Black Hills has introduced two new defensive loads and one hunting load in its Honey Badger line of ammunition. This ammunition uses a unique fluted bullet that does not expand, but rather uses fluid dynamic pressure caused by the passage of tissue over the flutes to open a deep and wide permanent wound cavity. The new loads for this year are a 125-grain 9mm, a 135-grain .45 ACP and a 160-grain .44 Magnum.
When terrorists fire or engage in other forms of violence from behind cover, law enforcement officers often need ammunition that can penetrate barriers and still retain enough energy to instantly neutralize a hostile target. The 12-gauge Brenneke Anti-Terror Slug (ATS) weighs 1 ounce and will penetrate thirteen 1mm steel sheets. Leaving the muzzle with over 2,600 foot-pounds of energy (fpe), this slug still can deliver crushing energy when piercing obstacles that would offer protection from other types of ammunition. Made for smooth or rifled bores, it will shoot a 1.4-inch group at 50 yards with iron sights.
Colt has partnered with DoubleTap Ammunition to produce a new line of defensive ammo. The line contains four pistol and revolver loads that have jacketed hollow-point (JHP) bullets and one rifle load. The handgun loads include a 90-grain .380 ACP, a 110-grain .38 Special, a 124-grain 9mm, a 180-grain 10mm and a 230-grain .45 ACP. The rifle load is a 62-grain .223 Remington bonded soft point (SP).
The second line of ammunition produced by DoubleTap for Colt is called Colt National Match. These cartridges are match grade and come in three pistol and two rifle calibers. The pistol cartridges are loaded with FMJ bullets and come in 124-grain 9mm, 180-grain 10mm and 230-grain .45 ACP loads. The rifle rounds include a .223 Remington load with a 62-grain FMJ bullet and a .308 Winchester with a 155-grain Tipped Match-King (TMK) bullet.
The DDupleks Broadhead slug is an interesting expanding steel design that is embedded in a plastic core and also has three plastic driving bands. When it hits the target, the slug expands and/or fragments and cuts its way through tissue, often leaving multiple wound tracks. Primarily designed for hunting, this ammo can also be used for personal defense and law enforcement where a more limited-penetration slug is required.
DDupleks shotgun ammunition from Latvia has been around for a number of years, but this is the first year it will be broadly distributed in the United States. The DDupleks Steelhead round is a monolithic wadcutter steel slug that uses plastic driving bands to protect the bore. It is suitable for both self-defense against assailants firing from behind various barriers and for hunting big game at close range.
This new rifle load from Federal has a 140-grain Fusion SP bullet. This load expands well but does not fragment. It is especially made for the flat-shooting 6.5 Creedmoor chambering, which is becoming increasingly popular with today’s hunters.
Twenty-five non-toxic 12- and 20-gauge Black Cloud waterfowl loads are now available from Federal Premium with the new FliteControl Flex wads, which deliver improved patterns through ported and unported chokes. In addition, these new loads have Federal’s lead-free Catalyst primer and a clean-burning, temperature-stable powder for easier cleaning when you’re back home.
Federal’s new Edge TLR uses the company’s proprietary “Slipstream” polymer tip to initiate expansion at long range, and it also has a bonded core that ensures the bullet remains intact and penetrates deeply on close-range shots. The Edge TLR is currently available in .308 Winchester, .30-06 Springfield, .300 Win Mag and .300 WSM.
Federal’s new Micro HST load in .38 Special is designed for maximum accuracy and terminal effect. The Micro has its bullet seated flush with the case mouth like the old .38 Special wadcutter loads used for Bullseye competition. This reduces air space in the cartridge and promotes more consistent ignition for increased accuracy downrange. Improved terminal performance is the result of using a new .38-caliber 130-grain HST expanding bullet that expands rapidly when it hits the target.
Fort Scott Munitions has expanded its offerings with seven new multi-purpose, non-toxic load. All Fort Scott loads are designed to be stable as they fly through the air, but become unstable when they hit tissue and dump large quantities of energy as they tumble through the target. In 5.56mm NATO, Fort Scott is offering two 62-grain loads. The Brass Hog load’s bullet is made of monolithic brass, and the Bush Hog’s is made of spun solid copper. In 300 Blackout, the new offering has a 115-grain, spun-copper bullet, and the new .338 Lapua has a 250-grain, solid-brass bullet. There are also three new spun-copper handgun loads: a subsonic 124-grain 9mm, a 124-grain 10mm and a 124-grain .40 S&W.
G2 Research has introduced two new loads in its Telos line. The first is a .38 Special +P with a 105-grain bullet that leaves the muzzle at 1,150 fps, and the second is a 92-grain 9mm +P load that has a muzzle velocity of 1,220 fps. Both bullets are designed to fragment into seven sections. In ballistic gel, the six nose petals radiate out from the main wound track and form a 5-inch spread at a penetration depth of about 5 inches. The base of the bullet penetrates straight to approximately 12 inches. The fragmentation process is designed to cause all of the energy to be spent within the target, greatly reducing the possibility of overpenetration.
Gorilla Ammunition now offers frangible 300 Blackout ammunition. These lead-free projectiles are designed to disintegrate into tiny particles upon impacting steel targets to make CQB training much safer. These rounds are loaded to the same high standards as other cartridges from Gorilla Ammunition and provide shooters with a safe, environmentally friendly round that won’t chew up steel targets.
Hevi-Shot has introduced a non-toxic 9mm frangible target load. It has a 100-grain bullet and leaves the muzzle of a full-sized pistol at approximately 1,150 fps.
Hornady has introduced a 6mm Creedmoor cartridge. Like the 6.5 Creedmoor, the 6mm Creedmoor case is based on the .30 TC case. This flat-shooting cartridge is topped with a 108-grain Hornady ELD Match (ELD-M) bullet, and when zeroed at 200 yards, it is only about 37 inches low at 500 yards.
Hornady’s Black line of ammo for semi-automatic rifles has three new loads for 2017: a 62-grain .223 Remington FMJ, a 62-grain 5.56mm NATO FMJ and a 75-grain 5.56mm NATO SBR. The SBR load is designed for maximum efficiency in 10.5- to 11.5-inch barrels that have short gas systems. It produces maximum velocity and minimal flash, and its InterLock bullet is specifically built to expand quickly but not fragment at close range.
PolyCase has introduced new Inceptor ARX loads in .357 Magnum, 300 Blackout and .458 SOCOM. The .357 Mag bullet weighs 86 grains and leaves the muzzle of a 4-inch-barreled gun at 1,650 fps. The 300 BLK has an 88-grain bullet at 2,500 fps. The .458 SOCOM load uses a 200-grain ARX bullet with a muzzle velocity of 2,250 fps. These loads use PolyCase’s fluted, polymer/copper ARX bullet design, which does not expand. Instead, it produces ballistic trauma by a venturi effect caused by the flutes, which accelerate tissue fluids as they travel over the bullet during penetration.
PolyFrang is producing two loads with polymer/copper matrix bullets for training, especially when using steel targets. There is a 125-grain .308 Winchester load with a 2,650-fps muzzle velocity that is currently available on military contract only, and a 45-grain .223 Remington load with a 2,900-fps muzzle velocity that is now available to civilians.
Sig introduced three new competition/training loads at the 2017 SHOT Show. Two of the loads are 9mm FMJs. The first is a 124-grain load with a muzzle velocity of 1,166 fps, and the second weighs 147 grain and has muzzle velocity of 986 fps. The third load is a .300 Win Mag load with a 190-grain Sierra OTM bullet that leaves the muzzle at 2,850 fps.
Available only for law enforcement, this 147-grain 9mm load is a hybrid design that combines a bonded bullet with a polymer expander in the bullet’s meplat. The result is a bullet that opens quickly and penetrates deeply once it meets its target.
Winchester’s popular Deer Season line of tipped bullets specifically designed for maximal terminal performance on deer has added two new loads. The first is a .223 Remington with a 64-grain bullet at 3,020 fps. The second is a 6.5 Creedmoor with a 125-grain bullet that leaves the barrel at 2,850 fps. Both are fully compatible with AR-platform rifles.
Winchester has added five new loads to its Expedition Big Game Long Range line. They all feature Nosler AccuBond bullets and nickel-plated cases. The loads include a 6.5 Creedmoor with a 142-grain bullet at a muzzle velocity of 2,700 fps, a .270 Winchester with a 150-grain bullet at 2,900 fps, a 7mm Rem Mag with a 168-grain bullet at 2,900 fps, a .30-06 Springfield with a 190-grain bullet at 2,750 fps and a .300 Winchester Short Magnum with a 190-grain bullet at 2,875 fps.
Winchester has introduced a new load to its non-toxic Super Clean line for 2017. This .45 ACP loading contains a 160-grain brass jacket/zinc core bullet that leaves the muzzle at approximately 1,100 fps.
Wolf Performance Ammunition has come out with two new rifle loads this year in its steel-cased Military Classic line. The first is a 6.5 Grendel load with a 100-grain bimetal bullet, and the second is a .303 British load with a 174-grain bimetal bullet.
Ammunition has three purposes: It can help us defend ourselves and our loved ones in what Massad Ayoob describes as situations of the “gravest extreme,” it provides us with a means of efficiently taking game, and it allows us to develop our skills at both self-defense and hunting through competition and training. This year has seen a ton of new products introduced in this rapidly evolving arena of firearms technology, and we’ve gone to great lengths to round up the best new ammo available for your favorite weapons.
