Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters The old Winchester "SilverTip" Bullet

Years ago I showed up at deer camp one year with a box of them for my 30-06. My grandfather all but threw them in the outhouse. Claimed they were the worst bullet ever made and "just poked pencil holes in deer". He and his pards apparently had some bad experiences back in the 40s-50s. Worked fine for me on a few MI bucks.

The 170 gr. silvertip was my favorite .30-30 load for years. Killed a lot of deer with it. Always gave good performance.

Some of the conflicting results can be the fact that there were 2 original silvertips. The originals starting being produced from the 1930's is completely different than modern silvertips. Original silvertips had a hard Nickle silver cap that extended all the way to the base. These bullets had a reputation as being hard and giving deep pentation. These bullets have a bight silver appearance. The newer bullets have a very thin aluminum cap that extends just enough to get the nose of the bullet jacket to crimp around it. These are the blow up bullets of such renown. I saw one blow up on the ribs of a distant elk. In the archive of the International Ammunition forum is sectioned bullets of both types. Check it out and the difference are apparent.

This makes what my grandfather talked about make sense then..

Do you happen to know the time frame as to when the change in construction was made? thanks

Also makes one wonder if the touted 130/270 bullets with the aluminum caps were somehow designed differently.

The change over was never published anywhere I have seen. I have researched this quite often over the years. My best guess is around the mid fifties. I feel the uncommon calibers were still available till stock on hand was used up. I researched by checking old ammo still in original boxes. I have some 250 Savages in yellow boxes that have the old style and yellow boxes with newer style bullets. Yellow boxes were produced from 1957 till @1970 IIRC. Remington Cor-Lokt are easier to determine the change over from a slightly controlled expansion bullet to a standard cup and core. This happened in the mid 60's. Again I would assume the popular calibers and weights were the first to get the change over with the less common remaining till old stocks were used up.

I had one blow up on the left front shoulder of a 8 point Michigan whitetail at 50 yards. Fired from a 1899 Savage in 303 Savage. Made a big mess of the front shoulder, no penetration. Last Silvertip I used on deer. Started Handloading after that, excellent results with 150 grain Hornady round nose out of the same gun.

I haven't read any of Bob Hagel's books in years, but he knew what he was talking about when it came to game bullets. His remarks on the Silvertip are pretty scathing.

Loved them in my 30-30.

I bought 500 of the 190 grain STs that were loaded in the 303 Savage, way back when Winchester/Western loaded that bullet in factory loads and sold them as components.

LOL.

They were allays my favorite 30-30 Load when I was a kiddo.

Looks sold the Sliver tip more than anything else. Rio7

Y33611,

IMO "skidrow" is right about them being velocity sensitive and "mule deer" recalls that some worked well in some cartridges and some didn't. I've read many stories about good performance with 130 gr. 270 on elk and many stories about bad performance in 30 cal.

I quit using them many years ago, because of this variation in performance--and not just in my personal experience but many other hunters I knew, in cartridges from the .270 Winchester to .375 H&H. Have described many of these examples in various articles and books, and these days am very puzzled why anybody would choose to use them in anything except in low-velocity rounds like the .30-30.

Yep. Sold me when I was a kid. 🤠

I like the looks of them, but they are basically a power point with a shiny tip...

Uh, no, not nearly.

I have a box and a half of them in 180gr 30-06 that I bought 16 years ago. Took a fork horned buck with one. In the ribs out the other side. Maybe I’ll keep them for nostalgia.

They weren’t worth a chit 17 years ago and haven’t improved since. RIP

Not really huh? The power point is obviously better..

I've got a couple dozen boxes of 100 grain 250-3000 and 257 Roberts white box factory loads from the early 1980's. Somehow the Outdoor Recreation Center at Fort Riley had a lot of ammo that nobody wanted and they closed it out for about $3 per box of 20. I was loading my own, so I bought it for that rainy day that has yet to arrive.