Hex Bullet Hi-Jinx: Taurus' capable copper bullet

American Handgunner, March-April, 2003 by Charles E. Petty

Now Taurus has not built an ammo plant in Miami. And the finished product you see here represents the collaborative efforts of Morrison, Barnes, Corzine, Hodgdon, St. Marks Powders and PMC ammo. And here's how it came to market.

Barnes made the bullets. Hodgdon developed the load using a powder provided by St. Marks. PMC provided the brass and loads the ammo. Taurus distributed it to the market.

As far as handgun ammo is concerned, the Taurus Hex bullet represents a very different approach. The 185 gr. pure copper bullet is loaded to nominal velocities. Remember, you do not have to have screaming, or even P velocities, to get good bullet performance. Our testing has been somewhat limited due to available ammunition, so we did testing that provided the most information with a relatively small amount of shooting. There are three factors to consider. In order of importance, they are: reliability, bullet performance and accuracy.

If rule number 1 of gunfighting is, "Have a gun," I'd like to see it amended to, "Have a gun that works."

While reliability of modem pistols is greatly improved over older guns, we need to be sure our gun works with the chosen ammo. The Hex bullet has to be a bit longer than a customary lead core bullet because of the lighter weight of copper. Many conventional 185 gr. hollowpoints are about 0.5 long. This is the limiting factor in the shape of the bullet's nose, but since copper is lighter, the bullet has to be longer--about .725"--allowing the nose to have a longer, more gradual taper. At least in theory, this shape will feed very easily. Each of the guns shown in the table was fired 15 to 20 times with the Taurus ammo. There were no malfunctions.

The other thing you'll notice is the hollowpoint cavity is wide and deep and you can see the six skiving marks inside the cavity that determine the bullet's expansion characteristics. You'll also see traces of black in the skiving grooves and at the bottom of the hollowpoint. This is simply an artifact from an annealing operation during manufacture, and is insignificant.

The final observation is there is a dimple at the very bottom of the hollowpoint cavity. The first time I saw something like this was during Corzine's development of the Black Talon bullet. The purpose is to provide a small reservoir for debris or cloth so fluid can enter the upper portion of the hollowpoint and initiate expansion. Once expansion starts the material is not a major factor in the finished diameter.

What's The Real Truth?

Bullet performance is hotly debated by self-anointed experts who tell us "this" or "that" is the "best? Many preach velocity above all and present opinion as fact. I wonder how they can be so certain? Indeed, one person's "one-shot-stop" conclusions and criteria may fall miserably when faced with data from another, reliable source.

The FBI concluded that penetration in 10-percent ballistic gelatin should be a minimum of 12". That too can be debated, but allowing for the huge variability in size of human beings and the angles at which they are shot, 12" should reach the middle of the chest on most. It's hard to argue with a demand for as much expansion as possible.