I was emailed these photos (I believe they’re stock ATK photos, but if credit needs to be given elsewhere, I’d appreciate it if someone let me know) of .327 Federal Magnum JHPs. The label clearly says HYDRA SHOK JHP, but the bullet is clearly not a traditional Hydra Shok. It’s a Gold Dot…with a post. Like a Hydra Shok.
Here’s an expanded bullet, although the post appears to be missing. Looks quite like an expanded Gold Dot.
And for reference purposes, here’s a traditional Hydra Shok bullet, new and expanded. This photo came from LuckyGunner.
The “new” .327 Federal Magnum Hydra Shoks lack all of the features of the “old” Hydra Shoks except the post. In fact, it basically looks like a Gold Dot with a post. If this means that the Hydra Shok is now no longer what we think of as a Hydra Shok, that could be a really good thing. Hydra Shoks are widely available but have been surpassed in performance by other, newer projectile designs. Gold Dots are bonded and offer much better performance, especially through barriers.
On the other hand, this could just be a one-off due to the high velocity that .327 Federal Magnum drives projectiles to. If so, I might pull some and load them in 7.62×25.
Great observation.
Much appreciated.
I’d love to see what a 7.62×25 could do with one of these!
.312 in a .308 bore seems a little tight to me. You going to swage them down before you load ’em?
I have sized Hornady 85gr XTPs and Speer 60gr Gold Dots, both .312″ bullets, for use in the 7.62x25mm. It took surprisingly little effort to size both to .308″ using a Lee Lube Size Die.
Andrew,
You see, what had happened was…. sometimes when a Gold Dot and a Hydra SHok spend time together in a dark storage cabinet…. they have feelings for each other…. and if they are both over .21 caliber and consenting…. you see…. wow…. this is awkward….. did your father not explain to you what was meant by the term “ball” ammo?
But they’re both hollow points!
Love that response. Thanks for playing along.
Sorry I’m late to the discussion. Looking at the middle photo above, it sure looks a lot like the Federal HST rounds. The Luckygunner photo of course looks like the the original Hydra Shock we all love. Or at least I did until I started shooting HST.
A lot of “old timers” buy hydra shoks because of habit. At the same time it’s outdated and sucks in comparison to modern designs. Selling hydra-shoked gold dots is probably ATK’s way of dealing with this dilemma.