Box of 50 - $54.00
Shipping - $11.00
Total - $65.00

Am I "cheap" or is this a little high for SD ammo ?

How does this compare to other 50 round boxes of SD ammo ?


Jimmy

Although I haven't bought Silvertip, I think the price itself is realistic for good defensive ammo. Whenever I buy at the LGS, I end up paying about $1per round (or more) for other brands of defensive ammo in 20-round boxes, so I'd say you aren't really getting ripped. Whether the $11 shipping fee is worth it, however, is your call. Shipping seems to be getting more expensive, which prevents me from buying online for a lot of items.

I know I'm in the VAST minority when it comes to the famed Win Silvertips...but I don't feel they're worth the price of admission, not by a long shot. $54/50rds is just insane for what they are. Here's an amazing list of .38/.357 rounds and their performance:

https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/rev...llistics-test/

There are many brands on here that performed well. One that consistantly performs well is the Rem Golden Saber in .357...a round that can be had at 1/2 the cost of the Winchester:

50 Round Box - 357 Magnum Remington Golden Saber 125 grain BJHP Ammo GS357MAB | SGAmmo.com

Even if the silvertips are solid...I'll never know because there's absolutely no reason to pay $1/rd for solid self defense ammo.

As a reloader the price to me sounds crazy. Still I suppose reloading's not worth it if you don't shoot enough to justify the cost. A nice Lee turret press with dies, scale, etc would cost about the same as 3 boxes of Silvertips.

In my opinion, the silvertip is a particularly good "defensive" round in .357, although whether it is meaningfully better than several other choices is debatable. Nevertheless, it is not hard to find for closer to $45.00 a box including from some sellers that will ship free if you order enough stuff.

Sadly, $1.00 a round for good ammo is not that unusual anymore.

I'm not a fan of the "famed" Winchester 145 gr Silvertips. I bought a box
several years ago and chronographed five rounds out of my 4" 28-2.
The velocity spread of five rounds was from just over 1200 fps to 1335 fps.
Very poor quality from such expensive ammo. Visit sgammo.com. Great
pricing, low shipping charges like around $16 for a case of 1000 rds of
9mm.

I sent you the link for this ammo on Midway last week when it was on sale for $48 and a few pennies. If you would have bought two boxes shipping would have been free. Since they only do a special run every two years or more two boxes is probably a good idea.I

Wholesale Hunter has it for $47.10, I would hurry and order at that price.
Winchester 357 Magnum 145gr, Super-X Silvertip Hollow Point, (Per 50) X357SHP - 4693

As for other SD ammo, most are sold in 20 round boxes because the 50 round boxes have a big price tag that turn buyers away. If you look at Speer .357 Magnum ammo it's $24.60/20 rounds. That puts 50 rounds at $61.80. Hornady Critical Defense is $24.99/25 rounds. That puts 50 rounds at $49.98. Some are higher and some are lower but it seems the Winchester Silvertip ammo is priced in the normal price range for today.

__________________
Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

You get what you pay for.

I am always on the hunt for .357 Silvertips, and I buy them when I find them. A buck a round is cheap enough for me.

__________________
“What you got, ain’t new.”

Aren't you a handloader Jimmy? Load your own 357 JHP ammo for way
cheaper. What's the odds that you are ever going to actually fire your
357 in SD anyway? Any full power 357 JHP is going to be strong
medicine.

All so-called self-defense ammo is crazy expensive, to me. I rarely shoot the stuff. I practice with my own handloads and only use the factory stuff sparingly.

I need to order a box of those things, maybe two. Another box or two will last me as long as I am likely to still be capable of shooting a .357 revolver. Looking at it that way...

I am loading up on .357/38 ammo and reloading components while the loading up is good. I have a feeling this will become much more difficult in the future. CDNN has a good deal on Golden Saber 357s.

Look at GT Distributors in Dallas. They carry 50 round boxes of police grade / SD ammo at good prices. Stock varies constantly.

For larger lots, check SGAmmo.

I buy locally from GT, which is my LE source.
Online I go to SGAmmo.

It's a side topic off the main discussion, but this is my gripe as well. I wish more brands would release cheap cased training versions of their defensive rounds. Part of the reason why I'll run those Golden Saber's is because I can drop $50 on 100rds, practice with at least 25 of them, leave the rest for actual use. It's awful hard to practice with $1/rd defense ammo.

Look up the Trooper Coates shooting.

.357 Silvertips did poorly.

I’d be interested in hearing others impressions of the new run of 357 Silvertip.
I bought two boxes, after not having seen any for years.
I was shooting my 3” GP100 at 25yds. Seemed like I was all over the paper. Now, this GP has proven pretty accurate, so I switched to a cylinder of Hornady factory 158gn XTP...two inch six shot group at POA.
I don’t have a chrono, but the Silvertip seemed to have good thump.

The Troopers in the video made by his department about the murder say he was carrying “Winchester +P” loads. I’ve seen many forum accounts saying they were .357 Silvertips, but I suspect they are just quoting each other. In the absence of something definitive, like an evidence recovery log, I’ll go with what his comrades said. They may have been 125 grain .38 Silvertips, but they don’t sound like Magnums to me.

__________________
“What you got, ain’t new.”

With my atrocious memory I’m hesitant to add anything without what seems pretty solid recollection, but I will forge ahead anyway. Didn’t the Silvertip .357 rack up a pretty impressive record in actual gunfights with one of the larger midwestern PDs, back in the good old days, before all the modern, super-duper self-defense ammo started to appear? Maybe in the mid- to late-80s? Maybe it was Detroit, or some place like that? I vaguely recall reading about it.

If the new production Silvertips are lacking consistency and accuracy, I’d be surprised - and disappointed. They were not the most powerful factory .357s, but they were always very good in those two areas. I never tried them in any gun that I thought they didn’t give very good performance, but admittedly always in S&Ws.

I've always been a big fan of the 145 gr .357 Silvertip. It was my preferred duty load back in the day. However, I don't recommend it in barrel lengths under 4". My current EDC load, in a Model 640-1 Pro Series, is the Sig Sauer 125 gr .357 magnum load. I believe it's comparable with most commercial loads available. I'm very happy with it.

I have said it hundreds of times and will continue to say it, the best bullet in the world will do you no good unless you get good hits.

You can't point to one shooting and say any ammo is good or bad. You can but nothing important with 5 rounds and nothing or hit the CNS with 1 round and stop the bag guy in his tracks. Accuracy is number 1 and that's why I like the Winchester 145gr Silvertip ammo.

__________________
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SWCA #3437

Buds has them for $44.13 a box. $9 shipping for 2 boxes. $199. order ships free.

his .357 handgun was loaded with 125gr. +p .38 spl rounds as was standard for that department back then.

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per post #7......

one box at $1.30 a round or
two boxes for $1.08 a round.......

but you have to break a $100 bill plus a ten spot.

There are deals out there and also good and bad buys.
Just depends on how you buy your ammo and how much you want to spend.

A little 110gr JHP will work with the 357 Magnum.
A 125gr if it will make you feel better.

Remember, the dollar is worth about 5 cents now a days.

I really like the 145gr. STHP in my 681 when I carried it, but cost and on the shelf availability have pushed me to the Remington green box 125gr. SJHP. while I haven't used either in self defense, based on my "backyard" testing I believe the 125gr. will quite well against a human attacker.

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The odds are strong enough that I got a CC permit and carry a gun.

OK then, I'll give you 10 cents for every dollar you want to sell, allowing you a nice profit.