With all the interest in things like HST's and Gold Dots I thought it might be interesting to see how a couple of the less expensive hollow point loads perform in gel.

This is the 230gr Winchester White Box USA45JHP 45 Auto load as sold by Wal-Mart and other big box stores compared to a rival's 230gr JHP load. The rival's load is also available from major retailers, etc.

I first fired two rounds of the WWB into bare gel from 10 feet to get a baseline. These two bullets penetrated 16.5 and 15.5 inches. The chrono only picked up the first round and gave me a muzzle velocity of 847.7 feet per second.

Next I fired two rounds of WWB through the cotton/insulation/denim fabric. Velocities were recorded as 893.7 and 846.6 feet per second. Penetration was 23 and 23.5 inches through clothing.

I finished the morning with two rounds from the rivaling company. These two rounds gave muzzle velocities of 800.8 and 788.6 feet per second. In both cases the bullets penetrated the first block and entered the second. Penetration in bare gel was over 30 inches with both bullets. Given the excessive penetration and lack of expansion in bare gel I didn't shoot any of these through the clothing barrier.  Given the lack of penetration I figured I'd withhold the name of this ammo.

The rival load did pretty much exactly what I figured it and the Winchester bullets would do. Act like hardball and show excessive penetration. But it turns out the Winchester bullet actually did alright. Probably not the best choice on the market for defensive purposes but I think it would do alright in a pinch.

Here are some photos:

The Winchester bullets are on the left and center. Clothing barrier on top. Rival bullets on right.

Micrometer measurements for the Winchester. Bare gel .76in clothing .58in.

All six recovered projectiles are still in the 230gr weight range give or take a few 10ths.






Thanks for reading!

I had always wondered about the WWB JHP so thank you. But why would you withhold the manufacture and model of the ammunition that failed to expand?

Ain't no such thing.  Thanks for testing.  Some nice expanded hollowpoints there.

Thanks for posting your results and it is good to see the Winchester white box did pretty good in bare gel.  In Florida I imagine bare gel is pretty close to what most people wear as the typical attire is a t-shirt.

Yeah that's probably true.

I think a "cheap stuff" series is a great idea.  A lot of us have it as backup ammo.

Keep up the good work.

I've shot a few other bullets in 9mm through a couple different clothing layers. Light clothing  (one layer of cotton) really doesn't seem to change anything vs bare gel. I assume that's true of other calibers as well.

I have some 115gr 9mm CBC ammo that'll probably be next.

IIRC this ammo was the foundation of the design of the Talon technology and you can see it in these expanded bullets. I have carried this ammo in a pinch before. I wonder what the other was? Remington plan jane?

I agree, the likely hood of a round over penetrating and hitting an innocent bystander is highly over rated.

My first carry setup was a Ruger P90DC and WWB 230jhp.  I had 2 50rd boxes, a SKS M with 150rds and was ready for Y2K!