Federal Tactical HST Ammo, for LE only??

I would call Bravo Sierra on this one. Everything I have read about HST fails to mention any such restriction.
 
"Supposedly" federal only ships it to LEO.

The reality is that it's very common and can be found online with a minimal effort.

In other words...as Fprice said, Bravo Sierra.
 
italianbostonian said:
I went to my local gun shop today and was told that they don't sell HST ammo anymore because it is only for LE use?

Is this true???
Click to expand...

Sort of true. Was this Collectors? They had been selling it recently.

Anyhow, the restriction is not government imposed, but Federal Ammo, Inc imposed. So it is theoretically legally binding on those with distribution contracts tied to Federal. That is if Federal has gone so far as to put this sales restriction into their contracts. I don't know if they have done that or not.

All in all it is some BS about how HST should be for LEOs because they should not have to go up against this great HST ammo.

In reality, Federal believes LEO's lives are more important than ours effectively. Maybe the less cynical would surmise it could also be Federal's way of keeping the moonbats at bay because they don't want their product labeled a cop killer like the black talons were years ago. Maybe someone has seen the exact memo Federal sent out and can elucidate.
 
I was told this at Four Seasons. It said on their website that they had it in stock, I went there and they said they can't sell it anymore and it's restricted to LE only. What gun shop in MA had it? I would like to get some.
 
Xak said:
Me too, in NH. I've seen it recently at gun shops in MA as well. Who said this? Should I stock up on it?
Click to expand...

I wouldnt see any reason to do that, its not illegal for us to have it or anything, and I dont find any huge reason to run it over Federal Hydroshok...maybe it will become a hot commodity? I doubt it though.
 
terraformer said:
Anyhow, the restriction is not government imposed, but Federal Ammo, Inc imposed. So it is theoretically legally binding on those with distribution contracts tied to Federal. That is if Federal has gone so far as to put this sales restriction into their contracts. I don't know if they have done that or not.
Click to expand...

There's the rub- is this really something via Fed/ATK or is this some BS excuse made up by a distributor or a gun shop? Some distributors start making up funny stories about why they can't get you something, some of which have little basis in reality.

-Mike
 
drgrant said:
There's the rub- is this really something via Fed/ATK or is this some BS excuse made up by a distributor or a gun shop? Some distributors start making up funny stories about why they can't get you something, some of
which have little basis in reality.

-Mike
Click to expand...

Your guess is as good as mine. What dealers have told me is Federal is behind it. But it could be the distributers since they do have a stranglehold on the retailers (and by extension us consumers) and I know retailers who think the dists abuse that monopoly power when they damn well feel like it. I hope someone close to the situation, but not so close as to risk retribution, could stand up and definitely say why.
 
I have a box of Federal Tactical LE40T1 and this is what it says on one side of the box:
The Federal Cartridge Company Tactical brand of ammunition is designed, manufactured, and tested to law enforcement standards and sold exclusively to law enforcement agencies.
Click to expand...

So I'd say the company has a history of this. I'll have to look to see if I have any HSTs and see what it says on that box. I think I have some Winchester Ranger. I'll check that too.
 
It is pure marketing hype. What could possibly make you want to buy it more than thinking it's "just" for LEO's? Looks like it's working [rofl]

I must admit, I am impressed with testing I have seen posted on the net.
 
It could be that Federal feels the ammo will be more appealing to LEO if it's a "restricted police only" product - an appeal to exclusivity, and implying it's better than what the massed are allowed to have. Sort of like putting "professional grade" on a power tool package :)
 
italianbostonian said:
So what Federal doesn't think that we are as important as LE when it comes to protecting ourselves??
Click to expand...

I really think it is more about the uproar over black talons. Those have become Winchester SXTs but were sold at the time as "Black Talons" with a black lubricant on them. I actually have some for old times sake. Anyhow, the moonbats came out and called them teflon coated cop killers and were able to get some traction with that BS. They are not coated with teflon, are not armor piercing but the truth ceased to matter. They are coated, but that was to protect the barrel of the gun that shot them. These are also exactly the type of bullets that are in the HSTs. Hydra-shoks (and hunting rounds like power-shoks) balloon into round discs. HSTs and SXTs expand by folding outwards which creates very sharp tines. Think of a flower blooming. They create a very, very nasty wound channel where lots of tearing and trauma occurs. They don't put the guy down any faster, but a lot more often they will make sure the wounded don't live.

Since the name Black Talon sounded evil and nasty, it made for a very effective rallying cry for the moonbats. I suspect the makers of the now staid and banal HSTs and SXTs never want to return to the past so they limit the sales and changed the names to not provide ammo to the opposition.
 
It is extremely irritating when companies choose to bow down to the government and to restrict what they sell to us mere commoners. I would be happy never to buy a Federal product again (assuming this is true) if I knew of a high-quality ammo manufacturer that didn't have a product restricted to .gov sales only. Anybody have any insight here? How about Black Hills or Hornady?
 
Even GREAT companies have done such things in the spirit of political correctness. Glock is second to none when it comes to support of civilian firearms ownership but, for years, restricted sales of the 33 round 9mm mags to LE agencies only.
 
I believe it is merely a marketing ploy to get LEO contracts for large quantities of ammo. As for your own use, I would just get the Federal Classic JHP ammo as it's significantly cheaper and I'm sure every bit as effective for personal use. The lower price allows you to buy more ammo and actually practice with it which will be way more important than what kind of ammo you use.

-Cuz.
 
Cuz said:
I believe it is merely a marketing ploy to get LEO contracts for large quantities of ammo. As for your own use, I would just get the Federal Classic JHP ammo as it's significantly cheaper and I'm sure every bit as effective for personal use. The lower price allows you to buy more ammo and actually practice with it which will be way more important than what kind of ammo you use.
Click to expand...

While I agree with this, IMHO fed tactical is actually a pretty good deal overall. (50 round boxes, and costs less per round than gold dots, win
ranger, and cor-bon. )

I also would not use "bargain" JHP ammo unless I had data to validate that choice. Some so called "economy self defense" and some "consumer" JHP loads (for example, a lot of the Win SXT black box stuff) are so bad in testing that you might as well have just bought ball ammo instead. A lot of junk JHP loadings fail to expand- so whats the point of buying them? [laugh]

-Mike
 
mikem317 said:
It's just clever marketing.
Click to expand...

I agree but this stuff has to be better.

top_2.jpg
 
drgrant said:
While I agree with this, IMHO fed tactical is actually a pretty good deal overall. (50 round boxes, and costs less per round than gold dots, win
ranger, and cor-bon. )

I also would not use "bargain" JHP ammo unless I had data to validate that choice. Some so called "economy self defense" and some "consumer" JHP loads (for example, a lot of the Win SXT black box stuff) are so bad in testing that you might as well have just bought ball ammo instead. A lot of junk JHP loadings fail to expand- so whats the point of buying them? [laugh]

-Mike
Click to expand...

I wouldn't consider the Federal Classic JHP to be bargain brand. It's just more affordable than the HST, and is also available in 50 round boxes.
-Cuz.
 
I would call Bravo Sierra on this one. Everything I have read about HST fails to mention any such restriction.
Click to expand...

no...not bullshit...Federal claims that the 50 round boxes of HST should have never made it to the shelves of commercial retailers...for whatever reason who knows why...anyways...they were sending their reps into shops and pulling the stuff from the shelves and reimbursing the shop the cost of the ammo...they would also ask which distributor it came from...if you told them "i forget or i dunno" they would simply scan the barcode, find out which batch it came from and then could track it back to which batch went to which distributor...so no...not bravo sierra...they refuse to distribute to commercial retailers...at least in this state
 
blood hound said:
no...not bullshit...Federal claims that the 50 round boxes of HST should have never made it to the shelves of commercial retailers...for whatever reason who knows why...anyways...they were sending their reps into shops and pulling the stuff from the shelves and reimbursing the shop the cost of the ammo...they would also ask which distributor it came from...if you told them "i forget or i dunno" they would simply scan the barcode, find out which batch it came from and then could track it back to which batch went to which distributor...so no...not bravo sierra...they refuse to distribute to commercial retailers...at least in this state
Click to expand...

so a company can go into a shop and pull stuff off their shelves, only re reimbursing cost? Couldn't they be charged with shoplifting?
 
blood hound said:
no...not bullshit...Federal claims that the 50 round boxes of HST should have never made it to the shelves of commercial retailers...for whatever reason who knows why...anyways...they were sending their reps into shops and pulling the stuff from the shelves and reimbursing the shop the cost of the ammo...they would also ask which distributor it came from...if you told them "i forget or i dunno" they would simply scan the barcode, find out which batch it came from and then could track it back to which batch went to which distributor...so no...not bravo sierra...they refuse to distribute to commercial retailers...at least in this state
Click to expand...

But us common folk can buy 20 round, plastic boxes of HST?

It may not be bullshit, but it still is on a different level.
 
PaulD said:
But us common folk can buy 20 round, plastic boxes of HST?

It may not be bullshit, but it still is on a different level.
Click to expand...

They have 20 rd boxes of HST? I've only seen the 20 rd boxes of the old hydrashok, which interestingly cost as much as 50 rds of HST
 
hollewud7 said:
They have 20 rd boxes of HST? I've only seen the 20 rd boxes of the old hydrashok, which interestingly cost as much as 50 rds of HST
Click to expand...

Hmm, I'll have to go check. I have some HST but maybe I got it from the NY guys at the Marlboro show.
 

Similar threads

Anyone have an idea of when these were last produced? 12ga federal
Replies
3
Views
91
drgrant
drgrant
. 22 Rimfire Ammo With "Boxer Primer" ?
Replies
5
Views
236
Kevin_NH
Kevin_NH
Is this ammo collectible?
Replies
15
Views
666
Marty McFly
Marty McFly
.40 cal ammo
Replies
0
Views
207
Badger
B
PMC SFX 9mm Luger Ammo 124 Grain SF Hollow Point
Replies
0
Views
185
headednorth
headednorth
Back
Top Bottom