45 self defense ammo?

Question

is the black talon ammo legal or not and is the new sxt ammo the same or not i carry a kimber 45 and usually use hydra-shoks,silvertips or gold dots but have been reading on the black talons some say they are legal to have and are a great personal defense round

Answer 1

Bound's hubby here:

I remember the Black Talon. I also remember Winchester recalled them, mostly because of the racially inflammatory nickname they acquired. I do not remember a law passed outlawing them. However, the Black Talon creates a rather wicked wound. If I had the Black Talons I would use them, if they fed reliably in my pistol.

If I remember correctly, the SXT was Winchester's replacement for the Black Talon. Performance should be comparable. Personally, if your pistol will feed Hyrda-shocks reliably I would use them. I live in a state where possession of hollow-points off your property is illegal and carries a prison sentence. I am left with the option of full metal jacket or semi-wadcutters. The .45 FMJRN made the .45s reputation as a man-stopper, enough said there. The flat surfaces of an SWC induce greater levels of shock, which the handgun hunter wants. Almost any bullet in a .45 will be a reliable man-stopper, just think of how much it expands as being icing on the cake.

Good luck.

Answer 2

The Winchester Black Talon ammo was removed from the market in the 1990's claiming to be to destructive of a round and because of the coating also making the round a "cop killer" a bunch of BS. The Gold Dot rounds are actually a modified Black Talon. Because of accuracy reasons for my .40S&W I use the Hydra-Shoks at work and in a second mag I have 15 of the old Rino rounds that were bought before the nation wide ban. If you are planning of using the gun indoors I would highly recomend using frangible ammo so there are no stray rounds going through your walls down the block posibly hitting someone you don't want to hit.

Answer 3

I have been told that SXT ammo and the golden sabers are virtually the same as Black Talons, but the name got a bad rap. I shoot 40 S & W and use Hydra-shoks, but there are alot of good self defense rounds out there. Hornady's TAP FPD ammo is getting rave reviews.
The key is run at least 100 rds of whatever you want to use in your gun to make sure there are not going to be any problems if you ever have to use your gun.

Answer 4

Black Talon ammo is not illegal. Winchester voluntarily took them off the shelf in response to trauma doctors that claimed the sharp tips were cutting surgical gloves and possibly exposing the doctors to AIDS. I find this rather difficult to accept however because a doctor normally won't be reaching their fingers into wound but would rather be using surgical tools to remove a bullet.

That being said, the most important thing to make sure of that the ammo you pick is 100% reliable in your pistol. That is much more important than any perceived advantage in stopping power. Also there is no such thing as a magic bullet. No bullet design will make up for poor shot placement.

Find a premium round that feed reliable in you Kimber. Practice, practice, and practice some more. And remember, anyone worth shooting once, is worth shooting again. If your are justified in shooting someone, you are justified in continuing shooting them until they STOP doing what ever it was that made you shoot them in the first place.

Good luck!

Answer 5

Black Talon is sold at a high price when it is found but I would not use it.
The FBI did testing on it and Speer Gold Dot kicked its tail. Winchester Talons and SXTs are not bonded, and this causes bullet/jacket seperation. Talon was dropped because of bad publicity and potebtial congressional action-NOT because of some "cop killer" BS. Trama surgeons also complaioned about infection risk from the sharp points of the projectile (Hep C/HIV risk). You will have to cycle different types of ammo to test for reliabilty of chambering. For straight into the target work Glaser Safety Slugs and 165gr Corbon are the way to go. But you must, in the end, check for cycling issues.

Answer 6

Hornady Critical Defense is working well in real shootings. Gold Dot has a good history. I have personal experience ( as a municipal SWAT Sergeant) with suspects being shot with Federal hydrashok 230gr JHP. While no handgun round ( with perhaps the exception of the .357 Mag) is a great people stopper, the Federal HS has , in my experience, opened to about .75 cal and stayed inside the target. To each his own. The "best" is subjective.

Answer 7

Any decent .45 hollow point is fine. Most of the claims you read are advertising hype. The most important thing to consider about bullet choice is if your gun will reliably chamber the round. My Colt does not like 185 gr. hollow points, but shoots the 200 gr. Blazer round 100% of the time.

Answer 8

I would recommend Extreme Shock rounds. They are kinda spendy but check out their website. I recently went and took my conceal and carry class and was told about these rounds. Very impressive. Definitely a good way to go.

Answer 9

All of the rounds you have mentioned are excellent self defense rounds, provided your Kimber will feed them reliably. A solid hit with any of these rounds will deter any attacker.

Answer 10

I don't think you can find the Black Talon ammo anymore. Try Cor Bon or Federal Hydro Shok.

H