Federal's Latest Hydra-Shok Deep; The Best Self-Defense Ammunition?

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 Federal’s Hydra-Shok Deep ammunition is optimized for reliable expansion combined with deep penetration, making it an ideal choice for personal protection and duty use. New to the line are .45 Colt and .32 H&R Magnum offerings

Readers and gun folks who’ve followed the performance of Federal’s standard Hydra-Shok ammunition are well aware of its lethal capabilities. It’s accurate, high-performance stuff. That said, the bullets in the Hydra-Shok Deep line are even better. You could say they’re the Gen 2 refined version, created after years of collecting performance data points on the already excellent standard Hydra-Shok bullets.

Since the Deep version of the Hydra-Shok bullet isn’t completely new, I’ll just hit the high points of the design before discussing the specifics of the new offerings. Designed to achieve optimal penetration through various barriers, Deep bullets feature a redesigned version of the center post in the middle of the hollowpoint bullet. This center post can be seen in the accompanying photographs and is pictured on the ammo boxes and shown clearly on the mushroomed bullet I fired into ballistic gelatin.

What’s the post for? It enhances penetration. As you can see by how well it’s held its shape, the post is made of a very hard alloy so as to resist deformation. It is the tip of the spear (if you’ll forgive the pun) for the hard, deep-penetrating core of the Hydra-Shok bullet.

Original Hydra-Shok bullets feature a tall, thin post. The Deep version is more robust at the tip and cones out toward the base, becoming much larger where it merges into the body of the bullet. This cone shape focuses hydrodynamic effect on the rest of the hollow nose, ensuring it expands instantly and dramatically. This enables the bullet to cause more tissue disruption. In other words, it stops violent threats more immediately.

Other characteristics of Federal’s Hydra-Shok Deep ammo are above par, too. The powder inside is specially formulated to provide maximum performance and minimum muzzle flash in handgun-length barrels. That propellant is ignited by Federal’s own extremely reliable, consistent primers. There’s absolutely nothing better. Bullets are loaded into nickel-plated cases that resist corrosion and are naturally lubricious, ensuring clean, reliable feeding and extraction in the cylinders of revolvers and the chambers of semiautomatics.

The Newest Loadings

With those fundamentals covered, let’s unpack the two newest loadings in the Hydra-Shok Deep line. One is big and burly; one is petite and elegant. In full disclosure, I only fired the petite and elegant .32 H&R Magnum for this article. However, we can still look at the performance parameters of the new .45 Colt offering, too.

It pushes a 0.452-inch-diameter, 210-grain bullet at a mild-mannered 913 fps (that’s the factory-rated velocity). Like other Hydra-Shok Deep offerings, the projectile in this .45 Colt ammo is optimized specifically for this load in order to provide best-in-class penetration balanced with large bullet expansion. It’s designed to perform through all barrel lengths, which tells me the bullet’s nose is profiled correctly to feed through lever-action rifles, and the cases are loaded with propellant that does well in handgun-length barrels.

To me, the .32 H&R load is more interesting. Why? Well, just about any .45 Colt load is an authoritative fighting tool. Making the lovely-but-light-powered .32 H&R Magnum round a potent personal-protection tool is harder. Loads that effectively achieve potency are interesting. This new ammo is purported to drive its 85-grain hollowpoint bullet at 1,025 fps. Even though that’s still significantly less speed and energy (and recoil) than the .327 Federal carries, it’s enough to be intriguing. That 1,025 fps generates 198 ft-lbs of kinetic energy, which is about 5 percent more than a very good .380 Auto load offers.

Range Results

To wring out the new ammo, Ruger kindly loaned me two revolvers chambered in .327 Federal. As most .32-caliber enthusiasts know, firearms with .327 Federal chambers can safely shoot .32 H&R Magnum ammo, just like a .357 Magnum gun can safely chamber and shoot .38 Special ammo. Plus, .327 Federal revolvers safely chamber and fire the .32 S&W Long and .32 S&W cartridges.

With a few boxes of the new Federal .32 H&R Magnum Hydra-Shok Deep ammo in hand, I invited my two boys (Henry and William, ages 11 and 15, respectively) to the local range to wring out the new load. After posting a sheet full of target spots at 25 yards, I set up my Garmin Xero C1 Pro Doppler chronograph and sandbag shooting rest.

One of the Ruger revolvers immediately found a place in my heart. It’s a Lipsey’s exclusive built on the svelte single-action Single-Seven model, making it a seven-shooter with a 4.62-inch barrel and stainless-steel construction. The weight is 34 ounces, it has fully adjustable sights, and it is just right. I can’t think of a lovelier little centerfire revolver.

The other is a double-action Ruger SP101 with a 3.0-inch barrel. We have a family history with 3.0-inch compact Ruger wheelguns—they’re as tough and reliable as a railroad spike and serve wonderfully on the belts of modern cowboys—but they’ve all been five-shot versions. The frames are too small to house six rounds of .357 Magnum ammo. So, it was with keen interest that I unboxed the six-shot, .32-caliber version.

It looks and feels like home—because it’s familiar. However, recoil with the .32 H&R Hydra-Shok Deep cartridges wasn’t familiar. I found it to be much more polite than I’m accustomed to when firing .357 Magnum SP101s.

The SP101 shot very low—about eight inches low at 25 yards—with the .32 H&R Magnum rounds. Presumably, the SP101’s nonadjustable iron sights are engineered for use with more potent .327 Federal ammo. Shooters using .32 H&R ammo in this revolver will have to hold high at that distance, or file down the fixed front sight. At the more common self-defense distance of seven yards, the new Hydra-Shok Deep ammo out of the SP101 hit much closer to point of aim, approximately 1.5 inches or so low. I didn’t have that experience with the Single-Seven. Its adjustable rear sight made it easy to get perfectly sighted-in at 25 yards.

Predictably, with its longer sight radius and adjustable sights, the Single-Seven produced the smallest groups. Its average over a series of three consecutive five-shot groups at 25 yards was 1.60 inches. That’s darned good for an iron-sighted revolver being fired by someone with middle-aged eyes. Accuracy with the SP101 wasn’t bad, either. It posted a 2.68-inch average for three, five-shot groups.

Velocity out of both revolvers was a bit shy of Federal’s advertised velocity number but not by much. The Single-Seven, with its 4.62-inch barrel, produced an average of 992 fps. I have no doubt that one of the longer-barreled Single-Sevens would have achieved factory advertised speed. The SP101, with its 3.0-inch barrel, averaged 966 fps, which is actually rather impressive for a semi-snubby wheelgun.

With technical accuracy testing accomplished, I moved off the sandbags and ran a few informal drills with each handgun. Both mowed down eight-inch steel plate racks at seven yards with ease. Both rang the 15-yard IPSC target comfortably. When I moved to a 50-yard steel hostage target, I couldn’t hit the steel “hostile” head with either gun, but I managed to accidentally ring the hostage target multiple times, prompting a chuckle out of my boys.

Handing the revolvers over to them, I watched them plow through the knock-down plate racks and ring the steel torso targets. Recoil was so mild with the .32 H&R loads that it almost looked as if they were shooting .22 rimfires.

Before we ran out of ammo, I brought out a block of ballistic gelatin and let them each fire one of the 85-grain Hydra-Shok Deep bullets into it from a distance of about five feet. Both bullets expanded beautifully, as we expected, with the noses of the mushroomed projectiles measuring an average of 0.45 inch across. Penetration was about 13 inches. Weight retention with both recovered bullets was 100 percent. Later, after photographing one of the bullets, we joked that Hydra-Shok Deep is an enchanted load, since the mushroomed projectile with its cone-shaped center post looks like it has a witch’s hat.

Hydra-Shok Deep ammo is built for self-defense and for duty use. It’s not advertised for hunting, or even for trapping or the like. So, I have to ask does the new .32 H&R Magnum load offer fighting authority in the same realm as the .45 Colt or the .45 Auto or the .40 S&W or the .38 Special +P? Or even the 9mm Luger, for that matter? I won’t claim that it does. However, its 85-grain bullets do penetrate well enough to reach the vitals and provide systemic disruption from just about any angle. And most importantly, the cartridge is super easy to shoot well.

Although I personally wouldn’t choose either .32 H&R revolver loaded with Hydra-Shok Deep ammo over my favorite 9mm semiautomatic pistol for everyday carry, I would absolutely pick it for trail work. By that, I mean anything from running a trapline on snowshoes to working cattle on horseback. I think it makes for a terrific handgun for a government trapper who might hunt down a dozen or more livestock-killing mountain lions or whatnot each winter.

Another great use for this high-performance ammo—particularly in the Single-Seven revolver—is for teaching youngsters and new shooters to confidently handle a centerfire sidearm. The sleek seven-shooter fits perfectly in my son Henry’s hand, and he shoots it super comfortably. At the same time, it’s none too small for me, and I think it’s just a blast to shoot. (Again, pardon the pun.)

Here’s the crux of the matter: Federal is expanding the Hydra-Shok Deep ammo line to cover all the popular cartridges—and more. At the time of this writing, you can get .32 Auto, .32 H&R, .380 Auto, .38 Special +P, 9mm Luger, .40 S&W, .45 Auto, and .45 Colt. Whatever cartridge you like to pack for personal protection, you can likely find Hydra-Shok Deep ammo for it. This ammo is accurate, it generates admirable velocities, and it is engineered to perform consistently well through a variety of clothing, glass, drywall, sheet metal, and other barriers. What’s not to like? 

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