Federal .380 Hydra-Shok

[Zippy665]

I recently came across a box of these. I remember them being a trusted in the 90's. are they still a decent cartridge for self defense?

 

[Amishman44]

Federal Hydra-Shoks were good rounds and still are...but changes in bullet design(s) such as the Federal HST, where the changes in design to the bullet itself have resulted in improved, overall, bullet performance.
I still have some Hydra-Shoks in 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 acp...and they've all tended to run well in most semi-automatic pistols.
I carried .38 special 129 grain Federal Hydra-Shok in my snub-nosed revolvers for years...it's been an accurate round, has a milder felt-recoil, and is much more forgiving than even 110 grain .357 magnum ammo, while yet providing an adequate penetration capable bullet.

 

[rosejm]

.380 ammo can be tricky as expansion & penetration is all over the board.

Based on this data point, you may need to be cautious of over-penetration, as they tend to fail to expand.

Handgun Self-Defense Ammunition - Ballistic Testing Data

Lucky Gunner tests more than 110 different 9mm, 45 ACP, 40 S&W and 380 ACP handgun self-defense ammunition loads in ballistic gel with analysis and video.

www.luckygunner.com

These seem to perform well in both aspects.
Hornady 90 gr FTX Critical Defense

 

[Floki]

i LIKE THE hYRDA sHOCK DEEP FOR .380

 

[cosermann]

With regards to 380 specifically, Hydra-Shoks are one of 3 loads I like in the tiny 380s of today, the others being loads using the Hornady XTP bullet, and FMJ loads.

The problem 380 still has (given modern performance expectations), with current bullet technology, is that it either penetrates adequately, but fails to expand, or expands well, but fails to penetrate. The Hydra-Shok and XTP bullets seem to expand a bit, but not too much to drastically affect penetration (negatively).

However, for all the duty caliber loads (9/40/45), Hydra-Shok has been improved on by more modern designs (like HST mentioned above).

ShootingTheBull410 on YouTube did a 380 ammo quest series (for micro 380 pistols) that's worth watching. Here's the final wrap-up:

 

[BE Mike]

To me the .380 cartridge's biggest drawback is lack of penetration. To alleviate this drawback, I prefer

Underwood 380 ACP 68GR. XTREME DEFENDER SOLID MONOLITHIC​

 

[Floki]

If you can stand the village idiot, its a decent test. No denim though.

 

[Rayz]

I carry FMJ for the penetration, I'll take my chances. I do have XTP's if I feel the need.

 

[Zippy665]

Thank you very much everyone! Learned a lot from your responses.

 

[wcd]

Thank you very much everyone! Learned a lot from your responses.

I believe Paul Harrell did a video on 380 if I recall there were some good options. Believe it or not I have some 9 mm Hydra~shocks would not hesitate to load up the magazine with them.