Just curious if anyone has tried them? I had a chance to try them recently and I must say that I'm impressed. They expanded beyond belief and really penetrated well. My confidence in 9mm has been renewed.

my father in law shoots them, and he likes them well enough. using a good, high quality hollow point dramatically increases the stopping power of a 9mm. personally, after shooting his 9, i went and got a springfield XD in .40 s&w. the difference in power is unbelievable. if i were to chose a handgun for defense, it would either be a 10mm or a .40 s&w. if you like the hydra-shocks, check this out www.rbcd.net

JB, that's what we use for issue ammo, in our 40s, 45s, and 9mms. I use them in my Sig as well as my Glock. Excellent bullet in my opion, the best on the market right now.

I like them as well. If it gets carried it has Hydra-Shocks in it

TT85,
I also own a Ruger .40 & I love it...

Roy,
Have you ever seen these things after they've been fired? It's a nasty bullet for sure. Surprisingly the copper jacket stays together really well too.

I don't want to hijack this thread but the original question seems to have been addressed. My Glock 19 is loaded with Black Talons. Does anyone know how they compare to the Hydra-Shocks?

I may be mistaken but weren't the "Black Talons" outlawed except for use by law enforcement?

I'd still like to hear some pros and cons on the Hydra-shocks.

Quote:

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weren't the "Black Talons" outlawed

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I guess I should have Googled it before I asked. Here's the scoop on the Black Talon. As you'll see, it wasn't outlawed; just pulled from the commercial market.

Black Talon

If I carry that is the round I will have with me im my 9mm Sig. Great round. Owsome stoping power.

I too like the Hydra-shock line of ammo. Black talon is still made under Winchester's Ranger Leo line of ammo. Several loads are +p or +p+ good stuff . Winchester markets it only to LE however it's not illegal to buy it, you just have to look around. This site is focused on the Hi-power but it has some good articles on different types of 9mm ammo. http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/HiPowerComments.html

http://mahsupplies.net/ Winchester Ranger ammo

If I remember right, the Hydra-Shock was developed to meet the then-new FBI requirements in the late 80's-early 90's. They had that shootout with bank robbers in Florida where two bad guys took out a whole squad of Feds even though the bad guys each had multiple hits from handguns, most firing Silver Tips. The new requirements called for things like expansion, but also the ability to penetrate wall board, auto glass, etc. without plugging up the cavity and ruining the HP effect. Black Talons, Hydra-Shocks, and Speer Gold Dots were the first bullets to pass that testing.

Black Talons were voluntarily pulled from the market during the anti-gun frenzy of the Clinton years. They are not illegal and I have bought some in recent years from a store's old stock, but they are exorbitantly priced. Luckily, I have a supply left from the LE days, but only in 9mm. Ranger Talons are the substitute for Blacks, but they have a greatly reduced velocity. I have heard that the original Talons would penetrate body armor and that's why they reduced the velocity, but that's just the scuttlebutt. The projectiles are the same, but Rangers have brass cases while Blacks have nickel-plated cases.

I bought a good supply of the Rangers from Graf & Sons a few years ago, but I don't remember if I had to show my LE credentials or not. I've considered reloading the projectiles at a higher velocity, but that's a ways down on my to-do list.

One more link about the black talon line of ammo. http://www.thegunzone.com/black-talon.html

WHAT?

It's what we are issued to carry in our Sig 229s.