The WWB JHP is essentially a Winchester Silvertip with a different jacket. It is old technology. Not great performance, not terrible, but I would spend a few more bucks and get something better.
When my life is at stake, I don’t want to have to say that I saved a couple bucks for sake of performance.
On a side note, Winchester silvertips were the same JHP’s used by the FBI agents in the Miami shootout. It was this shootout that resulted in the FBI eventually changing to the .40, as well as their standard for 12″ minimum penetration in ballistic gelatin (preferably 18″).
Fortunately, since then, not only have they upgraded calibers, bullet/JHP technology has taken a step and are better today than they were back then. In short, high quality JHP’s from today probably would have ended the Miami shootout faster than the Silvertips did. Lack of penetration with the silvertips allowed the gunmen in the Miami shootout to live just long enough to kill 2 FBI agents before succumbing to 18 total hits between the two.
I am not sure which grain the FBI agents were using in the Miami shootout though. Will using WWB JHP’s result in your death? Probably not, they will probably do the job, but the same bullet design’s lack of penetration has ultimately led to the deaths of those using them in the past.
In my testing with the 115gr JHP rounds, all rounds expanded and none penetrated more than 4 jugs. Granted, I didn’t use denim and my jugs were filled strictly with water. I was also able to compare the 115gr WWB to a 124gr Speer Gold Dot (not the +P load). The Gold Dot penetrated one more water jug than the WWB.
The improved bullet technology is apparent when you shoot them side by side and compare them. Granted, since they were different grains, it may be somewhat of an apples and oranges comparison.
However, the bonded Gold Dot appears to peel like a banana, allowing it to keep more energy as it travels, whereas the WWB JHP appears to simply flatten creating more drag, therefore effectively bringing the bullet to a quicker stop. I like a bonded bullet because it eliminates core-jacket separation, which allows it to retain more weight and gain more penetration.
I carry 124gr +P Gold Dots in my Glock 19. They are more pricey than WWB, but they are not breaking the bank. I think I was able to buy something like 200 rounds for like $30-35 a few years back, IIRC. It was a pretty sweet deal. Haven’t checked prices recently, but I am sure they (like all other ammo prices) have gone up. I personally believe that if you choose a decent load (and sometimes, even if you choose a marginal load), shot placement will be the deciding factor.