.40S&W Ranger 155gr question

[boilergonzo]

Tried a search and came up empty...

CDNN has boxes of 50 of the Win Ranger 155gr, 1195fps, 491ft/lb in their ad, and it says not usually available to the public. How does this differ from the normal stuff on the Winchester web site? Is this old reject stuff, truly LE and tough to get, or what? After a while the names of the same products seem to be tough to distinguish, even with grain and part numbers. For 9mm I have a load I use, but I'm sorting out the .40S&W.

Any insight on this appreciated. Thanks.

[DRT]

Stay away from the 155gr Winchester. The true 'Ranger T' loads are 165gr (RA40TA) and 180gr (RA40T). If it doesn't have those product codes on the ends of the boxes, it's not the good stuff.

[Merkavaboy]

My guess would be that this Ranger 155JHP ammo is either trade-in ammo from a L.E.A. or a contract over-run. It seems to me that the lighter weight 40S&W JHP ammo is not as popular as the standard weight 180gr. JHP ammo for L.E. use.

Be aware that this ammo is not the Talon style SXT ammo, but rather the conventional JHP bullet.

My department still uses the Win. Ranger 180JHP subsonic ammo; the same style ammo that Calif. Highway Patrol first used (with good results) when they first adopted the .40 caliber S&W M-4006 pistol.

Personally, if I were carrying a 40S&W pistol for personal SD, I'd rather use the lighter weight 155 or 165 JHP rather than a 180JHP of the same design because of the possibilities of overpenetration of a BG with the 180's.

If you don't mind a conventional style JHP at higher velocities than the 180's, then you might consider trying a few boxes of the ammo to see how well it functions in your pistol and whether or not you like the ammo.

I suggest that you don't rely upon others' opinions as to what not to get because the great majority of people will be basing their opinions upon what THEY LIKE AND DISLIKE, and not necessarily based on their personal knowledge as to what actually works and what doesn't. Only YOU should make the decision as to what is best for you.

[Gordov2]

I spent a lot of time researching and talking to cops, gun shop owners, reading, etc. For home defense and personal protection in .40 caliber, it's the Winchester RA40T's without question.

[SoFlaDeputy]

Originally posted by DRT
Stay away from the 155gr Winchester. The true 'Ranger T' loads are 165gr (RA40TA) and 180gr (RA40T). If it doesn't have those product codes on the ends of the boxes, it's not the good stuff.

What???? :brickwall: This is what kills me with this Ranger B.S. Winchester on their own L.E. site states that the Ranger 155grn jhp has 1210 fps & 502 ft-lbs coming out the muzzle 165grn Ranger-T only goes less than that and less ft-lbs.And if that doesn't satisfy you go to : www.brassfetcher.com and you can see independent testing of both regular jhp 155grn and both 180grn & 165grn Ranger-T.

[hotpig]

I think he mean do not buy the budget Ranger thinking that it is the T-Series. Some place are leading people to beleive that it is the T-Series.

[Gordov2]

Originally posted by hotpig
I think he mean do not buy the budget Ranger thinking that it is the T-Series. Some place are leading people to beleive that it is the T-Series.

Yes, what he said (above).

[SoFlaDeputy]

What gets me is this : If the regular jhp Ranger is considered "Budget" then why does it have more muzzle velocity and muzzle energy than the Ranger-T ? And in gel tests it expands fully and in some cases fragments creating multiple wound channels just like the old 357 jsp hp magnum round that is so loved by Old Timers !:suntan:

[Snowman92D]

+1

The U.S. Border Patrol has used low-bid, 155-grain generic jhp .40 caliber ammo for years now, and they have excellent results with it. The USBP has never had anything but low-bid Remington, Federal and Winchester 155-grain service ammo for their .40's. As previously noted, the ammo in question is probably a contract over-run or something of that nature. From what I've seen it's a 155-grain Silvertip without the silver plating, so it ought to do well enough to not worry over. Buy some and give it a try. :thumbsup:

[fastbolt]

If the regular jhp Ranger is considered "Budget" then why does it have more muzzle velocity and muzzle energy than the Ranger-T ?

It's generally considered 'budget' because it costs something like less than half of what a similar quantity of T-Series may ordinarily cost an agency. It's also low enough in cost to generally be competitive against other 'lower cost' lines when it comes to LE bids. The 155gr Remington load used by some fed agencies was also the lower cost Express line, among others, which uses a standard JHP design.

Aside from how it caused more wear and tear on their Berettas, they were pleased with it, overall.

When I once asked a Winchester LE rep the reason behind their development of the low-cost Ranger 155gr JHP, he said that since some fed agencies were specifically interested in a low-cost 155gr .40 S&W JHP Winchester wanted to try and meet the need of those users in that piece of that market place.

Why would muzzle velocity and muzzle energy be the yardstick by which it was decided whether or not a caliber/loading was considered 'budget' or low cost? The cost of the components has to be considered by the manufacturer. Less expensive components generally means a final product which costs less to manufacture, although manufacturers will certainly offer some pricing incentives when it comes to large volume orders, especially if they're consistently made over a span of time.

I found it interesting that in this latest state contract Remington was awarded the bid on the .40 S&W load with their GS40SWB Golden Sabre. In a couple of previous contracts they matched the Winchester Ranger RA40180HP (standard JHP) pricing by using their 180gr Express R40SW2C (standard JHP) load. The cost of the Golden Sabre load in this new contract is only about $7 more per case than what we were paying for the regular RA40180HP loads last time.

While I'm sure that it may vary from one part of the country to another, from what I've occasionally heard the 155gr .40 S&W just hasn't turned out to be very popular among LE state & local LE agencies as was originally hoped. This is probably a good thing for the non-LE market, though, as it seems to have resulted in the 155gr Ranger load being available to the non-LE public.

FWIW, I haven't kept up with the tentative development of an even lighter weight .40 S&W load which was being discussed by one of the fed customers using the 155gr bullet weight loads. I sort of remember a 125-135gr bullet being discussed, loaded to a velocity around 1250fps. Maybe BrokenArrow has some up-to-date info on this subject.

[SoFlaDeputy]

By the way I purchased 500rds of the regular Ranger jhp in 155grn a while back and it shoots very well in my G-23 & USP 40f ! Plan on getting another 500rds since its much cheaper than Ranger-T in 165grn.:wavey: