Federal guard dog

T

tjh

New member
Any one shoot this ammo from Federal it comes in 9mm , 40s&w and 45acp . It's a expanding full metel jacket for hd/pd . Whats the scoop on it ?
Fed. web site don't tell much.
 
When I first heard about it I thought it sounded great for safety because I'm in an apartment. After reading some reviews and info though I've changed my mind. Even Federal's own videos say something like "It only shoots through 5 layers of drywall!" Uhhh, great?
 
I'm not familiar with it, but I'm somewhat skeptical about all the different types of SD ammo. Maybe I'm just misinformed, but it seems like overkill (no pun intended) and marketing tactics by the ammo companies. I absolutely load my carry weapon and HD mags with JHPs, but haven't ever felt the necessity to use anything super fancy or expensive. Plain jane 165 gr. JHPs (Winchester Rangers, got them for $12/box of 50 :D) have always been just fine.

Again, maybe I'm misinformed, uneducated, or just plain ignorant, but IMHO the difference between all these different types of SD ammo is negligible at best, and mostly just a way for manufacturers to sell more ammo.

By all means, correct me if I'm wrong. I'd like to know if I'm missing something.

And yeah, If it won't even penetrate several sheets of drywall... I'm not ok with it in my self defense pistol.
 
The reason it doesn't penetrate drywall as well as other typical expanding rounds is that it will expand if it hits drywall while other typical expanding rounds simply punch through unexpanded.

The expansion increases the surface area and reduces penetration in drywall dramatically.

Federal decided to load their civilian EFMJ (Guard Dog) with lighter bullets than normal for caliber (105gr-9mm, 135gr-.40S&W, 165gr-.45ACP) while their LE EFMJ (Tactical EFMJ) is loaded with bullets that are more or less midweight for caliber (e.g. 124gr-9mm, 165gr-.40S&W, 200gr-.45ACP). I haven't seen gel tests for the two different loadings, but I would suspect that the LE stuff almost certainly meets FBI penetration specs and that the civilian stuff probably doesn't.

I can't find good gel penetration numbers for either round, most of what I'm finding for the civilian stuff (Guard Dog) is focusing on the fact that it exhibites much reduced penetration through intermediate barriers (a selling point, I suppose, for folks worried about overpenetration and bullets going through walls) but there isn't much about how well it does its job when there isn't a barrier in the way.
 
The real advantage seems to be that it will penetrate and expand through heavy clothing much more reliably than conventional hollow points. The design assures maximum expansion under all circumstances. Very desirable round in my humble opinion.
 
I've actually decided to just go buy a box and shoot some water jugs and compare it to the Critical Defense. I've wondered about this for too long myself. I'll post results and pics here when I'm finished. My gut tells me it's a weak round and not to expect much but who knows. I'm thinking of using a single subject notebook in front of four 1 gallon milk jugs full of water. If anyone has any better ideas let me know and I'll try that too.
 
The appeal of EFMJ cartridges is that they provide a better SD option than standard FMJ for people that cannot have HP ammo.
 
I carry this

When Im at work walking in and out of the condos we manage. Not penetrating alot of drywall is a good thing in that case.
 
I've been eyeballing the Fed Guard Dog rounds for a while, so I'm looking forward to CountryUgly's tests. I've read some reviews and, while the penetration numbers have been a little on the low side, that may not be a bad thing for those of us in apartment dwellings with families either in our apartments or all around us.
 
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