Old Skool .38 Special Hydra-Shok

[echo5charlie]

For your viewing pleasure:

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EB = Ellet Brothers

[lyodbraun]

Man those are pretty cool that’s for sure..

[TGS]

Neat. With my ex-department service revolver, I was able to snag a holster from the armory that was left by a late agent, and found an old box of our duty ammo as well: 38 125gr Nyclad.

Old ammo is fun. I'm keeping it around strictly for collectible purposes, even though there's probably some diehard Nyclad fan that would pay ludicrous money for a full box. Some day I hope to have the revolver and 6 rounds framed in a wood/velvet display case.

[Trooper224]

That takes me back!

[mtnbkr]

When can we expect to see a gel test? :D

I didn't know Hydra-Shok was a separate company. I thought it was always a Federal product. I think I became aware of Hydra-Shok as a product in the mid 80s (via a terrible action-drama book), but I don't recall when I first saw Federal's name associated with it.

Chris

[41magfan]

My avatar pic is a sampling of the the five different .38/.357 loads they initially offered before becoming a Federal product.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/209/pict0079r.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/5tpict0079rj)

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/819/pict0081bj.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/mrpict0081bjj)

[41magfan]

Neat. With my ex-department service revolver, I was able to snag a holster from the armory that was left by a late agent, and found an old box of our duty ammo as well: 38 125gr Nyclad.

Old ammo is fun. I'm keeping it around strictly for collectible purposes, even though there's probably some diehard Nyclad fan that would pay ludicrous money for a full box. Some day I hope to have the revolver and 6 rounds framed in a wood/velvet display case.

Still have a few boxes of these. I shot a small buck with them once ..... he wasn't terribly impressed.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/924/DmAxa7.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/poDmAxa7j)

[41magfan]

More on the original Hydra-Shoks that just came to mind;

The 125 gr jacketed loads in both .38/.357 were called "Copperheads", the all lead bullet offerings were called the "Urban Police Load", and the wadcutter was the "Scorpion". The 158 gr jacketed .357 load was called the "Hunter". The samplings I had (intended for LE use) were all packaged in 50 rd boxes.

[echo5charlie]

More on the original Hydra-Shoks that just came to mind;

The 125 gr jacketed loads in both .38/.357 were called "Copperheads", the all lead bullet offerings were called the "Urban Police Load", and the wadcutter was the "Scorpion". The 158 gr jacketed .357 load was called the "Hunter". The samplings I had (intended for LE use) were all packaged in 50 rd boxes.

Thanks for that!

[Hambo]

Why do I not remember this stuff? When was Hydra-Shok Corp selling it?

[41magfan]

Why do I not remember this stuff? When was Hydra-Shok Corp selling it?

Late 70's through about 1980-81 if memory serves me correctly. There was a little lull in availability between the time the original Burczynski design (marketed by Hydra-Shok Corp) was acquired and subsequently revamped by Federal before it was reintroduced under their label.

[iveschris]

Can't get to the ammo cache right now, but I have a partial, red box of wadcutters with the hydrashock post. When I started CCW in the early '80s in MA, this load was what my LE acquaintances (the only folks I knew other than those in my military unit who carried all the time) recommended. All of them (not some of them) had a j frame in the off side pocket (jacket or pants) so loaded.

[Rex G]

I think I still have four .38 Special Hydra-Shok Scorpion wadcutters, from the early Eighties. I had only managed to buy a very few.

When I carried an S&W Model 629, as a duty revolver, from mid-March 1984 to mid-March 1985, I had some very few Hydra-Shok .44 Mag JHPs, though I do not recall whether I carried them on the street, or just experimented with them. (At the end of that year, I could, then, carry an auto, and switched to a 9mm HK P7, for about half a year, to allow my hand to heal. I resumed carrying a big-bore sixgun, by late 1985, it was a Model 58, loaded with .41 Mag 175-grain Winchester Silvertips.)

[andre3k]

Wow, that box brings back some memories. My mom carried the 357 version of those in her model 13 revolver from the mid 80's until I got her gun after she passed in 2012.

She shot a guy that was breaking into my dad's truck in our driveway using that same round. I remember hearing him scream after he was hit then he hauled ass back to the getaway car. Great memories. :cool:

[andre3k]

Here's her model 13 with 2 hydrashocks left and some random winchester 357 mag loads. That what 30 years of purse carry looks like. She never changed her carry setup. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190102/95b79228f4890583a5288d99ac47819b.jpg

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[Stephanie B]

Still have a few boxes of these. I shot a small buck with them once ..... he wasn't terribly impressed.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/924/DmAxa7.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/poDmAxa7j)
I think that they tested pretty well in gel. Too bad Federal doesn’t make them any more.

[Zeke38]

Hydra Shoks and later NyClads were hard to obtain. The new soft lead polymer coated lead revolver bullets that reloaders use appear to have their roots from the Hydra Shok days.

Guys I know who hunt with the almost pure lead coated bullets in 44 and 45 drive them at Magnum velocities and claim no leading and good expansion on deer sized game (white tail deer).

Probably going to try some next time I order cast lead bullets. Casters call this powder coated bullets, that melt in a furnace and anneal to the surface of the lead slug.

My curiosity meter is rising on this process.