Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

Has anyone used the winchester silvertip
hollow points? If so I would like to hear your thoughts.

Have used silvertips in 10mm auto. One of the few non Doubletap loads in 10mm worth using. Even at 1250 fps there is no fragmentation. Good expansion, good penetration. In other calibers I could not say.

Only thing I might add is that the muzzel flash seems especially bad in 38/357 and 45acp.

I carried the 110gr load in my snub .38 for years...recoil was more than acceptable for me. Reported penetration was about 8-12 inches in ballistic gel and expansion was reliable. I'd use them in a .38 if I had one. The 145gr .357 magnum load was stout but not too bad...reportedly good penetration and expansion as well. The 9mm got a bad rep due to the infamous Miami shootout, but it did its job and the perp was walking/shooting dead with a severed artery, he was just one of those that didnt go down easily.

With respect to handgun cartridges, there have been a lot of advancements in bullet performance during the past decade or so. Silvertips are old technology relatively speaking today and Winchester has not done much to improve them. Of course they will still get the job done; but, there are better alternatives such as Winchester's LE Ranger line or the commercially available Winchester PDX1 series. Speer's Gold Dots are another example of a high quality modern defensive bullet.

Generally, silvertips are good rounds. However, Chasbo00 is right, they are old designs and have been eclipsed by newer/better ones. Are they bad? No, but there are better choices IMHO. I particularly like Gold Dots and Ranger Ts.

gunderwood wrote:Generally, silvertips are good rounds. However, Chasbo00 is right, they are old designs and have been eclipsed by newer/better ones. Are they bad? No, but there are better choices IMHO. I particularly like Gold Dots and Ranger Ts.

I issued the Silvertip ammo to my dept. many years ago after extensive testing on diffrent types of matter, such as jeans,coats both winter and summer, leather and t shirts along with car windshields and car bodys. Back then (the late 70's to mid 80's) they were the best out on the market. I still have some today. But as stated above the newer rounds out on the market will do the job to a better degree then the old Silvertip ammo. For myself I carry the Speer Gold Dots and or Winchester Rangers.
Bill