.308 Silvertip Construction

[chutesnreloads]

Anyone know what these were designed to be loaded for?I have an old 1980ish box of Winchester 30 cal. 180 grain Silvertip component bullets. Looking to load them in a .308 for hogs.I know 180 grain is a bit heavy for .308 but unless they're designed for .300 WinMag velocities they may work fine for 100 yard or less hogs.If they're too tough to expand I'll save them for something else

[Winger Ed.]

Back in the day, they were the new, modern and improved do everything bullet.
The 180s were very popular as a hunting bullet in .30-06 & .300Mag.

As I recall, the silver tip is a rather thin Alum. cap over a spire point.
It looks like it'd perform like a FMJ,
but they do expand and splat more or less like a common lead exposed spire point.

I shot a bunch in .270 back then for deer hunting.
They did real well.

They're still offered in factory loaded 168 grain for .308.
168 to 180 doesn't sound like that big of a leap for handloading if you're careful about it.

That 180 in .30-06 is still a favorite for hunting.
It'd be in the groove for shooting a hog at 250, maybe 300yd.
The speed of it from a full house .308 at a hundred should be pretty close.

[chutesnreloads]

Thanks.... mainly concerned about expansion.Also have a bag of the old Remington bronze points but from the way I've seen one go through a deer from a 30-06 I don't think those will expand enough for quick kills

[too many things]

may be better to do a 150 flat in a 308 the 180 is bit heavy for a 308

[Larry Gibson]

Winchester made 180 gr Silver Tips (and other weights) for various 30 cal cartridges. Are yours RN?

[swheeler]

I don't remember any Round Nose Winchester Silvertips, thought they were all capped with the "truncated cone" looking aluminum nose cap. I would rather have a 150 grain ST in the 308.

[30calflash]

I was selling some of the same a while back. From what I gather the 30 cal 180's work well in the non magnum rounds like 300 Savage, 308 Win, 30-40 and '06. The ones I had were not round nose, but they weren't spire points either.

[swheeler]

Correct they are fashioned after a truncated cone, they have a meplat.

[chutesnreloads]

These are not roundnose.They're not very pointy but they are not roundnose

[redhawk0]

I bought up 1500 of the 180s when Winchester discontinued them. They are (IMHO) one of the best 30-06 bullets for deer size game. Mine will make a caliber size hole going in, and a 4-5" coming out. I still use them as my deer load. They worked good from my old 308 Win also.

I also bought up 500 of the 170 FN for the 303 Savage and 30-30. I've not taken game with these (yet).

As far as hogs go...you might get too rapid of an expansion with them. You'd likely do better with a 180gr RN Cor-Lok type bullet. Hogs are pretty tough.

redhawk

[Petrol & Powder]

Not all Silvertip bullets had aluminum jackets but all Silvertip bullets had some type of silver finish.

I can't really speak to their rifle bullets because I never bothered loading them. (there were far cheaper and better choices)
Their handgun bullets were sometimes good and sometimes not good. The 32 ACP hollow point had a good track record and the old Seacamp pistols were actually designed to shoot that particular cartridge. Some of their other offerings weren't as successful.

I would use Winchester data for the appropriate bullet weight and go from there.

[swheeler]

"Not all Silvertip bullets had aluminum jackets but all Silvertip bullets had some type of silver finish."

No that's not correct, The Ballistic Silvertips NOT SILVERTIPS are Nosler Ballistic tips in silver plastic for Winchester. All Silvertip bullets have the Aluminum nose cap.

and we were talking about 180 gr 30 caliber

[swheeler]

The difference in the 30 cal Silvertips was location of the cannelure. In the early 1990's Cabelas sold them as bulk bullets, about 15.00 per hundred and I loaded them in the 300 Winchester, good elk medicine.

you'll notice the 30/40 Krag(factory) has more bullet out front than H&H (factory) or Win

[chutesnreloads]

Thank you Redhawk.That is precisely the experience oriented answer I was looking for.Yes hogs are tough but a good hit to the central nervous system puts them right down....My reason for wanting a less tough bullet with good expansion.Not hunting for meat but I prefer they don't run off after being hit.The extra expansion just ups the odds a bit

[Winger Ed.]

Also have a bag of the old Remington bronze points

They look like something for deep penetration, but they were marketed for rapid expansion on deer size game.
They are reputed to work along the lines of a Nosler ballistic tip, but with metal instead of a plastic tip.

I wouldn't use them for hog hunting.
Since they've been discontinued, and there is still a small demand for them, they might be worth selling.

[Larry Gibson]

I don't remember any Round Nose Winchester Silvertips, thought they were all capped with the "truncated cone" looking aluminum nose cap. I would rather have a 150 grain ST in the 308.

swheeler

It is said....."a mind is a terrible thing to lose"......at least that's how I remember.....

However, in regards to Winchester Silvertip bullets I remember correctly. Back in the day [not to be confused with the bullets now marketed as "Silvertips"] the Winchester aluminum tipped Silvertips were sold in spitzer form, round nose form and flat nose form. The aluminum cap merely protected a large lead point on the bullet tip. The aluminum covered tips were made not to increase penetration but to promote better expansion which they did. They also better protected the bullet tips from damage during recoil and during feeding.

The 30 caliber Silvertips of various weights for various cartridges were made in all three mentioned configurations. The 180s were made in spitzer (pointed) and round nose configuration. The 150s, 165s, 180s, 200s and 220s were loaded in cartridges of 300 Savage up through the 300 Win Mag [not all weights were loaded in all the cartridges].

Here we see a factory Winchester 150 gr Silvertip with the spitzer (pointed) nose shape;

Attachment 247771

Here are some round nose 190 gr Silvertips made for the 303 Savage;

Attachment 247772

Here, on the left, we see some round nose 200 gr Silvertips made for the 35 Remington and the 358 Winchester. On the right we see some Flat nose 150 gr Silvertips made for the 30-30 Winchester;

Attachment 247773

Apparently my memory isn't all that bad........

[Larry Gibson]

These are not roundnose.They're not very pointy but they are not roundnose

Load them to 2500 fps + out of your .308W and they'll do well on hogs. They are excellent game bullets, I wouldn't hesitate to use them.

[maxreloader]

I don't remember any Round Nose Winchester Silvertips, thought they were all capped with the "truncated cone" looking aluminum nose cap. I would rather have a 150 grain ST in the 308.

I have a drawer filled with hundreds of them and a lot are round-nosed. the only ones with meplats are the levergun calibers.

[swheeler]

Those green boxes sure look like Sierra bullets to me? Show us where the box says Silvertips ROUND NOSE I'm guessing someone ran those bullets into a nose die and swaged them to RN

[swheeler]

I have a drawer filled with hundreds of them and a lot are round-nosed. the only ones with meplats are the levergun calibers.

I just posted a picture of 30 cal for 30/40 Krag and 300 H$H factory loaded they have a small flat on the tip just like the 308 Gibson posted.