Black Talon: Short Life, Long Legacy

Gian Luigi Ferri was 55 when he walked in to the law firm Pettit & Martin. He was a real estate speculator originally from Los Angeles. The 48-story building was located at 101 California Street, San Francisco on July 1, 1993. Ferri was armed with three handguns, and a lot ammunition. He wasn’t at the scene to seek legal advice. Moments later, he had killed eight people and more than 100 police officers surrounded the building. Ferri was not arrested; he took his own life. Prior to that, the Olin Corporation, Winchester, had applied for a U.S. patent on April 2, 1991. Patent #US5101732, awarded on April 7,1992, made the Black Talon Bullet and ammunition a sensation. It was the first defensive handgun cartridge where the jacket had been designed to increase wounding. The soft lead core of a JHP bullet would mushroom over the jacket when it deformed. Black Talon ammo with its nickel case, black Lubalox-coated bullet and nickel case was ominous. The recovered bullets also had a wicked appearance; note the pointed ends of jacket petals. Winchester’s David Schluckebier invented the Talon bullet. The jacket material had a higher copper content than traditional bullet jackets. This made it softer, more ductile and more reliable. The combination of this and expertly placed serrations allowed the jacket to peel off–fold back-reliable and repeatedly–with very sharp edges and numerous talon-like tips. This allowed them to expand/deform with reliability. Winchester needed to increase the thickness of the jacket at the tip of the Talon bullet to keep the petals together and prevent them from peeling too far back. The reverse taper jacket was used to achieve this. The Talon bullets were formed upside down, with the exposed lead core at the bottom. A special punch was then inserted into the bullet to create the hollow-point and serrated or pre-stressed the nose of jacket so that it would peel off. The bullet was then coated with black Lubalox to reduce fouling. This blackness, however, also enhanced the Talon’s unfired foreboding look. Winchester’s advertisements were convincing and the menacing appearance of the upset Talon Bullets was intimidating. Although there is no proof that Talon bullets are better at stopping bad people, the look of the bullets makes you averse to being shot by one. The Black Talon ammunition line was widely reported in the gun media and sold well. The Black Talon bullet (left) has a reverse jacket while the Golden Saber bullet (right) has a solid core. Both bullets relied on their jackets to increase wounding. Stop The Presses! The Talon bullet received a lot of criticism. The media had an easy time with its modern design, which combined with the ominous appearance of the bullet when it was unfired and its wicked-looking deformed form. It was common to hear that it would rip through the human body like buzzsaws. Winchester stopped selling Black Talon ammunition the day before a Dateline Special in which Congressman Daniel Moynihan claimed that the bullet was designed “to rip your guts” out. They may have prevented a federal tax on hollow point-style ammunition. Winchester Black Talon ammunition, under the new name Ranger SXT, became a law enforcement only option. But that is not the end of this story. Schluckebier left Winchester and went to work for Remington, where in 1994 U.S. patent #US5357866 was issued for what would become Remington’s flagship defensive handgun bullet.Patent #US5357866 for what would become the Golden Saber bullet clearly shows how the bullet’s jacket would extend past the deformed core to enhance the upset diameter of the bullet and increase wounding.Schluckebier engineered the Golden Saber bullet similarly to the Talon. The Golden Saber bullet was different because it had a jacket of cartridge brass, which was 70 percent copper and 30 per cent zinc. It also did not have a reversed design. It had a caliber diameter driving band at the back because, with the harder jacket material, a smaller portion of the bullet was required to be bore diameter. It also worked like the Talon, using the deformed coat to increase wounding. It just lacked sharp talon-like tips, the black color, and the nefarious title. The 124-grain+P 9mm Golden Saber is one of best loads for the cartridge. Here you can see how the Talon-inspired jacket petals extend beyond deformed diameter of bullet’s core. The bullet’s hole will be larger. The Golden Saber bullet, and its later bonded versions, are highly trusted JHP bullets used for self-defense. They perform well even after passing intermediate barriers. Their unique design allows the bullet jackets to enhance wounding, helping the bullets mushroom out with a large frontal diameter while still maintaining weight for deep penetration. Many, including me, consider the 124-grain +P 9mm Luger Remington Golden Saber load one of the best defensive loads available for that cartridge.Winchester’s Black Talon ammunition had a short–initially happy but ultimately unfortunate–life. It was only sold to the public for less than two year. It changed the way defensive handgun ammo was marketed forever. Its legacy, or as you could say, its descendant, lives on thirty years later. It was either the 1991 or 1992 SHOT Show. The Gun Digest Annual did not cover it until 1993. Editor’s Note: Originally published in the March 2023 edition of Gun Digest the magazine. More on Defensive Handgun Ammo.NEXT STEP Download Your Free Storm Tactical Printable Target Pack62 Printable MOA targets with DOT drills – Rifle range in YARDSThis impressive pack from our friends Storm Tactical includes62 printable targets for rifle and handgun ranges. The target grids and bullseyes are in MOA. 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