When I first got into owning and carrying firearms, I bought the first thing that I came across (rookie habit?), which was Federal Hydra-Shok. At the time, my load of choice was 45ACP, so the 230gr flavor was it. As I bought into 9mm, I also transitioned to 230gr (+P) and 124gr (+P) HST loadings. I have since consolidated to 9mm, so the 230gr are now long gone. I've always liked the way HST handles, and it's been dead-on-nuts reliable for me (hundreds of rounds without a single malfunction... feeds, fires, and ejects 100%) in multiple guns (Springfields, Rugers, and Glocks). My CCW of choice (until last week) was a Glock 19 loaded with the 124gr (+P) loading.
I, like many others, have made a hobby out of ammunition and ballistics, in addition to firearms in general, as a gun owner. The heavy-for-caliber loads seem to perform really well in the newer loads, and I've been trying to track down the 147gr HST for some time. I haven't been able to come by any of this stuff at all in the past year... maybe I've just been slow on the click, but I have some on back-order from Streicher's (who says Federal stuff can take up to a year to get in at this point). Foolishly, I put in an order last year and cancelled it, then placed another order in February because the retained prices online were still pretty good, and I happened upon a free shipping deal (I think it was a V-day special), so I figured, what the hell. When I called about an ETA, he asked when I ordered it, and when I replied February, he asked this year or last year (yeahh... loooooong wait times. I guess). I've been faithfully checking SGAmmo.com, who seems to have the standard pressure 124gr in stock, along with a bunch of Gold Dots at times, but the 147gr has been elusive. I also passed on a recent stock of Winchester Ranger Bonded 147gr (ZQ4364)... mixed reviews, a major agency recall notice, as well as questionable "Z" markings (which are either factory seconds or just unissued agency overruns... depending on who you ask), had all fingers pointing to a pass.
I did manage to order and receive some standard pressure 147gr HST from bulkammo.com, who I think sold out of their stock in one-day. It was there all of a sudden, I ordered some, and then it was gone. They had a decent number available for order, too. So, needless to say, I'm now carrying loaded with 147gr HST and the 124gr has been put on the back burner for the if-and-when. Here's to hoping they get more in, because their pricing was pretty good (in today's market) for the 50rd LE boxes, and who knows when my order from Streicher's will ever make it here.
