Federal has decided to shake up the concealed carry market with the introduction of a brand-new cartridge: 30 Super Carry.
Ever since 9×19 Parabellum became the de facto standard of concealed carry, manufacturers have been competing to make the best, smallest pistols for it that they could. The result was several very nice “micro-9s” as they’ve come to be called, but these were still limited by the geometry of the cartridge they fired.
Most likely born out of the belief that CCW pistols could be made even smaller with higher capacities without compromising on ballistics, Federal began work on the 30 Super Carry. The new cartridge is designed to offer the same lethality as 9mm while having a smaller diameter case, this allows for the guns that fire it to be smaller while still fitting more bullets inside their mags. If Federal’s claims about the cartridge are true, and if it proves popular enough to actually catch on, 30 Super Carry has the potential to change the game.
What 30 Super Carry Offers
Designed from the ground up to be a concealed carry cartridge, 30 Super Carry is a .312-inch diameter, 100-grain projectile that offers similar performance to 9mm. Available both as HST hollow points for defense and American Eagle FMJs for training, Federal describes the cartridge as being more effective than .380 while offering higher capacities than what is possible with 9mm.
As these charts from Federal’s testing show, 30 Super Carry outperformed .380 ACP across the board, and compared to 9mm it was only slightly outclassed in penetration, expansion and energy on target. While the new cartridge isn’t quite as effective as 9mm, it offers many of the same advantages that .380 does while sacrificing a lot less performance to get there. This opens up a lot more possibilities for concealed carry pistol designers, allowing them to make guns that are either the same size as current-gen micro-9s but with higher capacities, or make them as small as .380 pistols while retaining power similar to 9mm.
The New Guns
A new cartridge isn’t worth much unless there are some guns to shoot it with, so thankfully Federal has been working with Smith & Wesson and Nighthawk Custom to bring four 30 Super Carry pistol options along with the cartridge’s launch. So far the options include the S&W EZ, S&W M&P Shield Plus, Nighthawk Custom President and Nighthawk Custom GRP.
30 Super Carry is certainly interesting, but history proves that it can be very difficult to make a new cartridge actually become popular enough to change market trends. 9mm currently reigns supreme and it will be very difficult to dethrone simply due to how common its use is.
For more on 30 Super Carry, please visit federalpremium.com.
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