Hydra Shok posts wrapping up with cloth?

[Superhouse 15]

I see the Hydra Shok being mentioned again in a few threads. Tested the myth that Hydra Shok will not expand when passing through cloth due to threads wrapping around the center post. I carry Hydra Shok in a few calibers, although some of the guys I work with hate this bullet. We tested a .38 +P+ 147gr, a 147gr 9mm, and a Gold Saber 124gr as a control load. They appear in that order in the pics. We used 2 layers of denim over wet newspaper at a range of 3 feet or so.

First pic shows zero expansion of the .38+P+. There was a lot of unburned powder left on the target at 3 feet, so I'm sure it burned very inefficiently. Shot a second round with the same result. Guns were a 2" Taurus and a Glock 26. No cloth noted around the center post, so it would seem the lack of expansion was velocity related. I was surprised at this result.

Second pic, no surprises, and no cloth around the post, although there was a little bit of thread on the bullet and the jacket edge. Guns were a 4" S&W 19 and a Glock 19.

Third pic shows some thread in the 9mm, but it still expanded. In .38 we used a 6.5" Taurus, a Glock 17 in 9mm. I think the greater expansion of the .38 is due to that longer barrel. Note the fragment missing from the Gold Saber. Again no surprises and no thread wrapped around any of the center posts. Busted.

All in all, not bad performance for an old-school premium bullet. Obviously the Gold Saber had no issues at all in the 124gr weight. Comments are again welcome, as are suggestions for the next subject.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[bzdog]

Interesting. I hadn't put much credit in the 'thread around the post' idea, but it is enlighting how much the barrel length can matter.

Does make you think about the benefits of the newer, faster burning powders. I think the Gold Dot Short Barrel, Double Tap and Buffalo Bore use faster burning powders.

I don't carry the HS any more, but I will throw out there that I have a fair stash of HS in 9mm 147gr that is something like 20yrs old that I basically use as target ammunition and it is very reliable even at this age.

-john

[gotammo]

I've seen a .40 s&w pulled out of a deer after being put down after it was hit by a car, I will not carry them a poor performing round in my opinion.

[Superhouse 15]

It actually has a decent reputation around here. It's issued or approved by most of the local LEO agencies, and has worked in a few shootings I can think of. The topic came up as we were sitting in the gunshop discussing cold weather and loads for penetrating cloth. I carry it in more than one CCW. I can recall exactly one bad round in years, a .45acp with a malformed JHP. It still fired, just didn't expand and was about 5 grains heavier than it should have been, IIRC.

[PileofBrass]

judging by the pics the golden saber is the clear winner for expansion
I use only golden sabers in my carry guns with one exception, the 5 shot snubbie gets cor-bon dpx

[Whyveear]

Its hardly a myth that Hydra-shoks have had expansion issues. This has been documented over and over.