The Good,The Bad,The Silvertip

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the only Winchester .44spl rounds I know of are the 200gr. STHP which looks good on paper but anemic in real guns, and the 246gr. LRN which is a generic target load. there may be other cowboy loads but the two I mentioned were their standard market rounds.
 
Run Buffalo Bore loads through a Charter and it will die a quick death. The man who designed the Charter Bulldog never intended it to handle much more than a 246 gr. lead roundnose round. I love Charter Bulldogs and have carried one for around 25 years but it has mechanical limits. I guess if you feel that your Charter is a "disposable" tool then go for it. Ammo companies have been selling watered down .44 Spl. ammo for a lot longer than Charter has been around. There are still plenty of guns built in 1907 when the cartridge was introduced in use today, that's the reason they have never loaded the .44 Spl. to it's full potential.
 
JERRY said:
150 fps less than the 900 fps claimed is an awful lot away from middle of the road.

750 fps. maybe for a 240gr. target load.....
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The majority of my published manuals give a range of 600-900 FPS with a 200 gr jacketed in .44 special. You can't get much closer to middle of the road there than a load that produces 750 FPS. Again, what is the accuracy? What is the terminal performance from your firearm at that velocity? IMHO, these two things are more important when it comes to SD ammo than actual velocity. Only cartridge I have ever chrono'd outta my revolvers that came close to the number listed on a factory box was .22LR. I always thought of those numbers the same way as I believe the numbers on the window sticker of new cars concerning mileage. Maybe somebody somehow may get that....but odds are I won't. I'm not defending the Silvertips, I don't use them, nor do I use any other factory handgun ammo. It's just that I am not surprised that they fall in the middle when it comes to .44 special velocities and that they do not produce listed velocity in some firearms. Don't make 'em bad, or inaccurate, or ineffective....just slow. Kinda like my first wife.:scrutiny:
 
I have shot Silver Tips thru water jugs and the Silver Tip didn't even open up with a 2"barrel and the Fed SWCHP didn't open up.
I have shot some ammo thru my chrony and this is what I have.
Blazer 200gr Gold Dot 775 fps
Buffalo Bore 185gr hp 933 fps
Critical def. 165gr 871 fps
Fed. SWCHP 200gr 697 fps

Hope this helps..............
 
Not impressed with the Silvertip in any loading. Never worked well on deer/antelope in .357 out of a 7.5" barrel. For SD/HD I would track down some GoldDot.
 
When I chrono'ed the Fed 240 LSWHP years back, I got the same as Bassleg shows here. Even slower than the Silvertip.
 
buck460XVR said:
The majority of my published manuals give a range of 600-900 FPS with a 200 gr jacketed in .44 special. You can't get much closer to middle of the road there than a load that produces 750 FPS. Again, what is the accuracy? What is the terminal performance from your firearm at that velocity? IMHO, these two things are more important when it comes to SD ammo than actual velocity. Only cartridge I have ever chrono'd outta my revolvers that came close to the number listed on a factory box was .22LR. I always thought of those numbers the same way as I believe the numbers on the window sticker of new cars concerning mileage. Maybe somebody somehow may get that....but odds are I won't. I'm not defending the Silvertips, I don't use them, nor do I use any other factory handgun ammo. It's just that I am not surprised that they fall in the middle when it comes to .44 special velocities and that they do not produce listed velocity in some firearms. Don't make 'em bad, or inaccurate, or ineffective....just slow. Kinda like my first wife.:scrutiny:
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750 fps is not fast enough to expand a hollowpoint reliably. What are you paying for, if your $1.50 round does exactly what a RN cowboy load does? As Sam1911 said, why handicap yourself when there are more sensible options?
I lost interest in using a Charter Arms Bulldog Pug for the exact reasons Sam1911 stated,

I have heard from other sources as well that the Silvertip defense load is an anemic load for the 44 special, I didn't know velocity was overstated in every caliber though
 
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It's out of stock right now, but Underwood loads a 200 grain Gold Dot hollowpoint to 1100 fps in 44 Special. If I recall correctly, that's close to the same ballistics as the Speer 44 magnum 200 grain short barrel load. I like that load quite a bit.
 
silicosys4 said:
750 fps is not fast enough to expand a hollowpoint reliably. What are you paying for, if your $1.50 round does exactly what a RN cowboy load does? As Sam1911 said, why handicap yourself when there are more sensible options?
I lost interest in using a Charter Arms Bulldog Pug for the exact reasons Sam1911 stated,

I have heard from other sources as well that the Silvertip defense load is an anemic load for the 44 special, I didn't know it was overstated in every caliber though
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Again....I do not use Silvertip factory ammo, so I do not pay $1.50 a round for it. I too do not handicap myself, but reload a reliable bullet at a moderate velocity with a load that gives me the best accuracy outta the gun in my hand. As for the velocity to expand hollowpoints, one of the biggest chances in bullet construction over the last coupla years had been in the construction of SD bullets to overcome the lack of expansion at lower velocities. Still I would rather have a lower velocity round with no expansion, I could accurately put in COM every shot, than one that MAY hit COM once in a while and expand 300%. Folks that cannot tolerate and anticipate recoil usually never achieve the accuracy from their handguns they really need. Especially in the case of snub nosed revolvers. Giving them an anemic round they can practice with and shoot accurately is still better than a wrist breaker they cannot hit squat with. While I don't use the silvertip ammo and you don't like it, apparently there's enough that do to make it worth producing. Don't make it wrong either way.
 
Now, make it a .357 and 145gr, and we've really got something in silvertips.
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Not really. Was in my tree stand deer hunting when I heard a shot. Shortly after, a large doe came limping over towards me and bedded down under my tree stand. I decided I would do the shooter and dispatch his deer for him. I pulled out my 6" S&W 686 and shot the deer in the back angling down into the chest cavity. The deer promptly got up and hobbled off. In the same afternoon, I was hunting on the ground in the same basic area, when a deer came limping along. I shot it with my 12 Gauge Model 1100, and when dressing it out, I found a perfectly expanded .357 SilverTip bullet in the fat and gristle between the hide and the ribs. Total lack of penetration, and I quit using those bullets immediately. Now I use my .45 Colt, and penetration is no longer an issue.

Don
 
USSR said:
I found a perfectly expanded .357 SilverTip bullet in the fat and gristle between the hide and the ribs. Total lack of penetration, and I quit using those bullets immediately.
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If you go to the Winchester website. you'll see the 145gr silvertip in .357, like the 200 gr in .44 special is not advertised as a hunting type round. Also, like the 200 gr .44 special ammo the 145 gr factory ammo is is advertised as having "controlled recoil" which to me, means anemic velocity. The description also says "Optimum Energy Deposit" which to me, means anemic penetration. Funny, neither one is touted for use for SD/HD either. This would tell me something.
 
the bottom line is that win sthp costs you about $2.00/round but doesnt give you more than the less pricey stuff.
 
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