Winchester Powerpoint

[Redmaster]

I shot 2 deer a week ago with my 30-06 and the rounds I used were Winchester Powerpoints 150gr. the first deer was a doe at 250yds and i hit her square in the shoulder penetrating the bone and exiting the other side for a double lung shot. The problem I had was that she ran about 40yds and left zero blood. I found her 40yds away and the exit wound was the same size as the exit wound. Later that afternoon I shot an 8 point at 40yds throught the shoulder again and had the same result with a tiny exit wound.

Have any of y'all shot this ammo before? I have only used it one 1 hunt a few years ago and blasted a doe leaving an enormous exit wound. I will never use these powerpoints again. Has anyone every had the same experience?

[armsmaster270]

Never used them When I hunted with my grandfather he used Remington 150gr bronze points, always shot in the neck and they dropped where hit.

[VaFisher]

I have a freind that was having the same problems until I turned him onto the Hornady SST bullets and what a difference, all the deer now are dropping in their tracks.

[Kreyzhorse]

I'm not sure it's all ammo related, but I swear by Winchester Ballastic Tips. Here is the data on my last three deer and my buddy's buck from this year.

Buck: .308 w/ 150 gr Remington Corelokt @ 40 yards - lung shot, ran about 100 yards leaving a nice blood trail. Bits of lung were in a tree where the buck was shot on the exit wound side.

Doe: 45-70 gov't w/ 300 gr Winchester jacketed hollow points @ 50 yards - lung shot, ran about 100 yards up hill leaving a nice blood trail on both entrance and exit side of wound.

Buck: 7mm Rem Mag w/ 150 gr Winchester Silver Ballastic Tips @ 53 yards - lung shot, took one leap and expired within 10 yards of shot. Zero blood where the buck was shot but blood where the buck expired.

Buck (my buddy's): 30.06 w/ 150gr Winchester Silver Ballastic Tips @ 65yards - lung / shoulder shot, buck dropped virtually where it stood. Blood where the buck has hit on both the entrance and exit side of wound.

As a side note, I've shot several antelope using Remington Corelokts (and two antelope with Ballastic Tips) in both my .308 and 7mm Rem Mag and they have all dropped where they stood. Range was between 50 to 300 yards.

[Swampghost]

Most deer tend to travel a little when hit in 'the boiler room' with a normal 'deer rifle' which is why I try for precision shooting and head shots.

A 40 yd. walk I'd consider about average for a 250 yd. shot and I'm going for the heart/lung at that range. The small hole = more meat to eat.

IMHO the 45/70 is a buffalo gun. I've shot 2 deer with my trapdoor an neither of the results made me proud. Kinda like trout fishing with deep-sea tackle. They definitely dropped where they were as 405 grs. literally took them off of their feet.

[BIGR]

Been years since I used any of those Winchester rounds. I can tell you that Sierra Game Kings and Federal Fusions will do a very nice job on deer.

[elkman06]

Red,
I would be willing to bet that you are experiencing the same issue as me w/ my Hornaday BTSP bullets. They are moving a little too fast at that short of range to open up. Under 100yds they just don't seem to mushroom much. That being said, 90% of my shooting is in the 150-300yd range and they work very well for me. I have shot my last 8 animals w/ them and at the longer ranges they tend to leave baseball sized holes on exit.
As much as I hate them(due to my typical ranges) a silvertip bullet might work better for you. I have found them to open up very rapidly as compared to other soft points.
I have found power points to work well at longer ranges.
elkman06

[SKULLANDCROSSBONES65]

G'day. First off, let me congratulate you on your hunt.
I've been reading a lot in the last week about projectile selection. This is an interesting result from this ammo. One of articles I've read is from " chuckhawks.com/standerd_bullets.htm ".

Have you measured your muzzle velocity with this ammo in your rifle?
Do you know the recommended velocity range for this projectile? (minimum & maximum)

the first deer was a doe at 250yds and i hit her square in the shoulder penetrating the bone and exiting the other side for a double lung shot.

What was the approximate size of the Doe? ( how heavy? )
Did the projectile smash a large bone or just graze/chip a bone?
Do you think that the projectile failed to 'mushroom'?
How did you measure the 250yds?

the exit wound was the same size as the exit wound

Might the exit wound only have been about 0.60" diameter? ( twice the size of the entry hole ).

she ran about 40yds and left zero blood.

Do you expect all game to fall where they stood when hit?
If she had left a blood trail for you to follow would you have been happier?
Was there a lot of blood inside the chest cavity, or on the ground where she fell?

Later that afternoon I shot an 8 point at 40yds through the shoulder again and had the same result with a tiny exit wound.

Was this shot on a similar trajectory as the first?
Did you inspect each lung for damage or are you assuming they were both hit each time?


I am still new to 'game' hunting and am trying to understand what has happened with these shots.

[publius]

I've shot a few of them before and had the same experience as you, dead deer. Seriously, Win Power pt. should be expanding pretty well but bullets do funny things sometimes. Never can tell, I've had Ballistic Tips make small exits and Barnes-X make huge ones? Weird, but it happens. I wouldn't stop using them if they shoot well out of you're gun based on these two incidents.

[Desertfox]

I shoot em and I love em! If you hit the shoulder, it should have exploded. I don't expect double lung shots when I hit the shoulder.
I dropped a mule deer last week at 120 yards with a lung/ exit shoulder shot and it dropped at 15 yards. It was quartering away on the trot.
270 WSM with winchester super X 150 Gr. Power-point.

I have used these bullets since I purchased the rifle. This rifle likes these rounds and groups well, so I use em. First mule deer but have harvested many whitetail with this rifle over the last 4 years with good success.
This round has passed thru some boiler room shots but has done good damage and the deer only travel 20-50 yards. Not much of a problem with the blood trail. Those lungs push out a good trail usually.
I think you can expect to pass thru a lung shot with your round also due to the speed of the bullet. If it hits anything hard, it expands the shock well and usually drops in its tracks.
Side note, I like the bullet to stay in the animal. That way it utilizes all the energy of the bullet into the animal. Pass-thru means wasted energy.

[ENC]

Two deer DRT with them so far this year. My rifle seems to really like them accuracy wise and they are cheaper than some of the more premium bullets. If you don't want yours anymore you can sure send them to me. As above sometimes bullets do funny things. I have been using powerpoints for a few years and haven't lost out any to the ballistic silvertips I was using. In general, I think that any modern soft point bullet that shoots good out of a rifle will do the job for deer. I usually opt for a more premium bullet for tougher animals.

Evan

[Buzzcook]

Redmaster I haven't used Winchester power points. I have had no problem with Remington Corelockts and since I started reloading I've used Hornady 150gr GR ST and only had one fail to expand. That one was similar to your second deer, it wandered less than 60yds.

40yds isn't really that bad all things considered. But there are a bunch of .30-06 rounds to choose from so you'd best start soon if you want to try them all;-)

[Old Shooter]

I just came across this old thread when looking for info on the Winchester Power Point. I dropped a doe and a small buck with my 30/30 on opening week but that isn't the point.
I went to my local gun shop a few days latter and came across a Weatherby Vanguard in 7mm mag with a Nikon scope for an exceptional price and bought it. Not having a big 7 before I went with their recommendation and came home with a box of Winchester 150 grain Power Points. After sighting it in, I took it hunting.
On the 3rd day in my tree stand, an 8 pointer came in. He was quartering towards me a bit and I shot a little high and on the front of his shoulder. He never took a step. After a while I got down to tag him. I broke his shoulder going in and it left a decent hole going out. This was at 25 yards. That bullet had plenty of knockdown power and expansion. I'm sold on the Power Point.

[samsmix]

Your bullets performed excellently.

[Wyosmith]

I, my wife and a few friends all used the 150 grain Winchester Power points 2 years ago on elk and deer. I bought many thousands of them about 25 years ago for use in my military rifles because their sights were all calibrated for 150 grain bullets and the power points were quite accurate. I am down to about 450 of them. But it was 2 years ago I tried them in a bolt action 308 with a scope and found out how accurate they really were. Under MOA from this rifle.
Anyway as luck would have it, we ended up with the 308 available when the elk came by, so that's what we grabbed. I like 180 grain 30 cals for elk, but the timing was such that we didn't have time to get out any other rifle, and the Mossberg 308 was the "loaner" I had along, so that's what was used on the spur of the moment.

In a nut shell, I have to say these bullets were outstanding. Most made exits, and the 2 that I found in 2 of the elk that were recovered retained as much weight as many "premium bullet" I have ever shot, and both broke bone. ELK bone! One weight 124 grains and one weighs 129 grains as recovered. The worst one retained 83% of it's weight and the expansion looks like a magazine advertisement. So when I count them as a good bullet that's not prone to blow up, I think I can speak from empirical evidence. I'd have to guess that killing deer with them would not present any real challenge for them.

As a guide when many years of hunts behind me, I have seen WW Power points used many times in the past. I have also killed many head of game with the 270 grain 375H&H and it'sbeen a supurb bullet. I have not used or seen used every weight in every caliber, but the ones that I have seen and examined that I'd rate as "very good to Outstanding". I'd name the 150 and 180 grain 30 cals, the 150 grain 7MM, the 150 grain 270 and the 270 grain 375.

Not much is said about the old "plane vanilla" WW Power Points in today's gun-rags, but overall, I have to say they are excellent.

[T. O'Heir]

OP is 9 years old.

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

SuperX = Rapid Controlled Expansion i.e.~~Beyond your game.

Peddle that 06. Buy a 270. Never again suffer the indignity of "Where in the hell did it go?"

[samsmix]

Okay, once it was brought to my attention that this was 9 years old, I wasn't going to post again, buuuuut....


Sure Shot, do you really think there is a deer alive that would know the difference between the 30-06, and the .270 (a.k.a the .27-06)?

[ms6852]

I've been hunting for 50 years and the only time any deer has walked a distance before dropping, but never more than 5 yards, is when I have missed the heart, and that is about 8 deer total. I use nothing but Remington Core-Lokt and my rifle is a 30-06. Even if it is a double lung shot hit the deer will take a few steps before dropping. As far as expecting bullet expansion at the short distance you are shooting it maybe there is a flaw in the design. I have no experience in hunting with Winchester bullets.

[reynolds357]

Bulletts do what they do. If you shoot hard bullets, put them on big bones. If you want to shoot lungs, use Bergers or Ballistic tips. I assure you that a Berger lung shot will please you. My favorite deer medicine is a 90 gr bonded Norma in a 257 Wby. It is devesdating on bone or soft meat. It is a tough bullet at hyper velocity, kind of like the best of both worlds.

[hooligan1]

My daughterbtookba nice 7 pointer with a .243 win at 75 yards square in the chest using winchester 100 grn power point, it dissapeared over a small hill and piled up. So I came up with a similar load using Sierra Gamekings and Winchester Supreme 780.
Id pick Gamekings and Partitions over Corelokts and Power points, from what Ive seen in the field.

[jackstrawIII]

I'm surprised that some of you have the expectation of the deer "dropping in it's tracks" as normal.

I've never seen a deer drop in it's tracks with a normal "boiler room" shot. Spine or neck shots, sure, but I don't know anyone who intentionally aims for a deer's spine.

I consider it normal for a deer to run 20-50 yards as it dies from a double lung shot.

[THE]

You just never know how a deer is going to react when you shoot it.
About 8 years ago I shot a yearling buck through both lungs and shot off part of its heart. The bullet entered the left side and exited the right side. The deer stood there for a few seconds , turned around and calmly walk 30 yards in the direction it had come from and fell over dead.

[reynolds357]

I've never seen a deer drop in it's tracks with a normal "boiler room" shot. Spine or neck shots, sure, but I don't know anyone who intentionally aims for a deer's spine.

You obviously have not shot many with a 257 Wby or 7Rum. DRT, DRT, DRT. It is unusual for the deer to take a single step. The 90gr Norma bonded at 3800 fps makes huge whitetail bucks act like they got a ton of bricks dropped on them.

[bamaranger]

It's popular to talk about bullet failure these days........and a good response as penned by John Barsness is, " at what point, in the death of said animal, did the bullet fail?"...or words to that effect.

A chest shot deer will do what it's gonna do.......some drop, some crash off, .... the other posts cover the issue. I do not expect a deer to drop at the shot. If it does, great, but my experience is it is not the norm.

In the OP, the bullet penetrated the shoulder, crossed the chest, and exited, the deer(s) were recovered easily and nearby. Mission accomplished, success, situation normal. The Power Point has been an effective and accepted deer bullet for ages. And it worked for the OP.