Penetration test with .380 GoldDot v.s. HydraShok

[oldgranpa]

My truly final wetpack test to compare .380acp penetration of Speer GoldDot and Federal HydraShok ammo, in my opinion gave a clear winner.....the Speer GoldDot 90gr. From the picture below you can see that both the Speer std. ammo you buy in a 20 pack and the LEO "bonded" ammo in a 50 pack showed no difference. The GoldDot ammo performed excellent in both the P3AT and P380 pistols. Expansion put it in the 45caliber range with equivalent gelation penetration of 14".  (A lot better than using plain FMJ!)
Federal's HydraShok 90gr "PD" ammo in the 25 round box lost it's jacket everytime. Penetration was OK but jacket separation is bad news. The Fed LEO "bonded" ammo kept it's jacket with slightly lower penetration and lower expansion. (One round went thru the side of box and was lost. My bad aim!)  I can't recommend the Fed "PD" stuff.
There were no malfunctions of any kind with both pistols using the above ammo. You could use either GoldDot or HydraShok if desired since penetration meets the FBI requirement. But before you do, you must function test the ammo of your choice in your pistol to be sure it's OK for your personal SD carry ammo.
Note the DPX, used for comparison made 8" wetpack min. with the P3AT, but fell short with the P380.

Some Chrony readings were also made that gave similar results seen in previous tests...
Fed LEO range 950fps, hi to 910fps, low
Fed "PD" range 968fps, hi to 902fps, low
Speer GD LEO range 965fps, hi to 948fps, low
Speer GD "std." range 1012fps, hi to 976fps, low

Just as a final note, over 20 wetpack test data points were previously made with the above ammo over the past years. The results here are very close to the averages we've seen in the past. Search the section for data.

Cheers,
og....who is now retiring from wetpack testing!!

[oldgranpa]

According to what I have been able to find on the history of ammo construction, Speer GoldDot came after the original HydraShok bullet was developed. Oddly enough, both companies are owned by ATK, Alliant TechSystems, so they have access to each others technology.

Here is a quote from The Gun Zone...
4.- Speer's patented "bonded core" projectile developed by Steve Moore, Bret Olin amd Dave Inthurm. Though it followed Hydra-Shok, XTP, Starfire, Black Talon and Golden Saber into the marketplace, it quickly achieved the lion's share of the "premium handgun ammunition" market.

So it seems that since the original HydraShok bullet looses it's jacket in ballistics tests, Federal has adopted the Speer electro-plating method for the copper jacket on it's "LEO Tactical" ammo.

A little bit of trivia on the GoldDot bullet construction is found in these two links....

http://www.speer-ammo.com/products/gold_dot_const.aspx

http://www.gunaccessories.com/speer/GoldDotHollowPointPistolBullets.asp

Enjoy yourself reading!

og......who likes the GoldDot ammo

(but if you prefer Federal HydraShok, the LEO type is "bonded".)

p.s. another thing to like about "bonded" bullets such as the GoldDot is the base of the bullet also has the copper plated jacket. This eliminates the lead vapor you get in the air with bare lead base bullets like most FMJ ammo and some of the JHP brands. Just another reason to prefer Speer JHP ammo to FMJ for your SD carry ammo.

[Preacherman]

Hello OG:

Thanks for your exacting work with .380 ammo.  That's good information!
I've added a link on mouseguns.com at http://www.mouseguns.com/amball.htm

Enjoy your retirement!

Marshall

[oldgranpa]

thanks for your reply, Marshall. Only reply here. Got a number of replies on KTOG where I posted a link to the test. Very active over there. Kinda spooky quiet here.

Have you seen this site, link follows with thread about .380 ammo.....
http://www.defensivehandguns.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1253933692/0

about an even preference for FMJ and HP.

og

[Preacherman]

Thanks for the link, OG.
I added DefensiveHandguns.Com to my list of forums....

http://www.mouseguns.com/boards.htm

KTOG is busy all the time, as you say.