Federal Premium Ammunition Personal Defense 38 Special Review
These new Hydra-Shok Deep loads provide levels of armament operation previously restricted to service-size calibers and guns
I've been studying last ballistics since the 1980s, and while I don't claim to be an skillful, I've been fortunate to have admission to many SMEs along the way. They've helped me to understand the science and applied science challenges that accompany this important field of report, and the education I've received has allowed me to differentiate between small changes (like a simple production line extension) and the meaning ones that accelerate the art. At SHOT Show 2020, I was introduced to a new round from Federal that promised to be ane of the latter.
An exciting find
Federal's new .380 ACP Hydra-Shok Deep represented a significant advancement in bullet blueprint, because it moved the performance goalpost for this marginal cartridge.
The .380 ACP had always suffered from an energy deficit that prevented the cartridge from obtaining both reliable expansion and sufficient penetration with the engineering in use, so Federal's squad of engineers applied the lessons learned from several decades' worth of experience, and redesigned the classic, .380 ACP Personal Defense Hydra-Shok bullet to comprise the latest advancements in design, materials, technology, and production. The effect was a brand-new product line called Hydra-Shok Deep. The Hydra-Shok Deep will non supersede the classic Hydra-Shok, which continues to be offered by Federal, but instead is offered as an alternative for shooters who want deeper penetration from the bullet.
Federal had previously updated the Hydra-Shok bullet used in service calibers like 9mm, .40 Smith & Wesson, and .45 ACP, merely the .380 ACP was to be their beginning application of the "Deep" concept to a non-service caliber cartridge. The result of this effort was a bullet that maximized the apply of the .380 Machine'due south available energy, and delivered skilful expansion while still exceeding the Federal Bureau of Investigation'southward desired minimum penetration depth of 12 inches, in both blank ballistic gelatin, and ballistic gelatin covered in FBI-standard Heavy Vesture.
Federal advises that in bare gelatin, the new .380 ACP Hydra-Shok Deep bullet, weighing 99 grains, penetrates to 13 inches and expands to 0.496 inches (virtually one.4 times the original diameter). The company too states that in FBI-standard Heavy Clothing, the same bullet penetrates to 13.5 inches, while expanding to 0.514 inches (almost 1.45 times the original diameter).
This is exceptional performance from a .380 ACP bullet. By comparison, the classic, 90 grain, .380 ACP Hydra-Shok bullet – which was well-respected for its functioning in the category – penetrates well-nigh 30% less in bare gelatin with simply 3% larger diameter, and penetrates about 13% less in FBI-standard Heavy Wearable, while expanding 9% less. The next-best performing .380 ACP bullet from a competing brand penetrates 32% less in blank gelatin, while only gaining 5% in expansion, and in FBI-standard Heavy Clothing, it penetrates xix% less, and expands vi% less than the new .380 ACP Hydra-Shok Deep.
The arrival of this new cartridge at the outset of 2020 was smashing news for constabulary officers who prefer to carry a compact .380 ACP pistol as a backup gun on duty, or every bit a primary weapon when off duty. Past carrying the new Hydra-Shok Deep load in their smaller pistol, they can achieve levels of functioning previously restricted to service-size calibers and guns.
A special encore
Federal's smashing success with the .380 ACP Hydra-Shok Deep encouraged the company to utilize the same effort toward some other popular cartridge that suffers from the aforementioned low energy malady, the .38 Special.
Similar the .380 ACP, the .38 Special cartridge's functioning tends to suffer when it's fired from a meaty gun, like the popular snubby revolvers with (nominal) ii-inch barrels that are then frequently carried as backup and off-duty guns by savvy cops. In the service-size revolvers with 4-inch barrels, the .38 Special (particularly in +P guise) usually does a expert job of expanding and penetrating, just in one case you lose a few precious inches of barrel length, the bullets ofttimes fail to do both, and the officer is left with choosing between expanding ammo that runs too shallow, or penetrating ammo that doesn't aggrandize much at all.
So, Federal'southward team went to work and applied the lessons from the .380 Hydra-Shok Deep project to the near popular revolver cartridge of all fourth dimension, in an try to expand the premises of what's possible with the 119-year-former standard. The result is the new .38 Special +P Hydra-Shok Deep, which will be available starting this year.
How does information technology work?
Similar the other Hydra-Shok Deep designs that preceded it, the .38 Special +P Deep makes use of a host of improvements in materials and design to update ane of the most well-known ammunition products to a new level of performance.
The quondam Hydra-Shok design relied upon a central mail to redirect fluid forces to the inside walls of the hollowpoint cavity, to promote expansion. This full general concept has been retained for the new Hydra-Shok Deep bullets, just with pregnant changes to the size and shape of the post and cavity. Rather than a tall and narrow mail service, with a roughly cylindrical profile, that's centered in the middle of a relatively tight hollowpoint cavity, the new Hydra-Shok Deep bullet incorporates a conical-shaped post that sits inside a much more than spacious cavity. This larger crenel, in conjunction with the improved fluid dynamics generated by the shape of the new conical postal service, helps to promote rapid expansion of the hollowpoint in the target.
While the cardinal post is the almost novel attribute shared by both the old and new design, at that place are significant differences between the generations. 1 of the virtually visible is the folded jacket on the new Deep bullet, which gives the hollowpoint cavity an unusual appearance. The folded jacket is a critical function of the new design, and is actually the structural element that'south well-nigh responsible for the expanded diameter of the bullet. Not only does it increase the internal volume of the cavity, information technology works in conjunction with the redesigned post to prevent the crenel from getting plugged upwardly with vesture fibers or other material that would retard or prohibit expansion.
Additionally, the heavy copper jacket is what does almost of the bullet'south mushrooming. Unlike the one-time Hydra-Shok, or about competing bullets on the market, the pb core of the Deep bullet doesn't extend to the mouth of the crenel. Instead, the lead core stops well brusque of the cavity mouth, and the bulk of an unfired Hydra-Shok Deep's crenel consists entirely of the folded copper jacket.
When the new Hydra-Shok Deep strikes the target, fluid forces are redirected past the conical mail to begin unfolding the heavy copper jacket and expanding the bullet. Since the copper jacket is skived, it opens up along those lines into a series of viii petals (in the .380 ACP and .38 Special bullets) that expand, and so fold back, to grade the mushroom. The short lip of lead that extends up into the inside of the cavity walls will mushroom as well, and curlicue over the base of the expanded petals, at the bottom of the crenel. This expanded atomic number 82 mushroom is much smaller than the bullet's overall bore, which is dictated by the copper jacket, but it serves an important purpose, to protect the integrity of the expanded jacket, and preclude the petals from over-expanding and separating from the projectile.
The result is a bullet with a very unique appearance, when expanded. It doesn't wait anything like the other bullets on the market, even the quondam Hydra-Shok from which it was derived.
Amazing chore
The performance is unique equally well. When fired from the 1.875" barrel of a snubby revolver, the 130 grain, .38 Special Deep bullet clocks about 800 anxiety per second at the muzzle, every bit a result of conscientious pulverization selection. According to Federal, this energy allows the bullet to penetrate 13.2 inches of bare ballistic gelatin, and aggrandize to 0.551 inches (1.54 times it's starting bore). In FBI-standard Heavy Wear, the bullet reportedly penetrates 13.4 inches and expands to 0.548 inches (1.53 times it'southward starting diameter) from the same, short butt.
This is extraordinary performance from a snubby revolver. Most .38 Special and .38 Special +P loads struggle to become beyond about 9 inches of penetration in those test mediums, merely the .38 Special +P Hydra-Shok Deep does it regularly, while expanding to over i.5 times the original diameter. This is really super, and it represents a new benchmark for this legendary chambering.
Importantly, the .38 Special +P Hydra-Shok Deep performs very well from a service-size gun, besides. From a 4-inch barrel, the load clocks nigh 900 anxiety per second at the muzzle and reportedly penetrates 14.6 inches of bare gelatin while expanding to 0.584 inches. In FBI-standard Heavy Clothing, the bullet penetrates xvi.1 inches and expands to 0.562 inches.
Sometimes engineers are forced to make choices that actually subtract operation out of a longer barrel to ensure a bullet will work well at the lower velocities encountered in shorter barrels, but the Hydra-Shok Deep bullets seem rather indifferent to velocity changes and piece of work very well in anything you chamber them in. As a affair of fact, Federal engineers accept tested the 9mm Hydra-Shok Deep in a sixteen-inch carbine, and found that the bullet performs nigh the aforementioned as when information technology'south fired in a 3-inch pistol butt, achieving the same expansion, and most 0.75 inches more than penetration. This is really astonishing consistency from a handgun bullet.
Working on it!
The good news here is that the new Hydra-Shok Deep ammunition is superb, and it volition aid you to maximize the functioning of your backup or off-duty handgun. The bad news is that the ammunition marketplace is even so in crisis, with record-setting levels of consumer demand outstripping the available supply of goods, so it may go along to be difficult to detect these fantabulous products for a while.
Manufacturers like Federal (and their sister companies under the Vista Outdoor umbrella, Speer, CCI and Remington) are working 24/7 to produce ammunition, pushing machines and employees to their limit. They are actually making more than ammunition than e'er before, and are aggressively getting it to the market. The problem is, there'due south just a lot more people chasing the product, and they're buying a lot more of information technology than they did in the past.
Federal has already made a sizable quantity of the .380 ACP and .38 Special +P Hydra-Shok Deep, and they will continue to make more equally quickly as they can. You may have to wait a while – or but go lucky in your timing – to discover it, but I can clinch y'all that it will be worth the wait.
The Hydra-Shok Deep has moved the bar for .380 ACP and .38 Special +P operation, and your compact backup or off-duty gun will be well-supplied with a magazine or cylinder full of this ammunition. Keep your eyes peeled for it, and be safe out there.
About the author
Mike Wood is the son of a thirty-year California Highway Patrolman and the author of "Newhall Shooting: A Tactical Analysis," the highly-acclaimed study of the 1970 California Highway Patrol gunfight in Newhall, California. Mike is an Honor Graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, a graduate of the Us Army Airborne Schoolhouse, and a retired U.s.a. Air Strength Lieutenant Colonel with over 26 years of service. He'south a National Rifle Association (NRA) Law Enforcement Division-certified firearms instructor, senior editor at RevolverGuy.com, and has been a featured guest on the Excellence In Training Academy and American Warrior Society podcasts, besides as several radio and television programs. He'south grateful for the opportunity to serve and learn from the men and women of police enforcement.
Source: https://www.police1.com/police-products/firearms/accessories/ammunition/articles/ammo-review-federals-380-acp-and-38-special-hydra-shok-deep-HE86hi6YglGXrw5k/
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