Is there a difference between the Federal Premium personal defense HST and the tactical HST?

I picked up 5 20rd boxes of the the personal defense hst from walmart. I have seen 50 rd boxes on gunbroker of the tactical hst. The 50 rd boxes seem much cheaper.

I believe just a little faster for the LE guys.
Most federal is at 990fps the HST personel is at 1010 fps.

Same stuff. If you can find the 50 round LE boxes they are a better buy.

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Vietnam, 72-73

For some reason, I thought it was the difference in packaging. I believe the difference in Hydra-Shok and HST is the bonded bullet, which to be honest, is less important in ordinary self-defense of the type more likely to be encountered by non-LE people.

All sorts of misinformation above.

HST are not bonded. Whether or not this is important to you is a different discussion.

LE HST ammo is not loaded faster or hotter.

HST civilian and HST LE are the same load in different packaging, and the little 20 rounds boxes have a high profit margin.

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Hydra Shok is the old design using the post in the center. The HST is supposed to be the newer, better version.

Tactical is the Bonded Ammo, which in theory is better penetration, but less expansion than the plain HST ammo. So as Shawn said, depending on your odds of needing to shoot through barriers, choose one or the other.

Ok, so i guess im seeing things. The ones i got at wm, dont say hst. They are the hydra shok. I thought they said both. But from the sound of things, the 50 rd box is as good or better and cheaper.

Maybe i will look around the net for the bigger box next time.

Im happy with the 100 rds i have now. I mean how many do i need for my shield. Plus i got the 135 grain

Thanks for the replies

I found the Fed HST 147 gr LE at SGAMMO. Two weeks ago but might still have it. Can't remember pricing but was way better than 20 round boxes. These were 50's and what I'm carrying. They cycle and shoot well in my XDs9.

100 rounds is barely enough to function test them in a gun. It is recommended to run 100-200 rounds of a carry load through a carry gun to verify functionality and point of impact. Both are vitally important to know.

You never mentioned caliber, but from context clues I'm guessing 9mm. Here's a good load available at a good price. Buy at least three boxes, maybe even five, and the shipping cost per box will be much more reasonable; plus it will give you enough rounds to shoot some and make sure they work in your gun and hit where you point it.

Its not a 9. Its 40. And i have no plans to shoot more than a mag or so of the carry ammo to test.

Here's the best .40 HST load.

135 grains is too light in a .40, the best loads are in the 155 to 180 range, with 165 seeming to have the best anecdotal street results and the 180 having the best test results. I carry 180 grain in my .40, and I have run 850 rounds of my carry load through it.

If you take your gun seriously enough to carry it, you owe it to yourself to make sure the gun runs with the load selected, and hits where the sights point.

With todays firearms and high quality self defense ammo you DON'T need to WASTE 100-200 rounds to make sure it works. A magazine will be fine.

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