What's the difference in these self defense rounds?

D

Deepc

Inactive
I recently bought a new. 380. I was looking at personal defense rounds and I can't figure out the difference.
1:Hornady critical defense. This is a hollow point with a red rubber plug inside. No idea what the plug is supposed to do.
2: Federal premium HST. A basic hollow point.
3: Federal premium Hydra shock. This is a hollow point with a pin in the center. Don't know why that's there.
Anyone know how and why these would behave differently?
 
#1 and #3 were designed not to get clogged with hard material that prevent expansion.

#2 has a rep of being the best round around.

IMO, for 380 I'd use Hard ball. That's full metal jacket (FMJ).
 
Anyone know how and why these would behave differently?
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Sometimes .380 has problems developing the velocity necessary to achieve good expansion. Some of this has to do with design of the bullet some of this has to do with using a barrel that is too short to produce the velocity needed.

When selecting ammo you are going to want to check that your gun meets the manufacturers suggested minimum barrel length for performance or the length that they tested the ammo at.
 
http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/self-defense-ammo-ballistic-tests/

The above site can give you information on these rounds. I carry the 124 gr Hornady in my LCP. Penetration and expansion are the key characteristics of self-defense ammo. Penetration of 12-18" is the standard. As you will find, that 12" minimum is not achieved with all self-defense rounds. That is the reason many carry some kind of nonexpanding round. There is much to learn and many options. Fortunately the information is readily available. The most important thing to know about any self-defense ammo is that it will function flawlessly in your handgun.

Edit: I 124 gr Hornady in 9 mm. The 380 is 90gr.
 
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Also check with the manufacturer for claims on the various designs.
There's plenty of tests on the web, too.
Should help decide.
Most important is the skill of the shooter and sufficient penetration to have the desired effect.
 
From my perspective, with the .380, you're stuck with rounds that penetrate adequately but don't expand, or rounds that expand well but don't penetrate adequately. Lehigh defense Xtreme Defense or Xtreme Penetrator rounds and Ruger ARX rounds promise penetration and major wound cavitation without expansion. Frankly, I'm skeptical of that, but carry it anyway because it'll still at least be as good as regular FMJ rounds.

FWIW, I recently switched from my Ruger LCP to a Diamondback DB9 for an EDC pocket gun, because of the far more effective 9mm ammo available. So far, it's proven 100% reliable with any ammo I've run through it. :cool:

BTW, last night was able to score a box of Federal micro HST 150-gr 9mms at Wal Mart of all places! :D Looks like about the ultimate SD round for a short-barreled 9mm, if it lives up to the hype! ;)
 
Oysterboy said:
#1 and #3 were designed not to get clogged with hard material that prevent expansion.
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That's the point of the Critical Defense ammo, but not the Hydra Shok. The center post in the Hydra Shok is designed to help with rapid, controlled expansion. I've never once seen Federal claim that the idea was to keep the hollow point from clogging. Besides, there's still plenty of room around the center post for clogging to happen.

Hydra Shok was a state-of-the-art bullet design twenty years ago, but it has been eclipsed by newer, better designs like HST.

Oysterboy said:
#2 has a rep of being the best round around.
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Agreed.

Oysterboy said:
IMO, for 380 I'd use Hard ball. That's full metal jacket (FMJ).
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That was good advice as recently as a decade ago, but it's bad advice now. With the newer excellent bullet designs like HST, .380 can give you good expansion along with sufficient penetration.
 
Thanks

Thank you all for your replies. I am not a newbie to firearms, but am a newbie to self defense carry. I have been a target shooter since 1979. I have never had the need or desire for a pdw for my home or for personal defense carry. Due to a recent disability my new dramatically lower income has forced me to move to a less than desirable neighborhood. I recently took the ccw class and am waiting on the state for my license.
The reason I chose the .380 is because it is small enough to conceal, but large enough to properly fit my hand. It has more stopping power than .22, .25, .32. But has less kick than a pocket 9mm. IMHO it is more important to land all three rounds of a triple tap with a smaller round than only one with a larger round. I don't think I can land a triple tap with the pocket 9mm due to recoil.

After all of your input I find myself wondering if I should stagger rounds. I could load one fmj, one hollow point and so on.
 
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When I had a .380, I tested several. There is no magic potion and in real world data, there is little difference that is measurable between the better JHPs, which are better than the FMJs. I carried Gold Dots and Hornady. Pick one, then get a case of FMJ and practice. Hitting what you intend to hit is more important if you should ever need to.

Like Gary, I got rid of the .32s and .380s and went to 9mms. They are more reliable in function and terminal performance and they work for my purposes.

Oh, BTW, practice some more. :) If you can't afford ammo, dryfire and airsoft.
 
Dry firing is a great way to work on trigger control. I do it while watching mindless television. You can also work on drawing from concealment with an empty weapon. All good practice that doesn't cost a thing.
 
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