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Old January 17, 2005, 10:39 PM   #10
infrared35
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Join Date: January 3, 2005
Posts: 17
This is all based on my highly unscientific studies with wetpacks, but here goes:

The Hirtenberger +P+ seems to have excellent penetration considering how light it is, but I've never seen one expand at all (fired from a full-size handgun into a wetpack about three feet from the muzzle). The channel it cuts seems to be pretty narrow, along the lines of regular FMJ, but the temporary wound cavity would probably be impressive. To my way of thinking, this is a little too much penetration, though. The first test I ran with them, all three Hirtenbergers exited the back of the wetpack, which was the approximate equivalent of 36 inches of gelatin. I made a thicker wetpack and after a second series of tests, they averaged an approximate penetration depth of over 43 inches. Compare that to most 9mm FMJ rounds, which penetrated to around 30 inches, or to most 9mm hollowpoints, which penetrated to between 16 and 24 inches.

Glasers and MagSafes tend to make wide but shallow channels; I wouldn't use them unless I was in a situation where overpenetration or ricochets were a real concern (such as home defense in an apartment with thin walls).

Winchester SXTs, Golden Sabers, and Gold Dots seem pretty good in 147-grain loads.

From my tests, the best HydraShock was the 135-grain Personal Defense load (which appeared to outperform most other 9mm rounds tested, but again, your mileage may vary).

For general use, what I usually prefer is a +P 124-grain round such as a Gold Dot or Golden Saber.
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