First Look: Federal Premium Hydra-Shok Deep Ammo

Expanding on the success of its Hydra-Shok line of personal-defense ammunition, Federal Premium announced the launch of its new Hydra-Shok Deep. This new ammunition offering is designed to provide deeper penetration, stopping threats in their tracks.

“Hydra-Shok Deep offers consumers a round that results in consistent, reliable performance through typical defensive barriers and penetrates to the depth deemed optimum by the leading law-enforcement agency in the United States,” said Larry Head, Federal Premium's director and chief engineer of handgun ammunition.

The company's original Hydra-Shok round was developed in 1989 and submitted as Federal Premium's answer to an FBI request for a bullet with enhanced terminal ballistics than the standard cup-and-core designs dominating the market at the time. However, the evolving understanding of ballistics and testing led to a redevelopment of the parameters of the FBI protocol.

“FBI performance requirements and protocol testing have evolved over time,” Head said. “One of the most notable changes has been the desire for deeper-penetrating rounds and more consistency in penetration depths though all intermediate barriers.”

As it did in 1989, Federal Premium stepped up to meet the need for deeper penetration and consistent penetration depths by creating its new Hydra-Shok Deep ammunition. The new round features a redesigned core that allows for up to 50 percent more penetration than the company's original Hydra-Shok load. In addition, the center post inside the bullet has been strengthened in order to further enhance the round's barrier-penetration abilities.

In renewed testing, Federal Premium claims that its new Hydra-Shok Deep projectile penetrates 15 inches into standard 10-percent ballistics gelatin, meeting the ideal depth requested by the FBI protocol. The round is loaded with Federal Premium primers and powder, the composition of which includes flash suppressants in order to dampen muzzle flash in low-light situations.

The new Federal Premium Hydra-Shok will be introduced initially in 135-grain 9 mm loads, with other options following soon. The new ammunition will be sold in packs of 20 with an MSRP of $27.95.