I have a lot of HST and Gold Dots put away, but I am starting to accumulate solid copper fluted bullets and will eventually replace JHP’s in my carry guns. I’m talking about the Underwood Ammo XTreme Defender ammo.
Go to page 32 on this report. It’s pretty clear what the most consistent SD round turned out to be:
“The Underwood XD uses the Lehigh Defense Xtreme Defense Technology bullet. They are the same bullet and in some cases Underwood uses slightly higher pressure which produces more velocity. The radial flutes increase tissue pressure and direct the tissue outward to increase wound diameter. There is one main characteristic to XD performance.... Velocity. The faster this round goes the larger the wound diameter. We tested the 9mm XD, 9 +P, 9+P+ and the 357 SIG in multiple tests in gel and tissue. That’s 4 of the exact same projectiles with the only difference being velocity. The wound channel size increased exactly in proportion to increase in velocity. Unlike hollow points which are designed for a certain impact velocity to best perform as designed, the XD always works better when faster.
The data sheet shows results from Phase 2/3 with enormous wound diameters. The radial flutes work perfectly in fluid/gel. Calculated PWCs are the largest ever recorded in all calibers!
Many of our testers wondered if vectoring real compressed tissue sideways into tissue would actually destroy that adjacent tissue that is not directly in the path of the projectile. For those who think this will only work in a non-compressible fluid like gel as we initially did, we can confirm that this technology works extremely well in actual animal tissue with or without barriers. Remember that hollow points expand because tissue which fills the hole in the hollow point is compressed to such a point that the outward pressure inside the bullet pushes and tears the metal and forces it outward where friction then takes over to complete the expansion. If tissue can be compressed to the point of tearing metal (hollow point) then tissue can certainly be compressed to the point of tearing tissue. The Phase 4/5 tissue tests confirmed that in over 100 shots the measured wound channel was not only larger than that of an FMJ but in most cases was the largest wound channel produced in that caliber compared to all other rounds to include fully functioning hollow points.
a. Penetration. All rounds in all calibers tested penetrated 15.2 – 20 inches with and without barriers.
b. Reliability and Consistency. Every single shot did roughly the same thing. There is a 0% chance of failure to function because there can be no failure to tumble or expand (because they don’t) and no chance to fragment. This was the most Reliable and Consistent round tested.
32
c. Barrier Performance. The XD round, the 5.7 mm rounds and FMJs were the most barrier blind rounds tested. Not only did barriers not deflect the round it didn’t change the wound diameter much and only slightly reduced penetration depth. XD Barrier degradation was approximately 5%.
d. PWC. In the Phase 4/5 realistic tissue tests the XD produced the largest wound areas and with the incredible penetration depth exhibited in the Phase 2/3 gel tests the XD recorded the largest overall PWC in all calibers. As noted the PWC numbers are inflated in the Phase 2/3 gel tests due to non-compressible gel, but the penetration depths are more realistic to compare.
Overall: This was by far the most impressive round tested. After over a year of testing this round became the most requested round to test after some of the agencies reviewed draft shot data. In continued testing this round became the most measured and compared round in this test. We had more XD data points than any other round. Because the XD relies so heavily on velocity the results showed that the 357 SIG, 10mm and 9mm were the best calibers in this round followed by the .45 and then the .40, the exact opposite of the hollow point results.”
https://pistol-forum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=31110&d=1538934056
These rounds are not cheap…and I agree JHP’s have a good track record. But lots of folks been stopped by FMJ’s too. So educate yourself and choose what you want.