Im not looking at reloading my own custom ammunition under circumstances that would deliver the ideal results for long range shooting, im just curiouse as to what to look for in long range ammunition. In particular, i was curious about winchester's "Ballistic Silvertip" line of ammo. How would the .338 Ballistic silvertip compare to other long range cartridges?
Long-range hunting, and long-range target shooting are two totally different things. What works for one is not going to work for the other.
The Winchester Ballistic Silvertip bullet is basically a Nosler Ballistic Tip with a silver plastic insert and some black/silver coating that Winchester puts on there. It's a hunting bullet. It may or may not be accurate in any given rifle, but nobody I know uses them for long-range target shooting.
Hollow point, boat-tail bullets are what you should be looking for (for targets). Hornady A-max bullets also can work well.
The .338 Win Mag by itself is probably one of the better long-range hunting cartridges. It will kill
as far as you can accurately shoot it. I put that in bold because in the right hands, it will put down a deer at 1000yds, or completely miss them at 50yds. It's a nasty round to shoot. Don't buy one.
Personally, I think 9 out of 10 hunters shouldn't be shooting at anything over 100yds away.
If you want off-the-shelf long-range target ammo, you need to look at a different caliber.
My definition of long range is 400-1000yds. You, the NRA, and others here may have different parameters, but those are mine. Calibers suitable for long-range that I
know you can get factory match ammo for are:
.308 Win.
6.5 Creedmore
6.5-284
There are a pile or cartridges that work as well or better than those, but I'm not sure about ammo availability.