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I'm interested in the old Silvertips. Specifically the .30/30. History wise; the best I can tell, they came out about 1940 or so. I think they have evolved quite a bit in 60 years and that the nose cap alloy has changed from cupronickel to aluminum over the years and is now much softer than they were in decades past. Some of this is based on tidbits of information that I am dredging up from memory of old magazine articles over the last 30 years of reading, and a few vintage cartridges in my collection. I'm also interested in anyone's field results with Silvertips vs other soft point bullets in .30/30.AW

The silvertip was designed solely to protect the nose of the bullet from battering in a tubular magazine rifle. I've seen Win. '94 hunters using .30-30 ammo that has been loaded and unloaded so many times that the exposed lead is flattened flush with the jacket. My son-in-law has a box of them that came with his grannies '64 and is probably 40 years old; it has alumunum tips.

This is not going to help much, since I really have no idea how old they are, and they were boxless when I acquired them, but I've got a handful of .30-30 silvertips, apparently with aluminum nose caps, that came in a big box of ammo I bought from a friend that got it from an estate. They were in a plastic container so they are not in bad shape. I would guess they are at least 30 years old. If it would help, email me and I will send you a few of them. I paid $200 bucks for the box, figuring there was that much worth of ammo in it that I would shoot, then sold $250 worth of the illfated Remington 5mm out of it. Still have some Browning boxes of several calibers that might be worth something to someone.

If It Flies,
<br>Thanks for the offer. If the primers have a domed or rounded top on them, then they are more than 30 years old. I would have to check with a cartridge collector to see when primers changed to flat faced ones to be sure. I have a partial box of Silvertips that my Dad got in the 60's and even those are flat top primers. I've always thought those Silvertips were one "slick" looking bullet whether or not they had any advantage (other than the tube mag thing) over the exposed lead ones is often a topic of debate. Winchester has discontinued some of their original style Silvertip offerings. Seems it's still popular enough in a few old loads to keep it available though. Just too classic to die in some combinations.AW

AW,
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<br>I'm a .30-30 hunter, most of the deer I've shot with my Marlin have been shot with silvertips (170s). They just plain work for me in that gun. I have an old box of factory and probably 30 tips left for hand loading. I practice with other stuff, then shoot a couple of silver tips to verify zero, then go hunting. I don't think I'll find more so I hoard them..
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<br>Doug

AW:
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<br>I checked and they have a flat primer with what I would refer to as the standard beveled edge. So I guess they won't help you any.

Adobe,
<br>Saw five boxes of Silvertip 348 ammo in a store Friday. $35.99/box. I thort they weren't makin' this no more? Woulda bort a box ifn it weren't so pricy.

Mule, Were those 250 grainers or the stubby 200's?

Think they was 200s. Ain't goin' back to check though. They got a model 95 Browning in 30-06 on the rack. Gotta stay away from Riverton til it sells.