Winchester silvertip 115gr 9mm

[1sailor]

I've never tried any of the Winchester silvertips before but I see some now at a pretty good price. Anyone have any feedback on these?

 

[stansdds]

I have never reloaded these bullets, but back in the late 1980's I was a fan of the Winchester 9mm Silvertip ammo. But, there was the infamous FBI Miami shootout in which this ammo was blamed for what was more of a tactical decision failure. Anyway, back in the day it was accurate, expanded reliably, and I thought it was a good bullet and a good load. Today, there are better bullets for self defense, but if the price is right, they should be really good for making accurate reloaded ammo.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I have used STHP bullets. The most important thing is, in order for the bullet to perform properly, you MUST have it flying at the velocity it is made to expand at. Otherwise, you have very expensive plinking ammo that over or under expands.

There are totally different bullets for 38 Special, 38 Special +P and 357 mag. They have different jacket styles, thicknesses and even different materials, yet on the outside all look the same!

In 1982 I experimented with factory ammo, pulled the bullet and put equal weight Hornady HP bullets over the factory powder charge. EVERY round blew the case wall out! The pulled Factory STHP bullets were place over a normally hot load of canister WW231, they flew 10-15% faster than Hornady HP bullets of the same weight, but didn't show ANY high pressure signs!

The factory loaded projectile has a slight hour glass shape to the bearing surface that was filled with a sealant/lubricant. I have no idea how you get this stuff, but that is very important to the extra velocity factory ammo has!

Ivan

 

[Nevada Ed]

Ivan;
very interesting.......

Did the Silver tip bullet have a concave base or larger HP cavity or some thing
that gave the case more space volume, that reduced the loads pressures?

Blowing a case wall out is a major increase in pressures.

 

[STORMINORMAN]

Something's gotta' give: but... Why?

Ivan;
very interesting.......

Did the Silver tip bullet have a concave base or larger HP cavity or some thing
that gave the case more space volume, that reduced the loads pressures?

Blowing a case wall out is a major increase in pressures.

Has to be something "major", doesn't it?

P.S. Nevada Ed: please respond to questions in the "hot loads for a 10-5" thread...

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Ivan;
very interesting.......

Did the Silver tip bullet have a concave base or larger HP cavity or some thing
that gave the case more space volume, that reduced the loads pressures?

Blowing a case wall out is a major increase in pressures.

1982 was a long time ago! I remember the bullets having a flat base. I don't remember the hollow point being over sized in any way. In that time frame almost all Winchester factory ammo were loaded with one of 7 verities of WW231, and none of those were the same as the WW231 they sold as "Canister" powder. So the hot load on Hornady's HP's wasn't a surprise! The higher velocity on STHP factory projectiles with canister powder WAS! a 10-15 percent velocity increase without high pressure signs is very significant! Like I said, the bearing surface anl lubricant mad a huge amount of difference!

Ivan

 

[STORMINORMAN]

Ballistics 101 has both the Winchester 115gr JHP and the STHP at the same velocities: 1225 fps. You have to go to +P to see higher velocities from them (other than the very lightweight "frangibles"...

Wonder what the results would be using the same methology (Ivan used in 1982) today...? As I recall SilverTips were really considered as being "high tech" back then: quite often magazine reviews and tests would typically refer to them touting results as "only found with", especially for the smaller calibers 25, 32 & 380 acp.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

STHP's are still my "Go To" ammo for 32, 380, and 45 Colt. My wife uses the 124 grain STHP's in her SD gun (Glock 15). I still have several speed loaders for my model 28 ready to go! And the 45 ACP STHP was the only factory ammo that shot to the sights (POA) in a Springfield Officers sized 45 I no longer have. There are better performing SD Projectiles in most calibers these days, but I find STHP's good enough to bet my life on in the above listed calibers. If I had any gun that shot the STHP's better than anything else (and actually have several) I am confident that That gun and ammo combo, will get me home safe when called on to do so.

Ivan

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I still have 2 1/2 boxes of 115gr Win STHP 9mm ammo and it's still a good SD round. All the Win STHP ammo I have ever shot has been extremely accurate. I load them whenever I can get the bullets. I use W231.

I save my Silvertips for my 9mm 1911 because of the accuracy. Other 9mm pistols get Speer GDHP ammo. I bought a good supply of GDHP bullets last time Midway ran a sale.

 

[pasound]

In the 80's, early 90s, I always had Win STHP for my P89. They seemed to be the correct non-wall penetrating HP SD round for the time. Now, 2019, I discovered Winchester is making STHP again - this time, 38SPL 110GR STHP. Shoots great groups in my 60, 637, and 60-15. About two inches low on the "shorties", nearly dead on the sights on my 60-15.

 

[Univibe]

At Miami, the cartridge was a 115 grain standard pressure Silvertip. It first went through the flesh of Platt's right arm, then between the ribs into the thoracic cavity. It expanded up as advertised and stopped an inch from the heart. As a result, Platt stayed on his feet fighting while his right lung filled up with blood. He was fading out when the coup de grace was administered to his head. He had over a liter of blood in his lung.