Federal HST ammo for M&P 40?

[Cruiser55n]

After decades using a 1911 I recently purchased, and will be carrying, an M&P 40. I'm now looking for a defensive load and, after doing a fair amount of homework, Federal's HST cartridge looks like a good option. However I'd like to get some input from you all before buying some HST. Do you find the HST rounds work reliably/accurately with the M&P 40? My inclination is to go with the mid range bullet weight, 165 grain, but I'd be interested to hear your arguments for or against this choice.

Thanks!

[gqllc007]

165 HST performed excellent out of my Glock 23 and ballistic gel testing

[sigp220.45]

I work for a defense contractor that has the contract from TSA to do semi-annual quals for armed pilots. They don't use the M&P but they are issued the Federal HST 180 grain, so I've seen about a hundred thousand rounds of it go downrange.

It is very clean shooting and accurate. I've never seen a single round not function correctly.

I've worked several police shotings with 180 grain version, and was always impressed by it. I had one HST in evidence that went through a windshield, took a bite out of the steering wheel, and went deep into the chest of the driver, killing him. It weighed 178 grains, was a misshapen lump of about .60 caliber, and still had its jacket.

Its good stuff.

[Cruiser55n]

Wow! Thanks for sharing your real world experience with this round...very impressive. Sounds more than adequate for my purposes.

[Bob O]

I work under a DHS security contract. We are armed with M&P 40 full size loaded with HST. No malfunctions of any kind.

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[Cruiser55n]

OK, thanks...that settles it. I didn't think the M&P would have a problem with these rounds but good to hear from someone who's actually using the combo. I'm going to place an order for the HST.

[Bob O]

165 gr.

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[Cruiser55n]

I just ordered two 50 round boxes of 165 grain Federal HST (P40HST3) at SGAmmo.com. Looking forward to giving it a try.

[swsig]

Another thing to consider is the accuracy of the self-defense rounds that you carry. My carry gun is an M&P 40 compact. I have conducted accuracy tests with several brands of self-defense ammo, firing a minimum of 50 rounds of each at a standard target at 20 yards. I found some striking differences in accuracy, so I thought I'd pass along my findings. Below are the rounds I tested. All were 180 grains:
Federal HST
Remington Golden Saber Black Belt
Remington Golden Saber HPJ
Speer Gold Dot
Winchester Ranger
Winchester Ranger "T"

I fired all rounds using a two-handed modified Weaver stance. All rounds functioned perfectly. Accuracy was determined by the percentage of my shots that hit within two inches of the bullseye.

The clear winner was the Gold Dot round. I was able to place 52% of these within 2" of the bullseye. Here are all of the results, in order of finish:
Speer Gold Dot, 52%
Remington Goden Saber HPJ, 47%
Winchester Ranger, 42%
Winchester Ranger "T", 40%
Federal HST, 33%
Remington Golden Saber Black Belt, 25%

I also tested Winchester PDX1 rounds, but I could find only 30 to test, so the results are not as statistically reliable. However, it did achieve an accuracy score of 47%, which would have tied it for second place had I been able to fire at least 50 rounds.

Note the considerable difference in accuracy scores. The Gold Dots were more than twice as accurate as the Black Belts. The Black Belts were being sold at a giveaway price by SG Ammo, and now I know why. They are horribly inaccurate -- don't buy them! The highly touted HSTs were no great shakes either. I couldn't believe how poorly they performed, so I shot 90 of them just to be sure. However, I was never able to get them to improve their performance during the extended testing.

The usual caveats apply. These findings are likely unique to me and my M&P 40 compact. If you have a different .40 cal. pistol and a different technique for shooting it, you may not get the same results. I recommend that you conduct your own tests with various rounds to find what works best for you.

The findings for me are certainly clear-cut: No HSTs for my M&P 40c, nothing but Gold Dots or Golden Saber HPJs.

I hope this helps!

[Bob O]

Speaking for myself, I don't expect bullseye accuracy out of any round in a "combat" pistol.

I can shoot any ammo accurately for defensive purposes.

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[Slingn]

I agree with above about the gold dots. I shoot those best. Either in 165gr outvof my FS or the 180's out of the shield. What I really like about them is the fact that their lawmen line is set up to be balistically equivalent to their gold dots. That way you can have good cheap practice ammo that shoots the same as your premium SD ammo without having to shoot a lot of the expensive SD ammo. I've shot enough of the gold dots to know they function 100% out of both my FS M&P as well as the shield. I do recommend the 180's out of the shield as the 165's are reported to not reliably expand as well out of the short barrel. And of course you can always use their short barreled version as well just to be sure.

And a side note, I find the 180's to be a little less snappy out of the 40 shield. I don't really notice any difference out of the FS.

[Cruiser55n]

swsig...Thanks for sharing your test results! I'm going to fire 50 rounds of the HST to get a feel for them and check accuracy. Hope it checks out because I like the sound of these rounds.

[Ron AZ]

The Fed HST 180 gr group better in my M&P .40 than 165 gr. And Hornady Critical Duty are even a little more tight grouping than either of the HST's.