http://gunsandammomag.com/cs/Satellite/IMO_GA/Story_C/Winchester+PDX1
Hot off the R&D loading benches of Winchester is the new Bonded PDX1 ammo, designed to satisfy the FBI ballistic protocols.
The "bonded" in the name should be a clue. The lead core is essentially welded to the jacket, so when the hollowpoint expands the two remain attached. Having punched more than a few bullets through auto glass in ballistic testing, I can tell you that jacket-core separation is a bad thing for terminal performance.
The hollowpoint is a six-petaled gaping maw of an opening that promises lots of terminal ballistic performance, and its expansion does not disappoint. Adding reliable feeding to the round is a nickel-plated case or cases, as the PDX1 line is going to start out in six loads in four calibers.
Testing new ammo is tough when you have to practically snatch it off the R&D loading benches to test. That's how early in the process G&A, and my test guns, had sample ammo. In fact, the only ammo available in any quantity for our deadline was .40 S&W. But it did not disappoint: I tested it in three different pistols, and the velocities were right up there. In the gun with the 4.5-inch barrel, the 180-grain bullets clocked 977 fps. Out of the 4.75-inch barrel, they managed a dead-even 1,000 fps, and from the 5-inch gun, 1047 fps. Yowza! That means a Power Factor of 188, making Major even in the dinosaur days of IPSC. You'd really have to be grumpy to refer to such a load as "Forty Short-and-Weak."
Performance was everything you'd expect of a load the FBI is receiving as I write this: Full expansion, with the average of the first five round being .615-inch, and full FBI penetration, averaging 15 inches of gelatin. This is not ammo for the faint-of-heart. Launching a 180-grain bullet in the close vicinity of 1000 fps takes work, and your hand will realize that. But if it is performance you want, this ammo delivers.
The plan for ammunition at the moment is this: .38 Special +P (130 grains), 9mm+P (124 grain and 147 grains), .40 S&W (165 and 180 grains), and .45 ACP (230 grains). Really, what doesn't that cover?
Hot off the R&D loading benches of Winchester is the new Bonded PDX1 ammo, designed to satisfy the FBI ballistic protocols.
The "bonded" in the name should be a clue. The lead core is essentially welded to the jacket, so when the hollowpoint expands the two remain attached. Having punched more than a few bullets through auto glass in ballistic testing, I can tell you that jacket-core separation is a bad thing for terminal performance.
The hollowpoint is a six-petaled gaping maw of an opening that promises lots of terminal ballistic performance, and its expansion does not disappoint. Adding reliable feeding to the round is a nickel-plated case or cases, as the PDX1 line is going to start out in six loads in four calibers.
Testing new ammo is tough when you have to practically snatch it off the R&D loading benches to test. That's how early in the process G&A, and my test guns, had sample ammo. In fact, the only ammo available in any quantity for our deadline was .40 S&W. But it did not disappoint: I tested it in three different pistols, and the velocities were right up there. In the gun with the 4.5-inch barrel, the 180-grain bullets clocked 977 fps. Out of the 4.75-inch barrel, they managed a dead-even 1,000 fps, and from the 5-inch gun, 1047 fps. Yowza! That means a Power Factor of 188, making Major even in the dinosaur days of IPSC. You'd really have to be grumpy to refer to such a load as "Forty Short-and-Weak."
Performance was everything you'd expect of a load the FBI is receiving as I write this: Full expansion, with the average of the first five round being .615-inch, and full FBI penetration, averaging 15 inches of gelatin. This is not ammo for the faint-of-heart. Launching a 180-grain bullet in the close vicinity of 1000 fps takes work, and your hand will realize that. But if it is performance you want, this ammo delivers.
The plan for ammunition at the moment is this: .38 Special +P (130 grains), 9mm+P (124 grain and 147 grains), .40 S&W (165 and 180 grains), and .45 ACP (230 grains). Really, what doesn't that cover?
