HST 380 Tactical

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rod1948

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There are 2 different 380 HST offerings by Federal. One is the HST 380 99 gr Micro with an fps rating of 935. It comes 20 rounds per box.
The other offering is the HST 380 99 gr Tactical, supposedly for LE but civilians can buy it. This round has an fps rating of 1030 and comes 50 in a box.
There are many ballistic gel tests online for the 380 99gr HST Micro, 935f fps, but I cannot find any ballistics tests, ballistics information, gel tests, etc. for the Tactical 380 HST rated at 1030 fps.
To my question.
Does anyone know where I can find ballistics test videos or written ballistics information on this round? Other than what's on the ammo box.
Thanks for your help!
 
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No one has info?

I guess there's no info out there on this subject which I suppose is why I can't find any.
 
I remember a test of one of them in the American Rifleman several years ago. As I recall it did not meet the advertised performance results and expansion was basically minimal or non existent. You might be able to search the AR archives to find the test.
 
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I didn't see any test results for the tactical version. I suspect it is the same thing but tested with a longer barrel and packaged in 50 round boxes. Its unlikely they make different 99 grain bullets for the tactical and regular HST but might use slightly different powders. I once saw a test I can no longer find that compared Federal's regular and "Deep" HST and as Paul Harrell used to say, there wasn't enough of a difference to make a difference.

With 380 all of the tests I have seen show that you have to choose between having good expansion or good penetration. It doesn't have enough power to do well in both categories. With a good hollow point load like an HST you might see a little expansion and still get adequate penetration. I am not saying the 380 is a bad choice if you need or want to carry a small and light gun but you do have to be realistic about what a cartridge with half the power of a 9mm can do.

If I was carrying a 380 I would probably use something like the HST ammo you are looking at and base my choice on the basis of cost and availability,
 
If the faster HST does not expand too much too fast it should be a good round. With many hollowpoints an increase in speed equals a decrease in penetration.

A video of the "DEEP" ammo showed about 10 inch penetration if I remember correctly. I do remember thinking it was not so deep after all. In several ballistic gel tests, older original Hydra'shok 380 did better. Actually reached the desired 12 inch mark.
 
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My thoughts concerning .380 ammo....

The Lucky Gunner tests for the Federal 99 gr. HST overpenetrated and didn't expand. Paul Harrell demonstrated that both .380 acp and 9mm Luger fmj overpenetrated badly.

I've done pretty extensive digging for tests and have narrowed my choice for hollow point .380 ammo down to Sig V-Crown and an XTP loading by Precision One ammo. If I can't find those I'll go with a fluted bullet due to their consistent reliability.

I've seen that nearly all .380 hollow point ammo is either a choice between penetration and expansion. I try to abide by the FBI protocols for ammo but I believe that personal defense requirements aren't quite as stringent. So the two type of ammo that I've chosen expand well, but are right on or just shy of the 12" minimum penetration requirement, but not less than 10".

I really like Federals HST offerings in other calibers, and I would hope that the 'tactical' version (if you can find it) offers better performance than that shown in the Lucky Gunner tests. But I sure would like to see some published results.

BTW: One factor that makes it more difficult for me is that the S&W .380 EZ that I have isn't rated for +P. On the "Tools and Targets" video, he shoots +P all the time through hi PC version of the same gun. I wonder if using +P as a defensive round would be ok in that gun. But in order to be good with it and prove reliability, I'd (actually my wife) would need to put a fair number of rounds through it, so, hmmmmm.....:confused:
 
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The Bodyguard 380 EZ with its 3.68 inch barrel has to give a little velocity increase over the Bodyguard 2.0 and the M&P Bodyguard 380 with their 2.75 inch barrels. So you have a little extra going for you.
 
Kanewpadle said:
Just my opinion.

I would not use a hollow point in a 380. I would use a monolithic bullet such as Underwood Extreme Defender.

You need all the penetration you can get with a 380.
Click to expand...

I tend to agree. I don't think any of those hollow points are going to expand out of my short-barrel Glock 42. I shoot and load 100 grain FMJ at around 900 FPS. That is going to be a good penetrator which is the best you can expect from this round.
 
rwsmith said:
BTW: One factor that makes it more difficult for me is that the S&W .380 EZ that I have isn't rated for +P. On the "Tools and Targets" video, he shoots +P all the time through hi PC version of the same gun. I wonder if using +P as a defensive round would be ok in that gun. But in order to be good with it and prove reliability, I'd (actually my wife) would need to put a fair number of rounds through it, so, hmmmmm.....:confused:
Click to expand...
The guy running that channel thinks that faster is always better. Load a 380 up to 9mm power levels and he will proclaim it to be the best 380 ever and ridicule 380 loads loaded to SAAMI specs. I watch a lot of his videos but often find myself shaking my head when he starts complaining about ammo not producing as much velocity as the hottest load he can find from a boutique ammo maker.

There is such a thing as loading a cartridge too hot. With semi-autos reliability can suffer with extra hot ammo. Since there is no SAAMI spec for 380 +P no telling how hot it actually is.

I do sometimes buy ammo from Buffalo Bore and Underwood that is loaded so hot I suspect it is over the industry standard pressure levels. But like you, I will not carry it until I thoroughly test it for reliability in my gun. Which in the case of Buffalo Bore can be expensive.
 
380 HST question

Finally Federal got back to me and answered my original question
.
Federal Ammunition Product Service
10:29 AM (55 minutes ago)
to me

"We verified 935 fps is the correct velocity for both, older tactical boxes have wrong velocity listed."
There you have it.
 
Just looking at the Lucky Gunner tests I would think the "90 Grain FTX - Hornady Critical Defense" or the "90 gr V-Crown JHP - Sig Sauer" would be the ones to go with for 380.
 
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