Federal EFMJ bullet

There was one booth at the NRA Annual Meetings that did a better of getting the attention of passers by than any other; the Federal ammo booth.  It wasn’t through the use of loud video, or booth babes, or any other “traditional” gimmick – no, it was simply this “whoosh-thunk” noise you could hear from 10 yards away.  I had to see what it was, so with wife in tow we headed over to see some kind of maul that was smashing bullets.  The bullets appeared to be ordinary full metal jacket, or FMJ bullets…right up until they were smashed by the falling block.

The Expanding Full Metal Jacket bullet from Federal has been around for a while, but it’s still a cool idea.  The idea is to promote the kind of reliable feeding normally associated with ball ammo while still giving the shooter the benefit of an expanding bullet.

It’s available in self defense ammo loadings in 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP in weights of 105 grains (9mm), 135 grains (.40 S&W) and 165 grains (.45 ACP).

One of the claimed advantages of the EJMF is that because the tip is crushable rubber, the bullet will never fill with barrier material like some hollow point designs.  While most modern hollow points have solved this problem, a little bit of extra insurance wouldn’t hurt.  I’ll also say this – if you’re thinking about buying this ammo because your carry gun won’t feed hollow point ammo, then the problem isn’t your ammo, it’s your gun.  Modern carry pistols should reliably feed every hollow point bullet on the market.

That being said though, the EJFM is a cool idea, and it’s something that can work for people who are concerned about hollow point reliability and expansion.  It’s also been suggested that this ammo might be legal in New Jersey which prohibits hollow point ammo normally.

8 Comments

  1. It won’t fill with material, true, but it will expand on hitting, say, auto body sheet metal and come out the other side as a low-penetration marshmallow.

  2. As an NJ resident I wanted to mention that NJ gun laws are some of the worst in the country but that does not include the piece that reference hollow point ammo.

    The way the law reads is as follows (from the NJ state trooper website http://www.state.nj.us/njsp/about/fire_hollow.html ):

    Provided certain conditions are met, a sportsman may transport and use hollow point ammunition. There are no restrictions preventing a sportsman from keeping such ammunition at his home.

    N.J.S.A 2C:39-3f(1) limits the possession of hollow nose ammunition. However, there is a general exception that allows for the purchase of this ammunition but restricts the possession of it to specified locations. This exception provides that:

    (2) Nothing is sub section f (1) shall be construed to prevent a person from keeping such ammunition at his dwelling, premises or other land owned or possessed by him, or from carrying such ammunition from the place of purchase to said dwelling or land . . . [N.J.S.A 26:39-3g (2)].

    Basically I can buy it, own it, keep it in my home defense gun, but I can not walk around with it. NJ’s carry laws exist but make it IMPOSSIBLE for any normal gun owner to get a carry permit.

  3. I’ll also say this – if you’re thinking about buying this ammo because your carry gun won’t feed hollow point ammo, then the problem isn’t your ammo, it’s your gun.

    This.

  4. ToddG – Agreed, but I seem to recall some subguns that don’t like hollowpoints?

  5. Federal’s EFMJ .45 ACP also comes in 200-gr +P rounds, the “Law Enforcement” category. It’s what I carry.

    My 1911 has no problem with HP rounds; my S&W mags don’t feed HP reliably, but all the other brands work just fine. Go figure.

  6. Walther PPKs used to be unreliable with hollowpoints. Not sure about the recent models made by S&W.

  7. Does Federal publish the penetration data for these cartridges? I worry about it getting big too soon and not penetrating enough.

    (That’s what she said!)

    I do recall when these came out (about 8 years ago). I am surprised to hear they are still produced.

  8. Hyman Roth,

    Walther PPKs used to be unreliable with hollowpoints. Not sure about the recent models made by S&W.

    The problem with the S&W PPKs is that, while they have blunted the knife edges and improved the ejector, they demonstrate powerfully that certain internals of the gun don’t translate well to MIM. (They snap trigger bars with alarming regularity. I sold four, all of which broke their trigger bars, before I stopped stocking them.)

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