I recently came into about 16 boxes of the old Winchester 200 grain silvertip.

Anyone use these? I know they're an older load, but I'm hoping they're good enough performers I can use them on moose/caribou/possibly black bear.

I would use them in a second, if they grouped with my rifle

Never shot them in a 308, but they worked great in a 30-40 krag winchester 1895. I see no reason why they would not work well.

Thanks guys.

Former owner was an old shooter, and I figured they'd work. But aside from reading Capstick books, I've never known anyone who used them, or actually seen the original.

They should work well if your 308Win rifle wears a barrel with a rate of twist that will stabilize that heavy of bullet. Most off the shelf rifles in this cartridge have a 1/12" ROT and that just won't work, but some have a barrel with 1/10" ROT and that will stabilize bullets through 220 grains.

My first high power rifle was a M700 308. It was what I used for deer and elk. The 200 gr SilverTip was one of my favorite bullets for it. Where we hunted a 200 yard shot was the upper limits of visibility so high velocity/trajectory wasn't an issue. the bullet performed well on anything I shot with it. I wouldn't hesitate to use it on an elk or moose provided the range was within 200 yards. I'm a little jealous because I'm quite a fan of the discontinued SilverTip bullets. Nice going!!!

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I recently came into about 16 boxes of the old Winchester 200 grain silvertip

A 200 gr bullet in 308 kills really well

Im sure it would work just fine, however from a practicle standpoint, I personally like the 200 gr. bullet in the 30-06 or 300 Win. My .308 favors the 150, 165s best and the 180 is borderline heavy for a .308...Not written in stone,just my opine.

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Originally posted by Luckyducker:
They should work well if your 308Win rifle wears a barrel with a rate of twist that will stabilize that heavy of bullet. Most off the shelf rifles in this cartridge have a 1/12" ROT and that just won't work, but some have a barrel with 1/10" ROT and that will stabilize bullets through 220 grains.

Where do you get this? A 12 twist will work just fine with 200 Silvertips or most any other 200, for that matter. The twelve twist was standard for 308's when those Silvertips were sold and Winchester would probably not have loaded them if they would not stabilize. I have fired bullets from 125 to 220 in a twelve twist and all work just fine. Regards, Bill

The only disadvantage to a 200 or 220 gr bullet in a .308 is your losing a lot of velocity for whatever that counts for and the conditions under where you hunt...

I prefer a 150 or 165 gr. bullet for all my .308 hunting that includes packing my Sav. 99 .308 in a saddle scabbard for elk. I also like the 180 gr RN corelokt, and the 165 gr. Nosler partitions under these conditions...otherwise I use my .338 win almost exclusively for elk, and I like the 225 gr. Accubond and .210 Nosler partition about as well as anything..

Had an uncle who did most of his hunting with a Win 88 in 308. He took quite a few elk with that rifle and a few moose. He bought up several boxes of 200 gr ammo because they were on sale. He figured they stopped elk better than 150 or 180 gr bullets and the only downside was the trajectory was quite a bit steeper with the 200 gr than the 150 or 180 gr. Most of his shooting would have been in the bush so 100 yds would be common and 150 yds would be a long shot. I hunted deer with him a few times and he always made sure he set the 200 gr bullets aside. He saved them for elk hunting.

A 200 gr. bullet in the lungs or a 180 gr. bullet in the lungs from a .308 ends up with the same result, penetration is within an inch or two of each other..trajectory is the separator IMO..The 180 wins and the 165 is the equal to both and the best choice for elk and deer IMO..

I reserve the 200 gr. bullets in .30 caliber for the 30-06 and especially the 300 magnums.