Preview: Winchester PDX1 .223 Personal Defense Ammo

Home defense has typically been the domain of the shotgun and the pistol. Rifles seem too long to effectively use in “close quarters” situations and their ammo likes to cut through walls like a hot knife through butter. So it’s no surprise that Winchester Ammunition’s personal defense homepage doesn’t even shot a rifle. Surprise! To address the “over-penetration” issue and enter the HD AR market, Winchester Ammunition has a new product: PDX1 .223 Personal Defense Ammo. As in these boxes were pulled from the first ever batch of production ammo off the assembly line. The new PDX1 ammo aims to provide enough penetration to put down a soft fleshy threat, but not so much that the apartment next door needs to invest in Kevlar wallpaper . . .

This ammo is produced with a 60 grain projectile using some interesting “split core” technology. From their press release:

• Proprietary bonding process—Welds lead and jacket together to work as a unit controlling expansion and providing superior retained weight.
• Hollow point—Works with the bonding process for outstanding performance through tough barriers
• Jacket notching—Six segments help promote positive, consistent and programmed expansion at a variety of impact velocities and ranges.
• Copper alloy jacket—Contoured for maximum expansion over a wide range of velocities/ranges.
• Nickel plated shellcase—Helps ensure positive gun function through smooth chambering and shellcase ejection

Basically, the core and the jacket are bonded together at the back, and the jacket is notched to help in expansion. The theory is that this rapid expansion will slow the bullet down whenever it hits something, drywall included.

Unfortunately, our usual test facility aboard MCB Quantico is down for repairs, so it might take a bit to get these tested. But rest assured, we will be testing every one of their purported properties.