Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Winchester power points

Any of you ever had issues with super-x power points not getting pass throughs. My son has killed 3 deer with his 308 using 180 grain PP’s. They seem to hit like a ton of bricks but on all 3 deer there was no exit. 2 were shot broad side at around 150 yards and one quartering at 200. I get the quarter shot but not the other two. I would think a 180 at 2600 or so would exit. Like I said they seem to kill quick and hit hard but the lack of pass through is worrying. Thinking of dropping to a 165 AB.

Interesting. I also would expect on average that a 180 grain bullet would exit on broadside hits on deer.

Thats pretty interesting. About 20 years ago I came into a m77 all weather in 308 and three boxes of 150 power points. I zeroed in a few shots and its been my loaner rifle since. that rifle takes a deer or three most years. Every few years I shoot a round or two to check zero but at least 20 of the rounds have gone into deer and not one bullet has been recovered that I know of. I always figured the power point was pretty good penetrator.

Broadside through the shoulders? Broadside through the ribs? How widely did they expand?

Smartass question: Is the idea to pass through the deer or hit them hard and kill them quick?

Yeah i like an exit wound myself but to each his own......Hb

I've had pass throughs with the 180gr power points I load in my 30-06. No reason a 308 wouldn't do the same.


They shoot damn well too. No issues whatsoever using them on deer..

BSA very nice. That M-70 is a shooter. I would be very happy to carry that in the deer woods. Xycod, I have only shot 5 deer with 180 Win Power points. 3 with a 308 and 2 with a 30-06. All pass throughs with good results at 75 - 125 yds. Mostly bang flop drt. one went maybe 25 - 30 yds. The only reason I haven't shot more of them is my gun doesn't group them like BSA'S group on the target above. It shoots 150, 165 and 168 grain bullets much better. I like an exit hole in a deer as well. You said " Thinking of dropping to a 165 AB." I think thats a good idea. Give it a try. I have been deer hunting for over 50 years. I always shoot what ever bullet groups best in that gun, as long as it is of good construction. I don't think it matters much if it's a 150, a 165, or a 180. If you put it in the right place your gonna kill the deer. IMO, a good bullet and shot placement are more important than the bullet weight.

Xycod how much did he saw off the barrel?..mb

He’s shooting a 20 inch Mauser m12 which is an awesome little gun. The listed velocity is around 2620 I think but I haven’t chrono’ed it, and that’s probably a 24 inch or 22 inch bbl velocity. Again, they kill quick and tend to hit harder than I expected, couldn’t ask for better but the lack of exit wounds has me worried about losing a deer if they get in the think stuff. I’ll probably go to a bonded 165 of some sort next year to be safe.

It you want to save a little money over the bonded stuff I’ve had outstanding luck with the 150 Hornady Interlock out of my 300 Savages. Velocity might be similar to the short barrel 308 you’re using and I think I’ve only caught one and it was an end to end shot.

That does seem very unusual for a 180 grain anything. Our camp shot a lot of deer with .308 and .30-06's and 180's were the WI. deer hunting standard for a lot of years. I personally never used the PP's, but assumed that out of twelve guys give or take, some of us did and we never caught a single bullet. Dad and I both shot .308's and used the Remington 180 grain round nose Core-Lokt which I figure would be pretty similar to the Power-Points.

According to the chart published in Handloader Magazine by Gary Sciuchetti testing a huge number of 180 grain .30 caliber bullets, the Power-Point at 2,600 fps penetrated 15" and weighed 142 grains in Gary's target medium. At the same 2,600 fps the Remington round nose Core-Lokt penetrated 13.3" and weighed 113 grains. The pointed Core-Lokt at 2,600 fps penetrated 14.2" and weighed 121 grains. What that is telling me is that the Power-Point was a slightly stronger constructed bullet in Gary's tests. Is it possible that .308 cartridges from a 150 grain box got put into a 180 grain box? I once started a tread asking what bullets have any of the guys ever stopped in a deer and I was pretty surprised how many guys had stopped the 150's from .308's and .30-06's. A 165 grain Hornady Interlock zipped right through a 210 pounder from my .308.

I've killed a bunch of elk with the 180 grain Super X power point factory ammo out of my 30/06. I don't over think it-------they kill stuff.

I use 150 grain GameKings in my 308. They pass through deer and pigs with ease. I used 64 grain power points in 223’s, passed through pigs fine. You would think a 180 would blow right through.

Sierra Game Kings and Hornady Inter-loks have always got the job done for me. Never have drunk the premium bullet Kool-aid.

Why is it Kool-aid?

My buddy used a 140gr PowerPoint in factory ammo and got an exit on an elk at 200 yards with his 7mm-08. Broadside shot through the ribs.

I used a150 grain Power Point in 18" barreled 308 Win this year. Shot a small last day 2 point mule deer buck at 75 yards away looking straight at me. The bullet entered between rib cage and shoulder, breaking 3 ribs, entered the chest cavity and was recovered in flank 34" away from entrance. Recovered weight an even 100 grains. Picture perfect expansion. The deer actually did a complete backflip and didn't wiggle. I collect and study recovered bullets. I have in excess of 200 bullets recover from game from marmots to bison. I will wait till the animal is in the correct position to facilitate the recovery of the spent bullet. This Power Point amazed me that it stayed together, core and jacket. From My experience if this had been a Cor-Lokt the bullet would have lost its jacket and the lead evaporate. I detest Cor-Lokt's. Once recovered a Power Point 180 grain fired from a 300 Win Mag at a bison at mere feet away. Bullet was again picture perfect expansion and no core separation.

AS I only hunt whitetails at woods ranges, premium bullets are an un-necessary expense therefor Kool-aid.

In the past, I used Win.PP's a lot. In my not so humble opinion, they are great bullets, but it does seem odd you aren't getting pass-throughs on deer. What did the bullets look like?

I bought several boxes of 150gr 308 a few yrs ago cheap having no time to reload after shooting several deer my synopsis is I’d rather use my hand loads of interlocks or ballistic tips but they did kill the deer