Winchester Silvertips

[.455_Hunter]

All,

When and why did Winchester change the construction on the Silvertip loads in .45 and .32 ACP from a soft aluminum jacket to a hard "nickel" plated jacket?

Did the terminal performance change? The .32 ACP load already had a very high OSS rate for its caliber.

Is this why Seecamp no longer recommends the Silvertip for his .32s?

What about other Silvertip loads (.45 Colt, .44 Special, etc.)

Any input is appreciated.

Thanks,

Hunter

 

[mete]

Ammo makers are always trying to get better product since standards of penetration and expansion have been established .Winchester Silvertips have recently been improved so they actually work well. The earliest Silvertips were poor performers and that aluminum jacket would leave flakes in the gun !At this point in time the 44 Spec, 45 Colt and others are excellentperformers.

 

[dfariswheel]

As I recall, when Winchester introduced the Silvertip they said that the only ammo that actually had aluminum jackets was the .380.
The .32 wasn't even available for several years.

These had fairly pure aluminum jackets, not an alloy.

They said that most of the other ammo had standard copper jackets with a silver colored plating.

They found that the aluminum offered better performance in the lower power loads, but that the copper jacket was better on the more powerful rounds.