I picked these up last night on Arfcom. 4 boxes for $80 bucks shipped. Im not saying they are real or not but how can you tell. I did a little research but get conflicting information.\

Model or item # is- RA40SXN

Oh they are the real deal. Nickle case, black bullet.

I carried them when I was 23 as a police officer. Mine was 9mm. I bought them from a small gunshop in Belton TX. Walked in and said I need a round that will kill a man. Black talons is what he handed me.

One guy that was running for Sheriff of Bosque co shot one in a 55gallon drum of water. To see how it would expand.

He showed a few guys the aftermath. They mushroom out and at the end of the pedals are sharp claws.

Mean stuff.

If you look down the hollow point, youll notice the claws folded up at the center. Around the outside of the hollow point, it has "bumps". Like a closed flower.

Did I get a Good deal?

Yes. It's close to what I paid in the early 90's.

Good. Im gonna go grab the other 4 boxes

Pop one off in some water. They don't play.

I never kept up with ammo changes. I just noticed one day that they were no longer offered. Why, I never knew. Always thought Gold dots and other stuff competed it off the market.

Someone chime in why they stopped making the Black talons.

The ammunition was targeted by those opposed to civilian ownership of handguns.[7][8][9] Some medical personnel were concerned that the sharp barb like tips could potentially cause tears in the surgical gloves and hands of the medical workers, exposing them to greater risk of infection,[2] however there are no documented reports of this actually happening.[10] Most jacketed bullet designs that expand expose sharp edges or corners, yet this had not been raised as an issue by any medical group previously.[original research?]

The ammunition was used by the gunman of the 1993 Long Island Railroad mass murder for his Ruger P-89 9mm pistol. In 1996 a lawsuit was subsequently filed by one of the victim's family members (McCarthy v. Sturm, Ruger and Co., Inc., 916 F.Supp. 366 (S.D.N.Y., 1996)) claiming that Olin Corp. should be liable for the shooting spree based on the design, manufacture, marketing, and sale of Black Talon ammunition. The claims against Olin were dismissed because it was held that the bullets were not defectively designed.[11]

In 1993 Winchester removed the ammunition from public sale,[12] but at no time was Black Talon ammunition uniformly prohibited by law. Winchester's Ranger SXT line of ammunition is of the same basic design.

They got rid of it cause it was so good.....


Unreal

I have to admit of the round Ive seen expand. The black talons were by far the scariest.

Most other rounds just look like open flowers. BT's looked like a pissed off cat coming at your face.

The claws don't fold back. They kinda stick forward.

Their PDX rounds are very similar, I've got a few that I recovered fired into a muddy creek bank. Expansion was impressive and weight retention was around 90% iirc.

I don't think the SXT box brings a premium, even though it is the same projectile (sxt=same exact thing). I sold a box of Black Talons a few years ago for $3 a round. They were neat to have, but not really any more deadly than any other bullet.

Last I heard most doctors use forceps to remove bullet fragments, not their fingers. Just sayin...