Hey fellas.

I wondered if you guys could tell me if the old black talons (I think they called them) were loaded with the same bullets as the modern Win. Ranger ammo?
(or have the same geometry?)

I ask because (as you guys know) SD ammo is expensive, and it gets costly to try out a bunch of different ammo.
And I have some of the old black talons, I was thinking that if they were still loaded with the same bullets, it would be a way to test out some Ranger without buying some to test. (just for function, and POA/POI)

I'm not even sure what weight these are, but they seem to be a similar OAL as these old Hydrashoks I have laying around.

The pistol to be tested is a BNIB G19 gen3, in case anyone was wondering.

If you guys think this endeavor would be a waste of time, just let me know, and I'll just blast this old ammo off as range fodder.

Any input appreciated.

Ranger T-Series is a relative but design has changed significantly. Black Talon and Ranger SXT produced before 1998 are the same. However since both are collectors items they are too valuable for most people to shoot.

In 2010 there was a production run of RA9SXT except it did not have the black lubalox coat that the old BT and Ranger SXT had. For that reason it is not yet considered collectable.

Black Talon 9mm was only made in 147gr. Ranger SXT was only made in 127+P+ and 147.

I actually researched this and had a conversation with thornejc about it last night.

The black talon was discontinued because of PR concerns (basically) and was produced under the name Ranger SXT. A lot of people say it stands for Same eXact Thing. I carry black talon / Ranger SXT black lubalox coated ammo in my glock 19. It's a great round and performs very well. While many hollow point rounds tend to mushroom, the BT, Ranger, and T series by Winchester make what resembles petals or blades upon impact at a sufficient velocity. This is due to the copper jacket being thicker in the front than in the back, rather than with a regular bullet, where it would be thicker in the back rather than the front. The blades, with the spin of the bullet imparted by the rifling, make a pretty nasty wound channel. And as we all know, nasty wound channels tend to bleed faster.

Mine right now are 147gr, and I REALLLY don't want to waste any of my box of 50, but I may put a round into a pork shoulder and take some pics for the forum (and then bbq the shoulder and eat it mmm). If anyone has a Winchester T series or whatever 9mm bullet and wants to mail me 1 round I'll shoot some pork with that too for a comparison. From what I've seen involving rounds recovered from water expansion testing, the T series bullets will open up just a little more. But I digress.

The Ranger SXT is BASICALLY the same thing as the Black Talons, minus the Lubalox coating on the newer ones. This coating had nothing to do with actual performance of the bullet; rather, it is to protect the barrel and the black color is from the heavy oxidation of the copper jacket. Shoot away with either, but remember, you get more street cred from having those black bullets.