Winchester Law Enforcement Ammo
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wlewisiii
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When I lived in the big city and carried a Glock 19, I loved the 127 gr +P+. I have no doubt this would be equal quality. There was an ammo shop out of OK whose name escapes me that always had the LEO stuff cheap.
fastbolt
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It was state-of-the-art for Winchester LE ammo in the last half of the 90's. It was most commonly seen with black Lublox coated bullets and brass cases, but the company would make special runs, if requested, typically packaged in plain white boxes with "Q" designations (instead of RA9SXT), and if requested they'd leave the black coating off the bullets and load them in nickel cases.
The next version, which still contained the SXT designation in the name, but a symbol code of RA9T, benefited from some revision. As I recall, a major revision was that they lowered the velocity window for expansion in response to the growing popularity of shorter barreled pistol used by LE for plainclothes & off-duty. Some changes in the jacket notching & petal cuts was involved.
The last revision still used the RA9T symbol code, but the SXT designation in the name (on the box end flap) has been replaced with the T-Series designation. I have some of this latest version, but I haven't personally witnessed any testing of it, yet. They've reportedly tweaked the jacket design to prevent the "petals" from over-expanding and rolling over and under the leading edge of the mushroomed lead core. The new design, when expanded as designed, looks rather like a starfish, with the jacket petals expanding outward, but not folding back and under.
This is picture shows a couple boxes of the SXT/RA9SXT and then the following SXT/RA9T. I don't think I've taken any pictures of the current T-Series/RA9T box yet. (I've used more of the 127gr +P+ SXT/RA9SXTP & then the SXT/RA9TA version, as those were issued loads for some time.)
After a while, you almost needed a scorecard to keep the SXT/T-Series variations straight.
What with having used that LE ammo line in 9, .40 & .45 ... and 2-3 variations of it across each caliber ... I still find myself grabbing a box of either an older or newer version at one time or another. It doesn't cost me any sleep, though.
The next version, which still contained the SXT designation in the name, but a symbol code of RA9T, benefited from some revision. As I recall, a major revision was that they lowered the velocity window for expansion in response to the growing popularity of shorter barreled pistol used by LE for plainclothes & off-duty. Some changes in the jacket notching & petal cuts was involved.
The last revision still used the RA9T symbol code, but the SXT designation in the name (on the box end flap) has been replaced with the T-Series designation. I have some of this latest version, but I haven't personally witnessed any testing of it, yet. They've reportedly tweaked the jacket design to prevent the "petals" from over-expanding and rolling over and under the leading edge of the mushroomed lead core. The new design, when expanded as designed, looks rather like a starfish, with the jacket petals expanding outward, but not folding back and under.
This is picture shows a couple boxes of the SXT/RA9SXT and then the following SXT/RA9T. I don't think I've taken any pictures of the current T-Series/RA9T box yet. (I've used more of the 127gr +P+ SXT/RA9SXTP & then the SXT/RA9TA version, as those were issued loads for some time.)
After a while, you almost needed a scorecard to keep the SXT/T-Series variations straight.
What with having used that LE ammo line in 9, .40 & .45 ... and 2-3 variations of it across each caliber ... I still find myself grabbing a box of either an older or newer version at one time or another. It doesn't cost me any sleep, though.
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col_temp
Member
I got a half case for a great price and have not had any problems with it.
Hope you got a good deal on the price!
Hope you got a good deal on the price!
Not a good deal, but I have been looking for 9mm defense ammo and this is the first I found in 50 round boxes. A litle over a $1 a round......but now I have some. I only had target ammo before this showed up. Locally the 20 round boxes I found were too much dinero.
Giterboosted
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I carry it in all calibers I can get my hands on, hasn't ever disappointed. As of now the only wish I have about it is that I find some in .357 but I don't believe it's made
fastbolt
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I used to be able to buy it in all calibers for $12.95/50-rd box at individual LE pricing, but nowadays it usually seems to run $24.95/50-rd box.
It's very good ammunition, and $25/50-rd box seems reasonable, but I wouldn't go out of my way to find it or pay exorbitant prices for it (or any other high end ammunition, for that matter). There's enough good quality, modern hollowpoint designs on the market.
Of course, with the ammunition run occurring, and commercial pricing being what it is, good high-end .357 Magnum ammunition is being priced significantly higher (as is .44 Magnum, which I saw while recently browsing some stores).
Anyway, the PDX1 is bonded, while the standard Ranger T-Series/SXT isn't bonded. I don't typically prefer to use bonded handgun ammunition, just for the sake of it being bonded, but some informal hosted gel testing of the PDX1 loads (along with the T-Series) made it look interesting in a couple of calibers. Not the same degree of expansion as the non-bonded T-Series, but pretty good compared to the older style hollowpoints.
I especially found the results of the 130gr RA38B (PDX1) +P .38 Spl to be interesting, and I picked up a case of it to add it into my other regular carry loads for my 5-shot J's.
It's very good ammunition, and $25/50-rd box seems reasonable, but I wouldn't go out of my way to find it or pay exorbitant prices for it (or any other high end ammunition, for that matter). There's enough good quality, modern hollowpoint designs on the market.
Of course, with the ammunition run occurring, and commercial pricing being what it is, good high-end .357 Magnum ammunition is being priced significantly higher (as is .44 Magnum, which I saw while recently browsing some stores).
Anyway, the PDX1 is bonded, while the standard Ranger T-Series/SXT isn't bonded. I don't typically prefer to use bonded handgun ammunition, just for the sake of it being bonded, but some informal hosted gel testing of the PDX1 loads (along with the T-Series) made it look interesting in a couple of calibers. Not the same degree of expansion as the non-bonded T-Series, but pretty good compared to the older style hollowpoints.
I especially found the results of the 130gr RA38B (PDX1) +P .38 Spl to be interesting, and I picked up a case of it to add it into my other regular carry loads for my 5-shot J's.
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