Winchester Ammo News - Ammunition is an important part of using a gun for self-defense. With the Defender 380 rail and ammunition, Winchester Ammunition hopes to carve out a niche for shooters who carry small pistols. Target shooters, competitive shooters, and especially victims of violent crime all want a bullet that flies and spins reliably on target. This line offers something for every type of shooter.
Called Rail and Defender, this line of ammunition is designed with new shooters in mind, but also suitable for anyone looking for a simple solution for both personal defense and practical needs. The line offers two loads of each caliber, one cartridge is a hollow-shell (JHP) protective charge and the other uses a less expensive full-metal-shell (FMJ) bullet. FMJ duplicates the ballistics of a defensive load, so your own defensive load should be the same as the cartridge you practice with.
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Widener’s Reloading and Shooting Supply contacted me to see if I would be interested in reviewing the line, as I did with Hornady Critical Defense in .357 Magnum. As a longtime customer of Widener's, I was pleased to partner with them on this review of the Winchester Rail and Fender 380. Be sure to read my background to understand any possible biases in this review.
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In December 2013, Winchester announced the firing train and line of defense during its regular ammunition launch at the 2014 SHOT Show. There were only four options at launch; .45 ACP was not an option. The company soon corrected it, and now the famous cartridge can be found in the line.
In most calibers, the weight tends toward the heavier end of conventional bullets. For example, the 9mm uses a 147 grain bullet and the .45 ACP uses a 230 grain bullet. The loads discussed here are in .380 ACP. Both the FMJ and JHP use 95-grain bullets, which is pretty standard for this caliber.
All loads have standard pressure, auxiliary rounds. According to Winchester, these loads were designed to "limit the feel of the shooter." Lower velocities help reduce muzzle twist and recoil sensitivity compared to +P loads.
It is easy to distinguish two loads by the same parameter. In addition to various bullet designs, defense bullets use nickel-plated casings. Standard brass bodies are used for training loads.
Winchester 'double W' Ammunition Display Board In Frame
The packaging of the two products is also different. Training bullets are supplied in boxes of 50 rounds, and blanks are supplied in boxes of 20 rounds. In addition, training ammunition is marked with a large black letter "T" on a yellow background. Defensive ammunition has a black letter "D" on a yellow background.
FMJ ammunition, sometimes referred to as bullet ammunition, is commonly used for standard target shooting and practice. It is generally cheaper than other bullets.
Even though the ball is not round, but flat, it should still serve more reliably than a hollow one. Most modern rifles do not require FMJ ammunition to feed reliably, but older rifles may have problems with hollow point ammunition.
Rail loads in this Winchester line are typical of FMJ cartridges. I loaded and shot them with five different .380 ACP pistols that I had on hand. All cartridges fed reliably and provided acceptable accuracy out to 15 yards (the maximum distance I shot from).
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Performance is measured using a Competition Electronics Prochrono digital chronograph 15 feet from the muzzle of the gun. All measurements are averages of five shots.
Winchester rates these .380 cartridges at 950 fps from a 3.75-inch barrel. Only one gun I shot had a longer barrel: Rock Island Armory's Baby Rock. However, I averaged 903 fps on my Prochrono chronograph.
Other rifles I have shot have much shorter barrel lengths, and the velocities I measured from these rifles were less than 950 fps. Averages ranged from 819 fps for the Ruger LCP II to 853 fps for the SIG P238.
Winchester gives the same velocity specification for D ammo as it does for T: 950 fps from a 3.75-inch barrel. The Baby Rock had the highest velocity of any rifle I shot, averaging 900 fps over 5 shots.
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The other rifles showed the same numbers as the training bullets: 815 - 847 fps, depending on the rifle. For details, see in the table below.
Performance is measured with a Competition Electronics ProChrono digital chronograph approximately 15 feet from the muzzle of the gun. All measurements are averages of five shots.
Like practice ammunition, the defense fed everyone and fired reliably. I haven't had any crashes with any of them.
I'm not debating which caliber is better for self defense, but at low power the .380 ACP worries me. It's at the edge of my comfort zone to protect my family.
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Velocity is an important tool in ensuring the propagation of a hollow point bullet. Modern designs do not depend on the speed of expansion. However, with velocities of less than 900 fps in most guns, I fear that reliable expansion may be too much to hope for in such a load.
I checked out Bruce F's preemptive gear on the pocket gun and gear site. Carr used a .380 pistol with a 3-inch barrel in his experiments. Expansion was inconsistent, and when the bullet expanded, it only had about 9 inches of penetration. Below is a test video:
I have to say that I am very confused by the bullet train and the defense line. On one hand, I appreciate that Winchester created the line to simplify the recruiting process for the shooting community.
On the other hand, I wasn't happy with the defensive shot. For self-defense ammunition, low velocities combined with a typical hollow point indicate a lack of reliable expansion and target penetration. Bruce's experiment seems to confirm this.
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Indeed, this is one of the fundamental problems with the .380 ACP load: it tends to lack the power for defensive work. I'm not saying it's not good at all - just not as good as the other options. I would happily live without a .380 pistol or a pistol instead of a 22, .25, .32. But there are a wide variety of 9mm subcompact pistols that offer great performance without the bulk that I prefer to carry around.
Both the rail and defense loads are reliable and I shoot them without a problem. These are quality installations. However, for self-defense loading I prefer the Winchester PDX1 load. This load tends to perform better in gel than the Defend load, and is quite reliable in all tests.
The ammunition used in this review was provided by Widener's Reloading and Shooting Supply. I am a long time customer of this company and very satisfied with their service. A Widener representative contacted me last month to see if I would be interested in reviewing this ammunition.
I previously reviewed Hornady's Critical Defense bullet ammunition in .357 Magnum. In this review, Widener introduced the ammunition. In this case, the company did not try to influence my review or even ask for a link to the company's website. I agreed to write this article about Winchester Ammo based on my positive experience as a customer and how things went on the first review.
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As with the previous review, Widener's is not an advertiser or sponsor of this site. We are not negotiating for them to be the same. I actually don't accept any ads on this site.
No money was given, given, exchanged or taken for this review. I have no financial interest in Widener's or Winchester. To be honest, I have no financial interest in any manufacturer related to the shooting or outdoor industry.
Some of the links on this page and site are affiliate links to companies such as Amazon and Palmetto State Armory. These links will take you to the products mentioned in the article. If you decide to buy something from one of these companies, I will receive a small commission.
If you have any questions about this review, leave them in the comments section below. I believe in complete transparency and want you to have all the facts about a product before you decide if it's right for you.
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Winchester Rail and Defense Line ammunition consists of two loads of each caliber—one with FMJ bullets for practice and one with hollow points for defensive use. During my testing, both setups were reliable and accurate. But the measured velocity of the cartridges was lower than the standards provided by the company. While Defend hollow loads are better than field ammo for self-defense, I prefer the company's PDX1 line.
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