Pow'r ball ammo
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Billy Shears
New member
Where did you find that sentiment, either expressed or implied, in this thread?
I'm ok with that as long as you're ok with fragmenting rounds that enter the chest cavity being highly efficient. More so, IMO, than the 14" of penetration in calibrated gelatin.
BOTTOM LINE: Ammo that penetrates too much or too little loses it's effectiveness. And, yes, you can make an argument for going with the excessive penetrating round that at least makes it to the vitals (and well beyond)---even if it penetrates at the expense of expansion.
I believe the fastest incapacitation is achieved by bullets that come apart inside the chest cavity and shred vitals with pieces of bullet jacket.
Like the 125 gr. .357.
Unfortunately, bullets that come apart as mentioned, often perform poorly against barriers. And sometimes don't penetrate enough cross torso, or where larger, fat layered (or muscled?) individuals are concerned.
Today we have excellent bullets that penetrate and expand. Some have already been mentioned. DPX, Gold Dot, HST, and even the aging Golden Saber is still very good.
Nobody seems to be a fan of bullets that fragment, anymore. Even non bonded GS doesn't shed it's jacket in gelatin, though it may loosen.
PowerBall is good choice for excellent ballance between feed reliability, reliable expansion, and low penetration. It has performed pretty well in actual shootings, but it hasn't been spectacular.
orionengnr
New member
Or perhaps, inability to read and comprehend.
Pretty much everything I have read, here and elsewhere, indicates that PowR'Ball is gimmick ammo, similar to Glaser, MagSafe, X-Treme-crap or what ever they call it these days. I'm going out on a limb and including Critical Defense, based on some of the pics I have seen here and elsewhere.
My advice, worth exactly what you paid for it:
Use a quality JHP, preferably one that is heavy for caliber. Such loads as Gold Dot and Federal HST seem to score well in most calibers.
I have a large-ish stash of Winchester Ranger in both .45acp 230 +p and 9mm 127+p that will last me a few years, and there is a reason for that
When I bought in, they were among the best loads available, and they feed well in my carry guns. They have not gotten any worse, although some have gotten better.The CorBon DPX, which tends to be light for caliber, seems to be the exception to this rule. I have a bunch of .45 DPX, a bit of 9mm and a box or three of .380.
This design is compelling. Consistent expansion and penetration is the hallmark of this round. Do some reading on the DPX--it may not be the final word in SD ammo, but it is a breed apart, and may be the best coice out there if it feeds in your particular handgun.
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zombieslayer
New member
Someone stated earler that the PowRBall had a rubber tip, but its more like a hard plastic.
I use the stuff and I like it.
I use the stuff and I like it.
orionengnr
New member
Yes, the DPX uses the Barnes X-bullet.
Regardless of caliber, regardless of intermediate barrier, they seem to be an exceptionally consistent performer. Every pic I have seen of one is fully expanded.
I have yet to see anyone who has a single negative thing to say about the DPX...cost and availability notwithstanding.
Regardless of caliber, regardless of intermediate barrier, they seem to be an exceptionally consistent performer. Every pic I have seen of one is fully expanded.
I have yet to see anyone who has a single negative thing to say about the DPX...cost and availability notwithstanding.
A statement that I hear parrotted quite often.
Ft. lbs. of energy represents the ability to do work. Properly channeled with the right bullet design, it's not meaningless at all.
A bigger hole that goes deeper doesn't sound meaningless to me.
Nor is energy everything, since over penetration wastes it and does nothing to promote bullet expansion.
Only when the bullet design isn't up to the task does it become meaningless since the energy isn't harnessed.
Energy can be channeled to drive a bullet fast enough to both penetrate and expand to a greater degree than bullets driven with less energy.
And then there's the temp. cavity which increases with velocity. Because it's hard to measure, some deny it's existence. I don't. But at pistol velocities it's not, in it'self, dependable with re: to causing reliable incapacitation. Some individuals are affected by it. Others are not. Doesn't mean in the latter case there wasn't any.
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Steve_in_SEMich
New member
I have some Pow'rBall that I tested for functioning in 9mm, .40 & .45. All functioned well in my handguns.
While the 165gr load may be on the lighter side for .45ACP, it's equal in weight to some of the more popular .40 loads and is heavier than almost all of the 9mm loads.
If you can accurately shoot the heavier .45 loads, then I can see the "inferior" label being applied to the 165gr .45ACP Pow'rBall load. But for many shooters, this load is potentially more effective or as effective as the 9mm & .40 loads. Like an earlier TFL poster referenced, I sure wouldn't feel under-gunned with the Pow'rBall load. 165grs delivered at 1400fps = Ouch!
While the 165gr load may be on the lighter side for .45ACP, it's equal in weight to some of the more popular .40 loads and is heavier than almost all of the 9mm loads.
If you can accurately shoot the heavier .45 loads, then I can see the "inferior" label being applied to the 165gr .45ACP Pow'rBall load. But for many shooters, this load is potentially more effective or as effective as the 9mm & .40 loads. Like an earlier TFL poster referenced, I sure wouldn't feel under-gunned with the Pow'rBall load. 165grs delivered at 1400fps = Ouch!
seeker_two
New member
I like Pow-R'Ball for what it is....a limited-penetration (@11" no matter what barrier) hollowpoint that feeds well in most any pistol that can use FMJ. Another advantage to PRB is that it doesn't take 200+ rounds to demonstrate reliability. If a pistol feeds 100rds. FMJ and 20rds. PRB, I'm satisfied.
In my pistols, my first mag is PRB and the reload is FMJ...for those times I have to punch a hole through something in order to put a hole in something....
In my pistols, my first mag is PRB and the reload is FMJ...for those times I have to punch a hole through something in order to put a hole in something....
Fragmentation is an issue which I think is often poorly understood and oversimplified. Sometimes it's a good thing, sometimes it's a non-issue, and sometimes it's a bad thing depending on the circumstances.
What you really need to be looking at when it comes to fragmentation is not just if it fragments, but how it fragments. In centerfire rifles, you often see bullets that break at the cannelure and then send relatively large fragments tumbling fairly deep into the target. This isn't bad because the bullets still penetrate deeply enough to reach vital organs and the tumbling does increase wounding potential somewhat.
With Magnum revolvers, you often see bullets which shed their jackets, but the bullet core remains largely intact and the jacket fragments are relatively large and still penetrate deeply enough to strike vital organs. The famous Remington and Federal .357 Magnum 125grn semi-jacketed hollowpoints are a good example of this. When examining such bullets, it becomes apparent that the jacket is really only there to prevent excessive leading of the barrel at the relatively high velocities at which these bullets travel. The jacket itself is rather thin and represents a pretty small portion of the bullet's weight (10-20grn).
With semi-automatic handguns, however, you usually see fragmentation in which the entire bullet, jacket and core, comes apart into many relatively small portions that penetrate shallowly. This is a bad thing because these fragments usually don't penetrate deeply enough to reliably reach the vitals.
Basically, the difference between good and bad fragmentation is how deeply the bullet penetrates before it fragments and how large the individual fragments are. Exploding on impact, as many semi-auto bullets do, is not desireable but shedding large fragments well into the target isn't all that bad.
What you really need to be looking at when it comes to fragmentation is not just if it fragments, but how it fragments. In centerfire rifles, you often see bullets that break at the cannelure and then send relatively large fragments tumbling fairly deep into the target. This isn't bad because the bullets still penetrate deeply enough to reach vital organs and the tumbling does increase wounding potential somewhat.
With Magnum revolvers, you often see bullets which shed their jackets, but the bullet core remains largely intact and the jacket fragments are relatively large and still penetrate deeply enough to strike vital organs. The famous Remington and Federal .357 Magnum 125grn semi-jacketed hollowpoints are a good example of this. When examining such bullets, it becomes apparent that the jacket is really only there to prevent excessive leading of the barrel at the relatively high velocities at which these bullets travel. The jacket itself is rather thin and represents a pretty small portion of the bullet's weight (10-20grn).
With semi-automatic handguns, however, you usually see fragmentation in which the entire bullet, jacket and core, comes apart into many relatively small portions that penetrate shallowly. This is a bad thing because these fragments usually don't penetrate deeply enough to reliably reach the vitals.
Basically, the difference between good and bad fragmentation is how deeply the bullet penetrates before it fragments and how large the individual fragments are. Exploding on impact, as many semi-auto bullets do, is not desireable but shedding large fragments well into the target isn't all that bad.