Silvertips vs Ranger LE price = quality?

O

Orphanedcowboy

New member
Why are the Silvertips $49 vs the the $18 of the Ranger per 50 for each? Am I missing something quality wise? Performance wise? I am mainly looking for a quality Winchester 40 S&W HP to test along side some others, not just for performance/expansion but accuracy as well.

Thanks
 
Silvertip is a different round, different design, different behavior in testing media, through barriers, (and in people).

They still make Silvertip in 44 Rem Mag, but I don't see it on their site in .40 S&W.
 
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Silvertips are sold through Winchester's civilian division while Rangers are sold through their LE divison. LE ammo is often substantially less expensive than civilian ammo even when its exactly the same. It is not unusual to find 50-round LE-marked boxes of premium ammo like Speer Gold Dots for the same price or less than 20-round non-LE-marked boxes of the same ammo.

Rangers are actually much better ammo than Silvertips are. Silvertips, while good for their time, are a rather dated bullet design while Rangers have another 20 years worth of R&D in their design. The only advantage that Silvertips have over Rangers is that they are often more widely available since many retailers will not sell LE-branded ammo to civilians (even though there is no law against doing so).
 
W-W STHP is one of the original "premium" hollowpoint bullet designs that came out in the late '70s. The Ranger-T bullet is loosely based on the original Silvertip design with the added features of expanding after encountering a wider range of obstacles, having sharp 'talons' which aid in incapacitation, and utilize a flash-suppressed powder that will not blind you in low light conditions.

There's really no comparison between the two in performance; the Ranger-T is just plain better and cheaper.
 
I should probably add that Silvertips aren't universally a bad choice, just that there are better choices in certain calibers. Silvertips are actually quite good in cartridges like .357 Magnum, .41 Magnum, 10mm Auto, and .44 Magnum. These cartridges haven't benefited from the same amount of R&D like others such as 9mm, .38 Special, .357 Sig, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP have. Likewise, these cartridges are all capable of throwing a heavy enough bullet fast enough to perform admirably in spite of comparatively primitive bullet design.
 
Ranger ammo is the best in my opinion. Try the different bullet weights in 40S&W. Some 40 cals can be finicky about accuracy.
 
I'm not sure if it applies to all calibers or only a few, but Winchester redesigned their silvertip bullets to perform more in line with the FBI standards a few years ago. I have seen tests in a couple of calibers that show that the redesigned silvertips are actually quite comparable to other brands of premium hollowpoints. That being said, the Ranger ammo tests at least as well if not still better. Since the Ranger ammo is cheaper (maybe Winchester did discontinue it in 40S&W, although I found it on their website here) I'd go with the Ranger.
 
In 45 LC Silvertips are the worst performing HPs I have seen... I wont buy them unless I had no other choice or Im only plinking paper... Maybe they work better in other calibers...
 
To me at least, the old Silvertips seemed designed to appease the notion that 'over-penetration' was a factor in LE ammo. I shot practically all of them into water jugs and/or wetpack at various times but I somehow missed the .45 Colt. ST's generally penetrated less than conventional JHP's available during the time, but performance varied a lot between calibers. The 10mm, 41 and 44 mag Silvertip loads were all excellent and the 40/155 was well thought of. The 44 and 38 Special ST's didn't impress me at all, nor did the 45 ACP/185. Too little penetration.

I'd buy the Rangers and carry them with confidence. They aren't magic, but then nothing is.
 
Ranger ammo is the best in my opinion.
Click to expand...

+1 on that. I carry ranger ammo in my 9mm (RA9TA), .40 (RA40B) and .45 (RA45TP). Ranger ammo feeds reliably and is extremely accurate in my handguns...plus it's very reasonably priced.
 
$49 vs the the $18 of the Ranger per 50

I don't think they want you to know...
The RANGER ammo. is a remake of the old BLACK TALON and is restricted
to Police and Security personnel.
 
The .41 Mag Silver Tips I have used on hogs are devastating. They penetrate, and expand well. The ones I have used tore some serious wound channels in the hogs I shot. None went anywhere after they were hit.

I think with the magnum offering they get enough velocity to give good expansion, while also penetrating deeply.
 
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