what is bonded ammunition?

[rodder]

I had an opportunity to get some Winchester Ranger SXTs in 45 ACP but now that I've placed my order I've been informed AFTER the fact, of course, that they are out of stock until December. They offered to switch my order from the standard +P stuff (black talon without the scary name) to a bonded version of the same stuff.

Can someone explain what exactly bonded ammo is? and if you think it's a good idea to use this stuff as SD ammo or if I should just wait for the standard SXTs ? I've been carrying federal hydrashoks, but am almost out (been using them at the range to make sure they feed/eject properly in my gun) and I wanted to try out the SXTs after reading a few articles where they performed the most accurately and reliably during tests with various pistols.

links:

bonded: http://www.nles.com/store/customer/p...tid=1985&cat=0

standard: http://www.nles.com/store/customer/p...cat=174&page=1

Thanks!

[rogerxd45]

i think its where they somehow bond the lead to the copper jacket so when it hits a hard surface they dont sperate

[mvician]

http://www.gunsandammomag.com/gun_columns/notes/0508/

"The bonding of the core to the jacket, on the other hand, acts to slow expansion, prevents fragmentation and greatly enhances weight retention. These things promote penetration"

http://www.chuckhawks.com/bonded_bullets.htm

http://www.clearwater-bullets.com/

http://www.officer.com/print/Law-Enf...e-Test/1$27983

[rodder]

Originally Posted by mvician

http://www.gunsandammomag.com/gun_columns/notes/0508/

"The bonding of the core to the jacket, on the other hand, acts to slow expansion, prevents fragmentation and greatly enhances weight retention. These things promote penetration"

http://www.chuckhawks.com/bonded_bullets.htm

http://www.clearwater-bullets.com/

http://www.officer.com/print/Law-Enf...e-Test/1$27983

thanks, I think I may have found some of those links while I was googling. What I've found so far seems to point towards a bullet that retains 100% of it's weight, improving penetration and slowing expansion. I found one article where they were testing bonded ammo by shooting at ballistics gel through auto glass. It seems to be popular with LE for it's penetration abilities. Seems like it would be good for killing BGs and large game, but maybe not a good choice when there might be innocents around who could get hit by the bullet after it's exited the BG. I'm just wondering if I should be using ammo with high penetration for self and home defense ammo. Seem like it might not be the best choice for those things.

Any other thoughts?

[yeldarb]

Originally Posted by rodder

thanks, I think I may have found some of those links while I was googling. What I've found so far seems to point towards a bullet that retains 100% of it's weight, improving penetration and slowing expansion. I found one article where they were testing bonded ammo by shooting at ballistics gel through auto glass. It seems to be popular with LE for it's penetration abilities. Seems like it would be good for killing BGs and large game, but maybe not a good choice when there might be innocents around who could get hit by the bullet after it's exited the BG. I'm just wondering if I should be using ammo with high penetration for self and home defense ammo. Seem like it might not be the best choice for those things.

Any other thoughts?

I've got some too (Remington Golden Sabres). They were all out of the non-bonded ones, but I don't believe that the bonded ammo increases penetration all that much. Not enough to worry about anyway...

[hotpig]

No Ranger SXT or Ranger T-Series is made with a bonded bullet. We do have a Ranger Bonded jhp series of ammo but it is just that, a bonded jhp much like the Gold Dot.

The ammo may not be in as early as December. The ETA on my October 2006 Ranger 45 ammo was March of 2008. I did receive 50k of that order back in May. So maybe it will ship early maybe not.