ANOKA, Minnesota – July 13, 2020 – New Personal Defense ammunition from Federal turns shotguns into the ultimate defensive platform. Force X2 copper-plated 00 FX2 buckshot pellets are specially engineered to split into two equal-size pieces on impact. Shipments of this new product have begun to arrive at dealers.
Force X2 utilizes nine splitting pellets to create up to 18 wound channels which improves the transfer of energy from the payload to the target and minimizes the potential for over-penetration reducing the risk to bystanders. Force X2 is also loaded for more manageable recoil, allowing the shooter to stay on target for faster follow-up shots and better accuracy in a self-defense situation.
“Federal’s splitting buckshot is the first significant change to buckshot ammo in over a century. The expert ammunition engineers at Federal decided it was time for improvements in buckshot that would help in some Personal Defense situations,” said Federal Ammunition Shotshell Product Manager Dan Compton. “This new self-defense shotgun load is designed for tremendous energy transfer for a wider and larger amount of terminal damage.”
Testing by Federal engineers conducted at the Federal Ammunition factory in Anoka, Minnesota showed patterns of 4 ½ inches at 7 yards and 14 inches at 20 yards using an improved cylinder choke. Patterns of 4 ¼ inches at 7 yards and 12 inches at 20 yards were achieved with a modified choke. Tests using 10-percent ballistic gel were also conducted by Federal engineers. The range of penetration depth of the segmented pellets in ballistic gel is 5 ¼ to 14 ½ inches with an average of 9 ½ inches. The average depth when pellets start segmenting is 4.5 inches after impact.
Features:
• 12-gauge 2 ¾-inch nine-pellet segmenting buckshot
• Nine FX2 copper-plated buckshot pellets designed to split in half on impact
• Manageable recoil
• The pattern and power of buckshot
• Double the wound channels
• Less collateral damage risk from over-penetration
www.federalpremium.com/shotshell/premium-personal-defense/personal-defense-shotshell/11-PD12FX2+00
Federal ammunition can be found at dealers nationwide or purchased online direct from Federal. For more information on all products from Federal or to shop online, visit www.federalpremium.com.
How is this better than using smaller shot like number 4 buck?
Well, it will hit “harder” initially than #4 would, and that could be an important factor. It isn’t just about pattern and penetration. Each pellet would absorb more energy as well as it left the barrel.
Would have to see the gel/tissue tests, but I would think the delay between impact and splitting would increase penetration over smaller shot, the process of splitting would create a larger wound channel than non deforming round ball of similar size, and the smaller shot will loose energy more quickly in flight.
As a side note: some old timers somewhere has been loading split shot sinkers for 50 years and he’s laughing his ass off- “I told you!!!!”