9mm gel test: 124 gr Federal Hydrashok

[chopinbloc]

Link for phones





9mm 124 gr Federal Hydrashok fired from Glock 22 with Lone Wolf 9mm conversion barrel through four layers of denim into calibrated 10% gelatin.

BB: 588.4 fps, 3.7"


Impact velocity: 1,093 fps
Penetration: 15.1" of gel, found in first water jug.
Retained weight: 121.4 gr
Max expansion: 0.589"
Min expansion: 0.404"


*Please note that although this load performed adequately in this test, professional testing indicates it is more likely to fail to expand when fired through heavy clothing than more modern designs such as Gold Dot or HST.

 

[Wishoot]

Very nice! Thank you for running this test. It's nice to see "Old technology" perform well.

 

[Johnny_B_Goode]

Thanks for your time and effort performing this test. The standard velocity Hydra Shock often does get clogged with denim. But if you shoot the Hydra Shock in a carbine or a +P load it will not clog.

The older Federal Hi Shok doesn't even expand in a standard velocity load. But if you put it in a carbine or get the +P+ 9BPLE it is more effective than many of the latest and greatest loads. In fact, the 9BPLE loading rivals many 223/5.56 soft points.

 

[joe_security]

Though no longer popular compared to Gold Dot, HST, etc, this load is still useful for those that cant find the good stuff locally and cant order on line. I would take this over ball or range ammo every time. Thanks for your efforts.

 

[chopinbloc]

Thank you for watching. I agree. It's not ideal but it's still better than FMJ.

 

[Phaedrus/69]

I've been surprised to see how readily the 124gr HS fragments when hitting anything solid. It completely blows to bits on barriers I would have thought it would penetrate without much trouble. That's why I finally ditched Hydra-Shoks and sought out a new CCW round (which BTW wound up being the HST).

 

[Johnny_B_Goode]

I still use the 9BPLE and so do many police departments. I am not talking about some little police unit with 20 men. IL state police and several other large urban police departments still use the 9BPLE. I use 135gr critical duty in my carbine. 115gr HP ammo doesn't fare so well at SD range in the carbine. I haven't found a 115gr load that doesn't either over expand or fragment in the carbine. 135gr or 147gr works best in a 9mm carbine.

115gr is OK for SHTF in the carbine. You are going to be shooting at longer ranges in a SHTF environment.

 

[Phaedrus/69]

What kind of carbine are guys running- Colt maybe? I bet the 9BPLE really screams out of a carbine-length barrel! My main home defense gun right now is a Beretta Storm CX-4 carbine in 9mm. I keep it loaded with 147gr HST most of the time. I've got a couple hundred rounds of 124gr GD +P+ Underwood that I would like to chrono from the Storm; it wouldn't shock me if it runs close to 1600 fps out of the 16" barrel.

 

[Thermactor]

Thanks for your time and effort performing this test. The standard velocity Hydra Shock often does get clogged with denim. But if you shoot the Hydra Shock in a carbine or a +P load it will not clog.

The older Federal Hi Shok doesn't even expand in a standard velocity load. But if you put it in a carbine or get the +P+ 9BPLE it is more effective than many of the latest and greatest loads. In fact, the 9BPLE loading rivals many 223/5.56 soft points.

may i add that the 9BPLE is currently priced at less than $17/box at SGAmmo, get it while you can.

 

[Rock185]

I've shot, and chronographed, a fair amount of the Federal 9BPLE 115 +P+ over the years. It avarages 1587 FPS in my Marlin Camp Carbine with 16" barrel. The 9BPLE avereages 1350+ to 1400+ FPS in some of the pistols I've chronographed using this ammo. Non-hi tech bullet for sure, but I'd sure hate to get in the way of this old low tech load....ymmv

 

[Johnny_B_Goode]

What kind of carbine are guys running- Colt maybe? I bet the 9BPLE really screams out of a carbine-length barrel! My main home defense gun right now is a Beretta Storm CX-4 carbine in 9mm. I keep it loaded with 147gr HST most of the time. I've got a couple hundred rounds of 124gr GD +P+ Underwood that I would like to chrono from the Storm; it wouldn't shock me if it runs close to 1600 fps out of the 16" barrel.

I have a Hi Point carbine. The problem with +P or +P+ ammo in a carbine is the bullet over expands. The result is the bullet fragments or does not penetrate adequately.

Pistol caliber carbines are great for the ladies in the house. My wife loves the Hi Point. She has a Colt Le6920 but the Hi Point is beside the bed. She knows she can hit the target with the Hi Point and she has seen the 223 gel tests. 10" of penetration is not adequate no matter how much energy the bullet has. She will not embrace the Mod 0 round. She is not happy paying $30 to load her gun for an event that may never happen.

 

[chopinbloc]

Some loads gain too much velocity and over expand when fired from a carbine. Some projectiles still perform well even at higher velocity. Some loads actually lose velocity when fired from a carbine.

Mk 262 isn't the only load that performs well and you don't have to pay more than a dollar a round to get good performance out of the .223/5.56mm. Most 55 gr ball fragments readily and penetrates adequately. You'll also see good performance from most 64+ gr soft point or 75-77 gr OTM. Prvi Partizan 75 gr BTHP performs very well and is also affordable.

 

[Johnny_B_Goode]

Neither of us trust a 5.56x45 for SD. I would rather have a shotgun or a real rifle. My wife is jaded from all the bad gel tests she has seen from 5.56 ammo that is highly touted. The only reason I trust the Mod 0 is I have shot hogs with it. Most of the time a 5.56x45 doesn't do much better than a 22 wmr. I have seen a lot of game shot by a 5.56.

I have never seen a 9mm load that shoots at a lower velocity from a carbine. I have seen 230gr 45 acp loads that did not gain much. I would have to see a common pistol round lose velocity in a carbine with my own eyes before I believed it. If it was a handload I would just blame it on the handloader.

 

[chopinbloc]

Where are all these "bad gel tests"? Most .223 or 5.56mm performs very well unless it's too light for the construction. Far better than any pistol cartridge. What kinds of 5.56mm loads have you shot game with where you saw .22 WMR-like performance?

147 gr with a fast powder can cause a carbine velocity to be about the same or lower than a 4"-5" pistol. Also budget ammo like Tula can do it.

 

[Johnny_B_Goode]

Where are all these "bad gel tests"? Most .223 or 5.56mm performs very well unless it's too light for the construction. Far better than any pistol cartridge. What kinds of 5.56mm loads have you shot game with where you saw .22 WMR-like performance?

147 gr with a fast powder can cause a carbine velocity to be about the same or lower than a 4"-5" pistol. Also budget ammo like Tula can do it.

Youtube is loaded with 5.56 gel tests where the bullet only penetrates 10" or so. I have seen countless small deer that were killed by a 5.56. The bullet didn't even pass through the deer. At least a 22 mag will make a bullet pass through a deer. A small bullet can only take so much velocity. I have seen the same thing happen with 80gr 243 ammo. In comparison a Remington 125 gr 30/06 sp has more energy at 500 yards than any 5.56 load at the muzzle. A 125gr 30/06 bullet is for light game like antelope.

If you shoot Tula ammo for for SD you deserve what you get. Any popular factory 9mm 147gr SD ammo is faster from a carbine. I don't care what happens with your reloads.

 

[chopinbloc]

These 10" tests wouldn't happen to be 50 gr or lighter varmint loads would they?

 

[Johnny_B_Goode]

These 10" tests wouldn't happen to be 50 gr or lighter varmint loads would they?

No, they are Winchester Rangers and several other loads touted as for law enforcement. They are all 60 grain plus soft points.

Why don't you just search YouTube for "223 soft point gel tests" or "5.56x45 soft point gel tests" instead of putting your hands over your ears and saying it aint true real loud.

 

[chopinbloc]

Since you claim there are an abundance of tests, why don't you provide the links?

I have to tell you up front though: YouTube testing, including my own, isn't very compelling. Many of those guys are using Clear Ballistics gel, which produces results that are at times not consistent with properly prepared 10% gelatin. Those that do use gelatin often don't post calibration figures, leaving the penetration results somewhat suspect.

That said, this YouTube test of 64 gr Power Point shows over 15" of penetration:





But we aren't limited to amateur testing on YouTube. Dr. Gary Roberts did a comprehensive professional assessment of almost two dozen .223 loads. Please take a moment to scan through it.

http://www.mlefiaa.org/files/ERPR/Terminal_Ballistic_Performance.pdf

 

[ugaarguy]

Please keep this on topic for the handguns forum. If you want to discuss 9mm out carbines vs .223 Rem/5.56 NATO out of carbines please start a thread in rifles. Thanks .

 

[Dudedog]

Lots of gel tests at
www.brassfetcher.com


Pistol, Rifle and shotgun tests.