Winchester RA380T and Fed HST?

[2238945]

Hey Mas,

I currently carry Winchester Ranger T-Series RA380T in my LCP daily and have seen on various Youtube tests and online that this round only penetrates up to about 8" in Ballistic Gel. What are your opinions on this and is this still a viable SD round compared to say Hornady Critical Defense and Speer Gold Dot?

Also how have you found the Federal HST 147gr in 9x19 and 165gr in .40 to perform? I can get these locally for under $20 a box and would like to go exclusively to these is they out-perform or are on par with Speer Gold Dots of similar weights.

Thanks Mas!

[Mas Ayoob]

Answering in reverse order, one department I know of out west is very happy with the street results of their 147 grain HST 9mm subsonic. Most of the departments I'm aware of using 165 grain .40 are using other loads, and as promising as 165 grain HST seems in testing, I personally don't have any street feedback on it yet.

In .380, the curse of the caliber is that you get either shallow penetration with decent expansion, or the ball ammo profile of adequate penetration with no expansion. The latter is the wound profile that earned the .380 caliber its poor reputation in the first place.

My personal recommendation for a .380 is...trade up to a subcompact 9X19.

best,
Mas