TexasCHLforum.com

Thanks for the info Mike!

That's some pretty impressive expansion with the HST's. None of my critiques of HydraShok was meant to apply to HST's. Federal makes several grads of ammo that are significantly different from one another. I own several boxes of Federal Tactical.

A nice photo of an expanded Winchester Ranger can be seen here:

http://www.tacticalforums.com/cgi-bin/t ... 8;t=000964

{second photo: 45 ACP 230gr = .74"}

The post also got a nice quote:

"-- Bullet designs like the Silver Tip, Hydra-Shok, and Black Talon were state of the art 10 or 15 years ago. Modern ammunition which has been designed for robust expansion against clothing and intermediate barriers is significantly superior to the older designs. The bullets in the Federal Classic and Hydrashok line are outperformed by other ATK products such as the Federal Tactical and HST, as well as the Speer Gold Dot; likewise Winchester Ranger Talons are far superior to the old Black Talons or civilian SXT's."

txinvestigator wrote:
That is not an FBI test, and your data is SIX years old.

So "best" depends upon yuour interpretation. I know hydras are not bonded, and I am fine with that.

They are different, not worse or better.

Believe what you will. I'm providing the info for everyone else.

By FBI standards.

It's not like I didn't post this a few days ago:

http://www.firearmstactical.com/tactica ... cle415.htm

.45 ACP Federal 230gr HydraShok JHP

Bare Gelatin: Jacket fragments observed in all wound tracks. [the Hydrashoks were breaking up. The bonded bullets I listed above don't do that]

Denim Covered Gelatin: Average expanded bullet diameter cannot be determined because all bullets penetrated the entire length of the 18 inch gelatin block, exited, and the bullets were not recovered. [Hydrashoks don't reliably expand against Denim covered targets. And probably don't expand in a target covered by other heavy clothing.]

I'd recommend any of these loads:

.45acp-
Corbon 230gr+P jhp
Federal [Tactical] 230gr LE45T1+P
Remington 230gr Golden Saber BJHP
Speer 230gr Gold Dot
Winchester Ranger 230gr RA45T
Winchester Ranger 230gr RA45TP +P

And I'd stay away from the hydrashoks, unless it's all you can get to run reliably in your gun. The loads above are better.