SPECIAL REPORT Best 380 Auto Ammo
The Federal Premium 99-grain HST produced the most energy and the most momentum of the test loads. The expansion of the HST in bare gelatin (left) was the same as the expansion after first penetrating heavy clothes.
were picked because they are the very latest designs. The Federal HST is a more modern design than the Hydra-Shok. The Winchester PDX1 is an improvement to the Silvertip. The FTX bullet used in the Hornady Critical Defense is an upgrade to their original XTP bullet. In some of the cases, the ammo maker has an entire line of ammo intended for personal protection, which is where the 380 Auto cali- ber fi ts. The Hornady Critical Defense ammo is designed with dif- ferent shooting scenarios in mind than their Critical Duty ammo. The same goes for Federal’s Personal Defense ammo, which uses clearly different bullets than in their Tactical Bonded ammo. Speer LE makes it clear with the branding “Personal Protection” and like- wise Remington with “Ultimate Defense” labeling.
Duty Versus Off-Duty
Police duty ammo is designed to go through auto glass and car bod- ies and then both reliably expand and adequately penetrate in soft targets. In other words, all of the test phases in the FBI ammo protocol are used by the ammo maker to develop the police bul- let design. These test phases are bare gelatin, gelatin after heavy clothes, after sheet steel, after wall board, after plywood, and after laminated glass. This police duty and ‘tactical’ ammo gives up a bit of bullet expansion and recovered diameter to gain after- barrier performance.
Off-duty, backup and personal defense ammo is different. While it varies slightly among ammo makers, this category of ammo does not necessarily need to ‘pass’ the auto glass and car body phases. Instead, the off-duty and defense ammo is geared to working well in scenarios that don’t typically involve these kinds of tactical obstacles. Specifi cally, this kind of ammo is de- signed for the best expansion and penetration in bare soft targets and after heavy clothes.
Federal Premium
www.federalpremium.com
In their Personal Defense ammo line, the Federal Premium 99- grain HST is the most recent bullet design from Federal. This is
48 LAW and ORDER I January 2016
The Remington Ultimate Defense 102-grain Golden Saber expanded well and penetrated well. That combination gave it the largest permanent crush cavity of the test, i.e., the amount of tissue actually damaged by the bullet.
The Hornady Critical Defense 90-grain FTX had moderate expansion, which is how it is designed. This allowed it the deepest average penetration of any test bullet. In the 380 Auto caliber, you must pick one or the other.
a pre-stressed Jacketed Hollow Point (JHP). This is where the lead core is sliced and pressed back into shape when the hollowpoint cavity is formed. Pre-stressed JHP bullets expand smoothly and eas- ily along these cut points.
The HST is among the very best police duty bullets. However, the HST bullet for the 380 Auto is not just a smaller version of the HST loaded in other calibers. The jacket, serrations, lead core, and overall weight were all specifi cally developed for the impact velocity and common shooting scenarios of the 380 Auto.
Hornady
www.hornady.com
In their Critical Defense ammo line, the Hornady uses the 90-grain FTX (Flex Tip eXpanding) bullet. This modifi ed XTP design uses a unique method to keep the hollowpoint from being plugged with clothing, wood or other debris. The hollowpoint cavity has a soft
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