too quickly are generally associated with too light of a bullet.
* Remember, remember.... Ballistic Tipped rounds are the exception to the rule!

P.S. I like a bullet to perform two things in my 30-06:

1. Violent expansion / shock.
2. Plenty of penetration for a pass-through, which a 150-gr. or 165-gr. Ballistic Tip will not do the majority of the time!

Nosler makes 4 great ballistically efficient / aerodynamic rounds to accomplish any North American hunting task:

1. Ballistic Tip
2. Solid Base
3. AccuBond
4. Partition

* Light skinned / boned deer = 180-gr. Ballistic Tip / Solid Base / AccuBond
* Heavy skinned / boned elk = 180-gr. Partition / AccuBond

P.P.S.:

Remington Core Lokt are used by more hunters than any other brand of ammo and they will perform fine on deer. Personally, I prefer to practice with cheap Core Lokts at the range and shoot premium ammo in the field.

Why?

1. Winchester Supreme or Federal Premium ammo is loaded to higher standards than regular ammo.

2. Premium bullets pass higher quality control measures and fly straighter than the normal run of the mil stuff - I.E. Going to sleep a lot sooner.

3. Premium bullets like the Nosler 180-gr. AccuBond are quite a bit more aerodynamic than regular bullets like Winchester's Power Point or Remington's Core Lokt: .509 BC versus .348.

4. Example: This ballistic efficiency is brought to light when comparing a bullet's energy in a 30-06 versus a 300 Win Mag. If you put a premium 180-gr. Nosler AccuBond bullet in a 30-06 at 2,750 fps MV and compare it to a plain jane Winchester 180-gr. Power Point in a 300 Win Mag at 2,960 fps MV, the 30-06 AccuBond will have an amazing 104 ft. lbs more energy at 300 yards! That's right - 2,005 versus 1,901 (Source: Winchester's 2005 Ammo Catalog, p. 10 - 13).

5. In short, premium ammo can give standard calibers an advantage similar to a magnum or at least narrow the gap considerably. This is why I chose the 30-06 over unnecessary magnum calibers.

6. The extra $10 cost per box of premium ammo is not much considering the hundreds of dollars spent on other hunting supplies. After all, how many bullets do you actually shoot in the field?

7. IMHO - Premium ammo puts more odds in the hunter's favor and we often need all the help we can get when shooting during those rare heart-throbbing opportunities.

I have a Browning Bar Safari in 30 -06 as a back up gun. I shoot winchester supreme 168 gr. nosler ballistic silvertip and i get excellent groups out to 300 yrds. I've used this ammo on deer, bear ( a few times on some up to 400 pds ) and moose with 90 % pass through. This ammo is ultimate dynamite on any thing light skin like deer and bear. Works great on moose and for extreme range, this is the ammo.

Thanks for the report! You weren't using the Ballistic Tips on moose, were you?

I've shot two moose before both with Winchester Supreme Nosler Ballistic Silvertips. One with 168 gr for 30 -06 and the other with 140 gr 7mm WSM. Both with no problem on pass throughs. The 140 gr pierced both shoulder blades. Should have no problems. Again both were ultimate dynamite causing severe damage on vitals.