The year was 2009. A bunch of songs we didn’t like topped the Billboard 100 chart, and movies we never heard of were playing in theaters. Some guy was president. This was also the year that Winchester, one of the world’s leading firearm and ammunition manufacturers, introduced their PDX1 line of personal defense ammunition.
PDX1 Debuts
In their late 2008 press release, Winchester boasted that the forthcoming Supreme Elite Bonded PDX1 was the FBI’s new choice of primary service ammo. Designed to maximize terminal ballistics as called for by the FBI’s own test protocol, these cartridges were initially available in 9mm, 40 S&W, 45 ACP, and 38 Special.
What Makes PDX1 Unique
A PDX1 handgun cartridge offers a host of performance enhancing features that make it one of the end-all solutions for personal defense. The bullet’s jacket and core are welded together via a proprietary bonding process. This ensures they stay united for superior weight retention after penetrating barrier and target alike. The jacket and core continue to remain soundly welded together throughout penetration of soft tissue. This is important as the bullet retains the mass needed to create a deep wound cavity.
Winchester designed the PDX1 handgun bullet’s hollow point nose cavity to deliver potent expansion after passing through a variety of barriers, as well as over a range of velocities. We get wide, uniform, and reliable expansion thanks to the copper alloy jacket’s six notches, which yield to form a six-pointed star. A PDX1 bullet can expand up to 1.5 times its original diameter!
Available PDX1 Calibers
Winchester would add new cartridges to their PDX1 lineup in coming years. Today you can also get 9mm +P, 38 Special +P, 45 Long Colt, 380 ACP, and 22 WMR handgun loads from the PDX1 label. Winchester now also offers 223 Rem, 7.62×39, and 308 Win PDX1 loads.
PDX1 Bullet Technology
A PDX1 rifle round still delivers terminal expansion up to 1.5 times its bullet’s original diameter, but uses a different projectile design to achieve that end. The bullet features a protected hollow point to promote certain feeding, and along with its contoured copper alloy jacket initiates fast expansion. Most distinctively, a PDX1 rifle bullet features split core technology. The front core is designed to deliver staggering energy at the instant of impact. Also, the factory welds the rear core to its jacket to provide the weight retention that is so crucial for deep penetration.
Winchester gives their PDX1 handgun and rifle cartridges nickel plated brass shell casings to promote smooth feeding, chambering, and extraction in a semi-automatic weapon. Nickel additionally guards against corrosion, and its sheen makes the round easier to see during a chamber check in dim lighting. Winchester loads its PDX1 rounds with low flash propellant to preserve a shooter’s night vision.
It’s great for self-defense. So good, we named PDX1 among our best 9mm self-defense ammo options and among the best 380 ACP self-defense choices too.
Shotshells Too
If you would fire a shotgun in self-defense, then you may favor Winchester’s PDX1 shotshells with black hulls and black oxide high-base heads. The 410 Bore shotshell (available in 2.5 and 3 inch lengths) is loaded with plated BB shot and “Defense Disc” projectiles. This makes it a highly effective selection for personal defense with a Judge or Governor revolver. Winchester loads the 20 Gauge shotshell with a 3/4 ounce segmented rifled slug. You’ll find the 12 Gauge shotshells with either a one ounce segmented rifled slug or one ounce rifled slug with three plated 00 buck pellets.
Exactly how a PDX1 load overwhelms its target depends on whether it goes in a handgun, rifle or shotgun. The end result is intended to be the same no matter your weapon of choice: you still ticking, and the threat … not so much.
Leave A Comment