[rocky]

picked up some Federal Hydrashok ammo. Labeled low recoil, personal defense. These rounds seem to work well thru my 1911 and the box advertises 1020 Ft-per sec. at 25 yrds. This may vary from gun to gun of course. The ammo is 165 grn JHP's. Seems accurate enough, and the recoil is quite mild and easy for follow up shots. Over all I am happy with the performance of this ammo. :hand10:

 

[Redneck Repairs]

never saw a hydra shock i didnt like personaly LOL

 

[P95Carry]

Hmmm - that equates to 380 ft lbs. Seems to me pretty close to what we'd get from a regular 230 grain load.

Interesting result - and still wondering how they make it recoil friendly while still (apparently) getting useable power factor. Wonder if they reduce peak pressure with a slower powder - sorta ''spread'' the high pressure phase of combustion. I guess too the bullet weight helps.

 

[Redneck Repairs]

/think the ft lbs are a game , look at 38 super and 9x21 both make major without the recoil of a .45 , effective???? well ill fall back to placement and it makes no real differance once ya break the .380/38 special barrior lol

 

[rocky]

I see it as what will make a large wound cavity? What is less likely to over penetrate? It all comes down to shot placement and a bit of luck. Deepnding on what the bullet strikes and how much damage it does. Caliber makes less diffrence than bullet performance.

 

[SOLOLUCKY]

I shot these out of my 38 snub.
compared to standard ammo of the same weight (158 gr. i think)
the recoil form the fed hydrashock ammo had more perceived recoil than the standard stuff. maybe i was shooting 'weak' standard ammo compared to the high-end fed stuff but it hit my wrist harder.
just my 2cents worth in regards to my 38.
another consideration to "defense' ammo is it's low flash.
so i'll spend the extra $$ on it.

 

[NaturalSelection]

never saw a hydra shock i didnt like personaly

i would trust most any modern round designed for self defense. my personal preference however, involves 230 grains and +P designation. while the recoil may be a little more, ive found that its still completely controllable. ive never really understood why federal doesnt make the hydrashok in a +P round. ive grown to really like corbon. they push the pressures about as far as i consider safe and reasonable.

 

[rocky]

My reasons against +P . Over penetration issues. More felt recoil. Harder on the gun.

 

[TonyW]

My reasons against +P . Over penetration issues. More felt recoil. Harder on the gun.

And I think that most modern, well-made standard pressure self-defense ammo gets the job done quite well. Therefore no need for +P and the negatives that it brings.

Just my .02

 

[CLASS3NH]

The Hydra Shok Subsonics work well also.........Might want to look into those for less felt recoil They get good expansion, without over-penetration

 

[AutoFan]

I shot some of those low recoil, personal defense rounds in 40 once. They were much louder than anything else I had shot in that caliber. Even the guys working at the range counter wanted to know what I was shooting.

 

[RSSZ]

Terminal Ballistics 101....... Given a good HP. The faster the bullet,the faster expansion,the less penetration. The CORBON 165's at 1250fps will penetrate just about right,slow them down to 1050 and ???. The down side of the CORBON ammo is,too much recoil for double taps. Look at the CORBON ammo's HP cavity. It's huge. The bullets velocity is high. It all evens out. With the regular thick walled HP's out their,I would be suspect of overpenetration. The heavier(200&230gr)Hornady XTP's especially. At the slower short bbl velocities I suspect that they would penetrate very deeply. Not sure about how completely or how evenly they would expand. I feel that the consumer has no way to really tell what the bullets outta our weapons will do when entering human tissue. The tests that are done are,for the most part,done to sell ammo. The other info that is compiled(Hatcher,etc.) has a huge ammount of variables involved. In the end,all we can do is use our understanding of ballistics and pick the ammo that is powerful enough but not too powerful,accurate enough out of the intended firearm,cost effective to carry AND practice with and above all........ looks pretty sittin' in the cylinder or mag. ----------

 

[SOLOLUCKY]

i just picked up some of the same stuff rocky started the thread with. have not shot it yet but its good to know he had good luck with it in his gun. i was kind of skeptical how it would function the gun being labeled "low recoil"...bought it anyway though.
the calcs seem to make sense that were mentioned before, higher speed and bigger cavity in the HP would/should theoretically make it open up faster. and the lighter weight 165 vs 230 should slow it down faster to minimize over-penetration.

food for thought there. now to see how they function in the SA Micro.

 

[NaturalSelection]

the calcs seem to make sense that were mentioned before, higher speed and bigger cavity in the HP would/should theoretically make it open up faster. and the lighter weight 165 vs 230 should slow it down faster to minimixe over-penetration.

bear in mind that the "low recoil" round is designed, marketed, and sold with the benefit of low recoil, to appeal to those who are recoil sensitive. ive seen no manufacturer state or even suggest that they are "equal" (and certainly not superior) to their standard rounds in terms of effectiveness (measured many different ways). yes theyre a great solution to recoil issues, but that is all they are designed, marketed, and sold to address. im sure theyre more than adequate for most any defensive need, but if they "packed as much punch" as the standard loads from the same company i feel sure they would be marketed as such.

 

[rocky]

OK the fed. low recoil 45 ACP ammo I bought is 165 grn hydrashok. The box gives 1060 fps. and 410 ft-lb of energy. This doesn't seem low in #'s to me. Anyone else care to compare their ammo specs? (disclaimer: I understand this varies from gun to gun, but is a baseline)

 

[NaturalSelection]

The box gives 1060 fps. and 410 ft-lb of energy. This doesn't seem low in #'s to me.

please dont misunderstand, my intent was not to suggest that the low recoil rounds arent adequate. my only input is to state that it wont be "equal" because you cant have it all. when somebody figures out how to id love a .44 with 9mm recoil. :smile:

 

[NaturalSelection]

Anyone else care to compare their ammo specs?

fwiw,

corbon 165 gr - 1250 fps, 573 ft. lbs.

granted thats a +P load, i couldnt find a standard load in 165gr (not saying one doesnt exist, only that i couldnt find one) other than the corbon +P and the federal low recoil. a lighter bullet will always have less recoil and higher energy numbers. i still havent figured out just how important numbers really are. for example, a 165gr. corbon produces more energy than a 230gr corbon (950/461), but i trust the 230gr more.

 

[Trebla]

rocky: I have a Glock 23 and a Kahr K40 and I use Federal Premium Personal Defense 135gr. JHP Low Recoil .40 S&W ammo. It is accurate as hell, gives you great triple tap capabilities, and has great F.B.I. ballistics. http://www.angelfire.com/co3/markcolo/testing.html