Federal HST Ammo in 380

[oldguyguns]

The new Federal HST (new to 380) is now available --at least on line. Bought several boxes from Able Ammo. Price and shipping not too bad. IT got great reviews on line and is a 99gr.

 

[AmmoManAaron]

OK, so can you tell us what went wrong and why you don't like it?

 

[oldguyguns]

Nothing went wrong. Haven't received it yet--

 

[99zhuggerz99]

Your frowny face little thingy tells us a different story.

 

[Bfish]

Click the wrong thing?? Whats the driving point of difference between this "new" stuff and the old?

 

[Rooster 308]

Let us know what you think. I have been interested in another 380 load.

 

[glock212327]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhByLwyvGpA

OP how is your ammo doing? I'm interested in these rounds as well. Have you tested them out yet? Thanks.

 

[Bfish]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhByLwyvGpA

OP how is your ammo doing? I'm interested in these rounds as well. Have you tested them out yet? Thanks.

Follow up on the same guys video of his summation of 380 hollow points... He makes his suggestion after all of his testing and findings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNtPHYwcDts

 

[Bfish]

If you don't want to take the time to watch it all... They are good to go, one of the best choices out there.

If you start the video around the 7minute mark he goes over all that he claims as good to go and that make 12" of penetration every time through denim and bare gelatin. The only hydra shock downfall was inconstant expansion.

He goes on to say XTP's perform the best. Hydra-Shock's while not the best of all possible choices (the winner of the tests) make it into the small number (roughly 5) of hollow points deemed good to carry from all those that were tested!

 

[glock212327]

Bfish, I did watch the video just seeing if the OPs tests results were the same or different than the video. I am currently using 90gr Gold dots but my Primary weapon uses HST (I love them) from the video the HST did not perform well.

 

[cosermann]

XTPs or Ball for my 380s.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Bfish, I did watch the video just seeing if the OPs tests results were the same or different than the video. I am currently using 90gr Gold dots but my Primary weapon uses HST (I love them) from the video the HST did not perform well.

Yep. Apparently physics is a *****. Contrary to what many ammo makers think, you cant just scale down a JHP and stick it on the end of shorter brass and expect it to perform equally well. Even my go to Golden Sabre failed miserably with inconsistent expansion in that slower caliber.

I use Precision One in my G42 and with that XTP it feeds nicely.

 

[45fan]

The tests that I have seen, the Gold Dots, XTPs Hydra-Shok have all expanded reliably. Penetration on the Gold Dots is a bit weak as compared to the others, but given the expansion, I would expect this. Asking for 14" from a pocket gun is a tall order. I understand the idea, but I guess I just dont expect that much out of my .380. If the issue of penetration beyond what the average hollow point offers in that caliber, I will step up to something that has a bit more umph, and deal with the bigger/heavier delivery system.

 

[RMC]

I think a lot of the problems in the tests were due to the short barrel of a micro gun. The ammo that was supposed to be at 1000 fps were often times below 900 fps. I loaded 90 gr XTP's for my P238 that has a barrel length of only 2.7 inches. They were getting close to 1000 fps at the range before I hit max load. I increased the powder (TiteGroup) to just under max and the slowest reading I got was still over 1050 fps. I believe the extra velocity will provide much better results than what factory ammo was showing. However, the Lehigh Ammo tests were pretty darn impressive. I think I will be ordering some of those bullets.

 

[cosermann]

I think a lot of the problems in the tests were due to the short barrel of a micro gun.. .

Yep, barrel length makes a difference. People make the same mistake w/other calibers too (i.e. using data from a 4" test barrel and using the load in a 2" gun).

If the bullet drops too far from it's designed performance envelope, it won't consistently perform as designed.