I moved my little dept to 165gr HST from Fed Hydra 165gr last year. Fed got lucky with the HST. They were searching for a less labor intensive (the pistil of the Hydra) bullet. HST is NOT bonded yet pretty much acts like a bonded bullet.

The above statement is directly from the Fed rep.

One thing to consider, some of the ammo offered to LE/LE agencies has special blends of powder to decrease flash. I buy it in our 5.56 rounds as we have a few short barreled entry carbines where the flash could be significant and momentarily blind the operator.

One of my favorite 5.56 rounds is Hornady TAP. Huge difference between the LE and civilian version. Bullet is different design as well as a different powder. They won't sell the bullet for reloading either. Damn them!!

BTW the HST is HST no difference in what is sold to LE or Civ.