No Comparison.....

[Northern-Lights]

I'm a recent new owner of a XD 9, 4 inch service pistol. Today was the first day I got to go out and put rounds through it. I also wanted to do a quick test to compare two types of personal defense ammo.

I'd bought a box of Hornady TAP and another box of Federal Hydro Shocks....both were 147 grain bullets.

After running about 100 rounds through my XD (I love it.....no problems at all for function) I decided to do a test.

I had 4 thick phone books which were duct taped together. (2 books taped together, and another two books taped together, total of 4.) So....I sat the books side by side.....and fired a Hydro-Shock at the first set of two books.....yup, it blew right through and I wasn't able to recover the bullet.

Then, I set the first set of books in front of the second set of books....now I had almost 6 inches of phone books sitting there. I fired two more Hydroshocks and then three TAP rounds at the books, all in different locations.

I was VERY disappointed with the TAP rounds. They penetrated farther, but had almost no expansion. I did recover the last two Hydro-shocks and while they had varying degrees of expansion, they both did to an extent.

I know it's not scientific, but believe me.....the TAPs are still in the box and the Hydroshocks and currently in a magazine!

I know there are other rounds out there which should be good defense rounds....anyone care to make some recommendations?

[agalindo]

Phone books are not a good test medium to test expansion, try wet phone books or water jugs. The bullets did exactly what they are designed to do, they expand when they enter flesh (mostly water) and don't expand on dry material in this case phone books, but could be thick clothing, drywall, glass. Remember you want the bullet to stay intact and not expand until it hits the BG, just in case you have to shoot though something to get to the BG.

[SVThuh]

Originally Posted by agalindo

Phone books are not a good test medium to test expansion, try wet phone books or water jugs. The bullets did exactly what they are designed to do, they expand when they enter flesh (mostly water) and don't expand on dry material in this case phone books, but could be thick clothing, drywall, glass. Remember you want the bullet to stay intact and not expand until it hits the BG, just in case you have to shoot though something to get to the BG.

+1...

The Hydrashocks are pretty lackluster rounds in terms of consistent expansion, penetration, weight retention, etc. I would strongly suggest carrying a different round for self defense. While the HS might work, I want to carry something that I know will work. I carry Winchester Ranger T's and Gold Dots. Both are proven rounds. Another awesome round is the Federal HST.

Check out the link in my signature. It will take you to a poll that I set up on here asking people what rounds they use for SD. It may prove to be helpful in picking a better performing round.

[Northern-Lights]

Hmmm......several threads I see on this.....

But, according to this site: 9 mm Stopping Power

I'm on the right track. Great one shot stops percent.....good expansion, and good penetration. Hard to argue with that.

[mp3mogul]

When you look and read, they are all about the same, percentage wise.

[agalindo]

The data regarding "one shot stops" is bogus. It's been proven that the author misquoted, altered, and just plain made up some of the data used in the report. If you're interested in good, verified information go to firearmstactical.com , tacticalforums.com also has very good reliable information. Check the link out too.

Handgun Wounding Factors and Effectiveness

[HTOWN stunna]

once again handguns lack stopping power due to their low velocities, if you wanna talk stopping power move on to battle rifle cartridges and assault rifles. handgun bullets no matter how big lack stopping power because the velocites are too low to cause permanent cavity.

[vafish]

Originally Posted by Northern-Lights

Hmmm......several threads I see on this.....

But, according to this site: 9 mm Stopping Power

I'm on the right track. Great one shot stops percent.....good expansion, and good penetration. Hard to argue with that.

If you are going to use M+S OSS data to choose a round you may want to look at other bullets.

Those 147 gr bullets are on the bottom of the list, just above FMJ.

Check out the results for the +P and +P+ rounds.

9 mm +P+ Stopping Power

[Joeywhat]

If I want one shot stop I'll start using one of these:

[pleasantguywhopacksAXD]

Originally Posted by Joeywhat

If I want one shot stop I'll start using one of these:

Or a 12 ga shotgun with 00 buck.