What are your thoughts on Winchester's 9mm 147 gr SXT rounds?

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Rockrivr1

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Yesterday I picked up a Kahr PM9 for a very good price here in Mass. These are illegal to sell new, so even finding one for sale around here is difficult. Anyway, this will be my primary carry piece as I think it conceals better then my 642. I'm thinking of loading it with Winchester's 9mm 147 gr SXT rounds. I was going with the 124 gr Hydroshocks, but the guy at the gun store recommended the SXTs over them for the Kahr.

Do you agree with the gun store guy? I've never used the SXTs before so I'm not sure of their performance, but I'm willing to give them a try.
 
I use 147gr. winchester jhp out of my kahr k9. I feel that 147gr. is the best weight in a 9mm. Reliable penetration is key to making sure your hits count. expansion is a distant second.
 
There will always be that same old debate of light and fast vs slow and heavy.

I have noticed in the last few months that lots of people are buying my 147gr for compact and sub compact guns. It seems that the slow and heavy is starting to win the caliber war thanks to modern ammo design.
 
If it were me, I'd try a few hundred rounds of some different defensive 9mm ammunition, and then I'd make my selection from among the ammunition that exhibited acceptable feeding & functioning in my pistol ...

I'd be more concerned about proper maintenance requirements; ammunition tolerance/reliability; and preventing any shooter-related functioning issues from occuring in a diminutive polymer framed 9mm ...

As far as the actual performance differences between the SXT and the L/E SXT-derived T-Series, while both share the reverse taper jacket design, the nose cavities are different in shape and jacketed coverage, as well as the actual notching design, with the T-series having the jacket petals which fold over the cavity edge, protecting the expanding/deforming lead ingot's leading edges, and controlling the expansion ... and not to mention that the jacket petals can potentially fold over/outward in a manner which makes them a potential cutting mechanism. Then there's the other differences besides the actual bullets themselves, as hotpig mentioned.

Hotpig may be able to offer some better information, considering his connections, but last time I asked a W-W L/E rep for some 'gel/barrier performance data' on the commercial handgun ammunition, he said they didn't commonly do much testing intended for public release except for the L/E ammunition lines, since their L/E customers obviously desired the information when making a selection of service ammunition.

Now, I've seen some in-house gel testing info developed from some 2002 testing on some .38 Special, intended for L/E customers desiring performance data for .38 Spl ammunition, and the rep said they obviously tested loads during development.

He told me their new .45 ACP 185gr STHP was still intended to be a 'reduced penetration' bullet design ... which is why they didn't really market it to L/E as service ammunition ... and told me how their in-house testing revealed the expected expansion & penetration of the bullet. He found a single box of it in his trailer and fired a round into the gel block we were using for other testing, and lo & behold, it expanded and penetrated to damn near the exact performance he'd mentioned.

They obviously test, but they don't necessarily advertise the 'performance' of the commercial designs. Maybe it's a PC thing. They were stung in the media rather badly by the Black Talon episode, you know ...
 
The newer 147 grain bullets work better than the old Winchester OSM but the 147 isn't my first choice. I would probably use the 115 grain DPX. The tests I've seen on it are interesting .For a more street proven round the 124 grain gold dot in normal or +p versions has a good track record on the street.
 
+P?

GruntII said:
The newer 147 grain bullets work better than the old Winchester OSM but the 147 isn't my first choice. I would probably use the 115 grain DPX. The tests I've seen on it are interesting .For a more street proven round the 124 grain gold dot in normal or +p versions has a good track record on the street.


Are Kahr guns rated for +P ammo?
 
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