Hydra-Shok is a type of hollow-point projectile made by

Federal Premium Ammunition Federal Premium Ammunition is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vista Outdoor, located in Anoka, Minnesota. With a workforce of nearly 1,500, Federal manufactures shotshell, centerfire, and rimfire ammunition and components. History On April 27, ...

. It was originally patented by ammunition designer Tom Burczynski. Hydra-Shok was released in 1988 after the FBI requested a bullet with better terminal ballistics than traditional cup and core projectiles.

Design

Hydra-Shok ammunition features a unique, patented center-post design and notched jacket with a non-bonded lead core. Together they are meant to provide more reliable expansion and deeper penetration than the other projectiles used at that time. Center post designed bullets like Hydra-Shok have more predictable results and therefore offer some advantage as a projectile. The manufacturer says that the scored jacket and center post design provide a "programmed" expansion. There has been much debate regarding the bullet's unreliable expansion when fired through clothing or media other than ballistic gelatin, in which the bullet typically displays very rapid expansion resulting in a larger but more shallow wound channel than would be typical from most other bullet configurations in the same caliber and of similar weight.
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Calibers

The Hydra-Shok is available in various calibers; 9x19mm Parabellum,

10mm Auto The 10mm Auto (10×25mm, official C.I.P. nomenclature: 10 mm Auto, official SAAMI nomenclature: 10mm Automatic) is a semi-automatic pistol cartridge introduced in 1983. Its design was adopted and later produced by ammunition manufacturer ...

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, .38 S&W Special,

.327 Federal Magnum The .327 Federal Magnum is a cartridge introduced by Federal Premium Ammunition and also sold by Sturm, Ruger & Co. It is intended to provide the power of a .357 Magnum in a six-shot, compact revolvers, whose cylinders would otherwise only h ...

, .357 S&W Magnum, .40 S&W,

.45 ACP The .45 ACP ( Automatic Colt Pistol) or .45 Auto (11.43×23mm) is a rimless straight-walled handgun cartridge designed by John Moses Browning in 1904, for use in his prototype Colt semi-automatic pistol. After successful military trials, it ...

.45 GAP The .45 GAP (Glock Auto Pistol) or .45 Glock (11.43×19mm) is a pistol cartridge designed by Ernest Durham, an engineer with CCI/Speer, at the request of firearms manufacturer Glock to provide a cartridge that would equal the power of the ...

, and .44 Remington Magnum. It can also be found in 12 gauge shotgun

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References

Ammunition {{ammo-stub