Hydra Shoks Feed?

Simply put 200 rounds is my comfort level for being able to trust a pistol with my life. It seems to be a pretty reasonable number since this fine group here agrees with it for the most part.

I consider every malfunction to be a problem whether it's round 1 or 8500! I want to know why and I'll set a gun aside until I know why!

Things break just as often as they break in!

My Les Baer doesn't like one magazine out of all of them I own. I marked the mag and never use it in my Baer. Only problem I have with that gun or any others for that matter. Go figure:confused:
 
I was going to diverge into my ammo selection techniques, but then realized that we are getting away from NeverAgain26's original question of feeding and reliability. So...

Have you experienced any problems with cycling or feeding them in your guns? I have them in 9mm for my Beretta 9000 and 45 for my Kimber CE II so if anyone has those guns, I would especially like to hear of our experience.
Click to expand...

I think you'll find that Hydra-Shoks are generally as reliable as any other premium self-defense ammunition on the market. You'll want to test them in your particular handgun though. Go ahead and do that! You don't need to buy all your premium rounds right away, start small with a box or two, and run 'em through one or both guns. Don't take our word if they work, experiment!
 
Another Consideration

Another legal consideration, regardless of the brand of ammo you carry, is to make sure you keep some of your carry ammo in the SAME box you purchased it with the SAME lot number.... after a shooting, a ballistics test of your gun will be conducted to match the cases, bullet, etc. Make sure the the carry ammo matches what is in the box for the post test shooting. The matching lot numbers are critical between freedom and jail.
 
Blades67

No, I don't (buy 200 rounds of every hollowpoint to see which my guns prefer).

ATM I have 3 autoloaders that have defensive uses. A 4506-1 that has a total of 3 jams in its lifespan (at least 2 of them with winclean ammo), a P232 that jams occasionally (none since its last trip to sig), and a BHP that has jammed once or twice since 1990.

None of the above listed guns have ever jammed with Hydras. My usual practice is to fire any ready ammo (in magazines) each time I go to the range, so I'm WELL over 200 round without a hitch. The P232 started out with Silvertips, and choked almost every time. I didn't need to try and reach 200 (could barely get throuh 50)- I knew it wanted to eat something else.

Mike
 
Here's an idea.;)

Forget the Hydrashoks, and save your time, money, and stressing over whether it is good or not, when to use or not, or worth it or not. Stick with the ol' regular 230gr FMJ? Nothing wrong with that! Do you really need to go hydras for SD or home protection purposes? I mean common, it's a .45 for God's sake! It will still hurt, lol.
 
I tried them in My Colt 1991A1 and had problems. I took My gun to My gunsmith to have it polished and throated a little more. I picked up 200rds of Hydra-shoks and it went threw them all without a jam. But I only carry hard ball in My Colt now. Ball ammo will always have a lower "fail to feed" ratio than none ball.
 
Range report - hydrashoks

Last night, while at the range, I decided to test a few rounds of premium ammo in my CZ40. Gun history is short. Its my first pistol, purchased recently, and I am probably a little too liberal with the CLP Breakfree. Have shot about 250 rounds of Winchester white box ammo through it prior to last night.

I started out with some Speer (20 rounds), looked a lot like the hydrashoks. No problems with these. 2 10 rnd clips, made holes in paper, everything was good.

I then shot 7 rounds of prefragmented rounds, I don't remember the make, but they they fed without any problem, and felt more powerful than any of the other ammo I shot that night. Big noise!

Then I shot 16 rounds of hydra shok... on the third round (1st clip loaded with only 6 bullets), the slide didn't return all the way forward. The tip of the bullet was resting against the ramp, and there was some dirty oil there. A small amount of pressure on the slide allowed it to return forward, chamber the round properly, and then it fired the rest of the clip without incident. Second ( different, fully loaded with 10 bullets ) clip repeated the same failure around the 4th shot, and again on the 7th. Both times problem was solved by lightly pushign forward on the slide.

I then shot 70 rounds of Winchester white box ammo through the gun, using both clips, with no problems.

After talking to one of the employees at the range, he advised me that the gun was still relatively new, and that it may still need to be 'broken in'. I returned home, took it apart, and cleaned it all out, this time I blew it clean with compressed air after oiling it to keep the coat very thin. Will repeat the ammo test in the future to see if I can reproduce the problem.

I figure I've got a few choices:
1) Stop using Federal Hydra Shok ammo.
2) Keep the oil light and repeat test.
3) Polish ramp and repeat test.
4) Change out spring for a stiffer one and repeat test.
5) Put another 300 rounds of FMJ ammo through it and repeat test.

Gepzo
 
Hydra-shoks

I have had mixed results with .45 caliber Federal Hydra-shoks.
My Les Baer Premier II 5", Wilson 1996A2 5" and Kimber CDP II Compact have never failed to properly load, fire or eject 165 grain or 230 grain Hydra-shoks.

My CZ97B malfunctions at least once each magazines regardless of what grain Hyrda-shok is used. I rarely fails with FMJ.

My Les Baer Custom Commander eats all FMJ, never ever failing to feed, fire or eject spent cartridge. However, I cannot fire two rounds in a row of any grain Hydra-shoks without some kind of failure.

My decision is simple. I use the ammo that works. My life is not going to be dependent upon a round maybe not firing sometime.

It still comes down to shot placement. It you hit the right spot, the attacker is going to go down . . . regardless of hollow point or ball.
 
Put at least a few hundred rounds of FMJ through it before you start testing JHP. If it doesn't like Hydrashok, try Golden Sabre, or Speer Gold Dot, or ....

M1911
 
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