Federal Changes Defensive Ammo With the New Syntech Defense

A few years ago, Federal Premium took ammunition in a new direction. Instead of using a copper jacket, the company coated a lead core bullet with a synthetic jacket for its Syntech ammunition. This new jacket practically eliminated metal fouling. The ammo was also extremely accurate and reliable. Federal has now introduced Syntech Defense loads.

In addition to a polymer coating, this self-defense line features a bullet engineered to break into four sections. As it enters the target, three petals break off to create wound channels to around 6 inches. The penetrating core travels between 12 and 18 inches deep, including through heavy clothing. This is quite different from standard hollowpoints that mushroom, creating a single large wound cavity. And the bullets do this without any metal to metal contact with the barrel.

Like all Syntech loads, an advanced polymer jacket eliminates lead and copper fouling. The jacket also reduces damaging heat and friction in the barrel. Federal even used its exclusive Catalyst primer for hot, reliable ignition without the use of lead. Even better, Federal used a different color polymer on the defensive rounds. While this doesn’t seem like a big deal, it creates a quick reference for telling these rounds apart from the others.

Federal Syntech Ammunition

Now we have not had the opportunity to test these rounds. We have, though, shot the Syntech rounds, including the Syntech Action Pistol loads. Those loads are extremely accurate and reliable. And Federal produces a wide variety of loads for different applications. This includes loads specifically designed for training, carbines and competitions. And now Federal covers self defense.