Winchester Ranger T-Series 9mm 127gr +P+ in Clear Ballistics Gel.


Test Gun: Sig P229, Beretta Nano.

Barrel length: 3.9 inches, 3 inches.

Ammunition: Winchester Ranger T-Series 127gr +P+ (RA9TA)

Test media: 10% Clear Ballistics Gel.

Distance: 10 feet.

Chronograph: PACT 1 XP with inferred sky screens.


I finally had the opportunity to try some ammo out and today’s pick was the Winchester Ranger T-Series 127gr +P+. I got an average velocity of 1237fps last year when I shot it out of my Glock 19. This round has been around for a while and it appears to be a Black Talon without the black coating. Two rounds into bare gel and two into heavy clothing with the Sig P229 with a 3.9-inch barrel and then two round into bare gel with the Beretta Nano with a 3-inch barrel.

The first round from the Sig into bare gel had a velocity of 1239fps penetrated to 18.5 inches and expanded to .64 inches. Round two hit the gel at 1225fps and penetrated to 19.25 inches with an expansion of .67 inches.


Into the heavy clothed gel, both rounds passed completely through both 16-inch gel block and were not recovered. It suggests to me that neither one expanded. The velocity was 1221fps for the first round and 1225fps for the second.

Out of the Nano, round one had a velocity of 1200fps expanded to .57 and penetrated to 16.5 inches. There was only slight deformation of the hollow point but nothing one would call expansion. It had a velocity of 1171fps and penetrated to 29.5 inches.



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  1. Got same results with a Glock 17. Winchester went out of its way to screw the pooch here. Older (90’s) lots worked perfectly


  2. I have heard that the Ranger-T/T-Series stuff in 9mm generally is very spotty from batch to batch. Some batches give absolutely picture-perfect, textbook perfect performance in gelatin, and some–don’t. I have heard an Internet rumor, for whatever it’s worth, that due to this projectile’s extreme popularity and the huge demand for it from law enforcement, Winchester/Olin runs the production lines 24/7/365 and how well any given batch is going to perform is dependent on how worn the bullet forming tooling is. Olin/Winchester seems to want to keep cranking them out even when the tooling has worn to the point where the hollowpoint cavities are not properly formed, the bullet jacket is inconsistent in thickness, and so on. We don’t see this with the other calibers mainly because they don’t make or sell enough T-Series in .40 or .45 to wear the tooling out on those production lines. Take it for whatever it’s worth. Winchester White Box 147gr hollowpoints in 9mm are enormously more consistent batch to batch than T-Series, and are usually a lot less expensive. In between ammo panics, anyway.


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