Wednesday, December 16, 2020

"Spinning Buzzsaw of Death!"


The hype the Black Talon generated back in the day was completely disproportionate to its actual utility as a bullet. They were good for the time, one of the first modern designs of the post-Miami gunfight era, but people absolutely lost their minds over the black Lubaloy coating, the pointy jacket petals, and of course that bellicose name.

Of the original loadings, 147gr 9x19mm, 180gr .40S&W, and 230gr .45AARP, the .45 is the only one that still maintains some relevance. The 9 and .40 were almost immediately eclipsed by much better performing, more modern designs in their respective chamberings, but you could still do worse than a 230gr Talon in a full-size .45. (You can do a lot better, too.)

The way that both the hysterical media and devoted fanbois of the round latched onto the "spinning buzzsaw" thing was funny. I absolutely could not convince this one dude that the bullet would barely make one complete revolution in the target. He was totally hung up on the "revolutions per minute" number and didn't want to hear how far a bullet would travel in a minute (assuming you fired it in, like, outer space or something).

"It's spinning at nearly 40,000rpm!"

"Yeah, but your barrel has a 1:16" twist rate, and dude ain't sixteen inches thick." 

.