Odd Grain HST Ammo at WalMart?

[Darth]

Every time I am in FailMart, I stop by to see what they are doing with ammo. Rarely buy something. A few days ago I noticed something very strange in the cases. Federal HST (YAY!) defense ammo has hit the shelves. Not Hydrashok like they had, but HST. I was going to buy a box or 2. Then I looked at them more closely. They had strange grain loadings. Stuff I had never seen before. 150Gr. 9mm? 99Gr. 380? What? These odd grain loads had the word "Micro" on them, next to a picture of a pistol. I assume for small barrels?

150 in a 9mm is more weight than I want, but I had never seen it before. Anyone seen this in FailMart going on, or have any experience with this stuff? Why not stock the mainstay 124Gr 9mm HSTs?

 

[Jem45472]

Did you see the video I posted about the heavier grain winchester defend out of short barrels? Pretty impressive. Maybe these will have the same performance.

 

[Darth]

Did you see the video I posted about the heavier grain winchester defend out of short barrels? Pretty impressive. Maybe these will have the same performance.

I did, and while interesting, I didn't appreciate the bold faced lie about "these grains/loadings are only available to LEOs" near the beginning. His results didn't exactly blow me away either.

 

[NirvanaFan]

That is pretty odd. Why step away from something proven like the 147 gr? 3 grains isn't going to make any difference. Maybe they were a bunch of miscast bullets and WalMart got them for a cheap price

 

[C3D]

The 150 grain is designed for small frame 9mms like the Glock 43. It has tested pretty well according to the reviews I've seen.

 

[Criticalt]

That is pretty odd. Why step away from something proven like the 147 gr? 3 grains isn't going to make any difference. Maybe they were a bunch of miscast bullets and WalMart got them for a cheap price

Marketing
They got us talking and wondering, Ill bet a few of us will go buy them. Marketing 101

 

[HIghlander]

Rifle rounds maybe?

 

[NirvanaFan]

They're definitely for handguns. Here is the page on Federal's website. Federal Premium Ammunition - Handgun
And, for comparison, here is the 124gr p9hst1. Federal Premium Ammunition - Handgun

I'm not impressed with the energy they put out. I'd be curious as to what their testing procedure was. Were they shot out of a 3" barrel, or a 5"? They should really list that info on their site. If they used the same testing as they do for the 124 gr p9hst1, I don't know why anyone would choose the 150 gr p9hst5.

 

[Marine Cpl]

Here's a video comparing the 150 gr, 147 gr, and 147 gr+P in Federal HST.

 

[Glenn B]

More info here: First Look: Federal HST 9mm Micro - Handguns

 

[Podmonkey]

Its not just marketing. The muzzle flash seems much reduced. But yeah, not worth a premium over 147gr.

 

[li02liberty]

I saw them in the Walmart in Riverhead tonight. They were right next to a box of the standard hst's. It did. Say micro on the box. I believe they were asking 24 for them.

 

[Catskillkid]

Forget the grain size. Try finding somebody in Wally World to open the ammo case. Whenever I'm there no one is around and if I ask they say sure they'll be right back and well...you can imagine how that works out.

 

[Darth]

Forget the grain size. Try finding somebody in Wally World to open the ammo case. Whenever I'm there no one is around and if I ask they say sure they'll be right back and well...you can imagine how that works out.

I just fire a few warning shots into the ceiling.