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Back in August I attended a ladies-only personal defense event hosted by Winchester and Sound Gear, where we got up close and personal with PDX1 Defender ammo.
In this video, I shot a watermelon from 12 feet away with a 12-gauge Winchester Defender Segmented Slug (the slug is cruising at about 1600fps, but it’s been slowed down for your viewing pleasure).
The cool thing about this slug is that it goes down range as one projectile, and then breaks off into three separate pieces when it hits the target.
As the slug segments, its energy is dispersed. It’s designed to penetrate only 12-18 inches (which we saw consistently through gel demonstrations). And if you don’t hit the center of your target, the slug gives you a bit of wiggle room, spreading in an 8- to 10-inch radius. This gives you a more efficient shot with better knockdown power.
For the shotshell nerds out there, here’s Winchester engineer Ben Frank’s take on the Segmented Slug: “This slug has a hollow base cavity. This keeps the weight of the projectile forward. Think of it as being top-heavy. The weight in the nose is a big reason why this style slug is accurate through your standard smooth bore guns. This particular slug was designed with three notches on the nose. The hollow base cavity is notched to correspond with the notches on the nose. This helps to ensure consistent and reliable separation upon impact.”
“The penetration of the segments ranges from 12 inches to 18 inches in 10 percent ballistic gelatin. The individual pieces typically penetrate about 16 inches on average. This is true out to about 40 yards (Guns with barrels longer than 18 inches will allow for segmentation at even longer ranges). At close range, a tremendous amount of energy is deposited early on in the target. The temporary wound channel is largest in this scenario. At longer ranges, the temporary wound channel is still greater than a standard Foster-slug. The segmenting action again ensures the energy is deposited in the target. The slug pieces penetrate roughly the same distance regardless of range. This is due to the balancing act of how the energy is spent within the block. The segmenting action of this slug does a great job of depositing energy quickly and efficiently into the intended target providing massive stopping power.”
More videos from the Winchester shoot:
The Winchester PDX1 Defender Event
Best Handgun For Personal Defense
Best Way to Carry a Handgun in a Purse
_Best Way to Carry a Personal Defense Handgun
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