Knockout! Federal’s New Punch Defensive Pistol Ammunition

It’s like having Mike Tyson in your pocket, only no face tattoos.

What happens when you design ammo for self-defenders instead of law enforcement?

Federal Ammunition has decades of experience in designing defensive ammunition, but their new Punch defensive handgun loads come from a new paradigm: Designing ammo for the needs of civilian self-defenders first. You see, FBI protocol testing normally takes center stage when ammunition engineers are creating new loads–and that’s a perfectly valid way to do things–but it can limit the engineers in some ways. Punch defensive loads, now available in the top five most popular self-defense chamberings, address your self-defense needs as a “regular” armed citizen.

Rather than developing a single bullet design for all five loads, the team at Federal evaluated each caliber individually and determined which bullet design and weight would work most effectively for each load. Since the bullets weren’t specifically designed to perform in FBI protocol testing, Federal Handgun Ammunition Product Manager Chris Laack and his team spent time tuning each Punch load to meet the needs of the self-defense shooter—namely reliable expansion and enough penetration.

“We looked at specifications from our Hydra-Shok Deep, HST and other bullet designs, and took what made sense for Punch,” said Laack. “We selected whatever elements worked best for each individual caliber. We then played with thickness of the jacket, skive depth, hollow point geometry and even differences in lead cores to build the recipe for Punch.”

The result is a blend of good overall performance from a Federal Premium bullet that was designed specifically for the most common self-defense applications such as an extra-heavy clothing test using ballistic gel. The bullet’s skived jacket and soft lead core produce the best expansion and penetration in its class, while its nickel-plated brass and sealed primer deliver the reliable feeding and ignition needed for powerful personal protection. Federal utilized nickel-plated cases, high-quality powders, and reliable primers with primer seal. Proven bullet profiles and geometry for reliable feeding help ensure shot-to-shot performance.

Shipments have begun to arrive at dealers now! Here’s what’s on offer so far, and the MSRP:

PD380P1 / 380 Auto 85-grain Punch JHP, 1,000 fps, 20-count / $15.99
PD38P1 / 38 Special +P, 120 grain Punch JHP, 1,070 fps, 20-count / $19.99
PD9P1 / 9mm Luger, 124 grain Punch JHP, 1,150 fps, 20-count / $15.99
PD40P1 / 40 S&W, 165 grain Punch JHP, 1,130 fps, 20-count / $21.99
PD45P1 / 45 Auto, 230 grain Punch JHP, 890 fps, 20-count / $20.99