Recently, Federal has begun producing .30 Super Carry, a handgun cartridge meant to perform the same as 9mm, but in a smaller form factor that allows for it to be used in smaller, more compact handguns. In this piece, we’re going to be discussing the cartridge as far as its development.
From there, we’ll take the time to compare it to 9mm and try to track down some firearms that shoot this new cartridge. To wrap things up, we’ll give you our take on whether or not this new cartridge is worth pursuing for your concealed carry weapon.
Development:
History
Federal ammunition released the 30 Super Carry in 2021 to respond to an apparent need in the market. For the past century, 9mm Luger has been the primary cartridge for semi-automatic handguns, and for a lot of people, it works fantastically well.
But physics is physics, and with a fixed cartridge length dictating things like grip and magazine size, there’s only so small a 9mm handgun can be.
If you wanted a smaller gun (and cartridge), but to still be able to defend yourself adequately, the next smallest option has been .380 ACP. This time, our science foe is chemistry: with a similar size projectile, the same powder, and less of it to burn, the .380 has always been considered slightly anemic and only borderline useful for self-defense.
The Concept
Taking many of the same ideas that led rifle design from large .308 diameter rounds to smaller 5.56mm rounds in the 1950s, Federal has made something of a reasonable compromise: using a smaller projectile than standard 9mm, a shorter case, and, apparently, hotter powder, they’ve developed a round that has similar penetration to 9mm, with only slightly higher velocity to make up for the loss in mass. The concept is a promising one to be sure.
Source: Federal Premium Ammunition
.30 Super Compared to 9mm
What Info We Have Now
If Federal’s website is to be believed (which we do, but always take a company’s site and marketing with a big grain of salt), then .30 super is a compelling cartridge. It will use a bullet that’s slightly smaller than standard 9mm in terms of weight, but with clever bullet-design and hot powder, promises to penetrate nearly as well as 9mm along with similar expansion.
Assuming both of those things are true, then it might make a lot of sense to adopt this cartridge in the smaller handgun designs it would allow.
More Independent Testing
As of yet, there has not been a ton of independent, verifiable testing done of the .30 Super, but what little we have been able to find indicates that Federal is not selling us snake oil: the cartridge penetrates very slightly less well than 9mm, but a little bit better than .380.
Again, assuming the manufacturing remains to that standard and handguns chambered for this new cartridge come to the market soon, we think it might well end up a popular defensive round.
In short, .30 Super is compelling, if you can find a gun for it. So, let’s try to track one down.
Firearms in .30 Super
Since this is such a new cartridge, walking into your local gun store or pawn shop is not likely to yield you good results for finding a handgun in .30 Super. At the moment of this writing, the best that we could come up with is that Smith and Wesson appear to produce and sell several of the more carry-oriented, compact versions of the Shield in the caliber.
16+1 in a compact pistol with extendo plate on your magazine. I’m kind of impressed.
The cheapest one we could find was $521 MSRP. Cost is going to be a factor that we’ll circle back to here in a moment.
The other option, tracking down a rumor, is that Nighthawk makes 1911 copies in .30 Super as well. We found the webpage, and it’s a custom-only job that requires you to call and ask for a quote. If our experience in car dealerships and restaurants is any indication, “ask for price” usually translates to “a lot.”
“it cost more than you make in a month.” – Some Bad Dude
This is a new cartridge, and we get that. But, with that in mind, most people who are buying guns are not enthusiasts willing to spend thousands of dollars for a carry gun. While there are still cheap 9mms on the shelf you can go home with today, a .30 Super carry that’s likely a lot more expensive might be a tough sell.
So, Is .30 Super Carry Worth It?
To give a short answer to the question, we’re going to do a bit of a dodge and say: not right now, but it likely will be in the future.
When it comes to carry guns, we think in terms of practicality first and foremost. Performance is part of that equation, and in that regard, we like the promise of the .30 Super over the anemic .380.
But being practical also means being able to find the firearms. At this moment, finding a gun, or ammo, in .30 Super might be something of a challenge. Sadly, 9mm and .380 half about a century of a lead over .30 Super on this one, so it will be difficult to compete with either of those in price any time soon. If Federal can work on getting relatively cheap ammo, and compact firearms in .30 Super on the market, we’d be a big fan. For example, is Sig made a P365 in .30 Super, we think it would be an excellent firearm that we’d be happy to carry.
Conclusion
As gun enthusiasts, we think the .30 super is an awesome concept that will probably lead to at least some adoption in medium to compact concealed carry guns, and in that regard, we think it’s a great thing.
At the present, however, it’s hard to find and the guns that fire it are either full size, custom 1911s that we don’t know the price on without calling for a quote, or relatively expensive options from Smith and Wesson. We’re excited to see where this caliber goes, but it will be hard to replace 9mm handguns in people’s collections.
-Benjamin
30 Super should be successful, if they can make cheap blasting rounds for it. The wife’s 380 even with +P type loads is a bit underpowered, but still better than nothing.
As Bonecrusher above said, the key is going to be getting cheap practice ammo on the shelves. If there isn’t ammo available when a buyer is looking, 99% won’t make the purchase. Testing will persuade/dissuade the truly objective members of our community, but the enthusiasts don’t make up a majority of market share.
A P365x in 30sc would be an amazing combo. As long as the ammunition is affordable and easy to find, 30sc is a compelling buy.
I am a big Smith and Wesson fan and I hope this was a good decision but I have my doubts.
Those happy with the 9mm will continue using that and the same could be said for the.380. Ammunition will be easier and cheaper to find than the .30 Super. It may be a great cartridge but over the years, many have succumbed to the same fate.
A bit late on this, but in my opinion the .30 SC will share the fate of all the other cartridges no one asked for and no one wanted. The 9mm with the very best expanding bullets currently available is the absolute bottom rung viable cartridge for defense, carry, or duty, and that only for those who don’t anticipate having to shoot through an automobile windshield. No amount of wishful thinking or slogans will make the .30 SC bullets expand to the same diameter as 9mm HST while penetrating adequately. Has anyone even tested the .30 SC against auto glass? I think we all already know what we’d see. Extra bonus points go to S&W for introducing a new cartridge that serves no practical purpose in the middle of the worst ammo shortage since the Second World War.
The 9mm, if you are using good quality carry ammo with a modern expanding bullet, is hard to beat. It offers really good capacity and fair performance in soft tissue, if we do not look too closely at how it does after hard barriers. The .30 SC reminds me of the 5.7mm. “Oh, look, a new cartridge! It will give you twenty rounds in a service pistol mag instead of seventeen or eighteen! Oh, gelatin tests? Uh…” Whoopie doo, a whole 10-15% capacity increase, and blinding white beach ball sized muzzle flash, in exchange for having to choose between icepick wound tracks and wound tracks that are kinda-sorta comparable-ish to 9mm as long as you don’t notice they don’t go deeper than 6″ or 8″ in calibrated 10% ballistic gelatin. At least the 5.7mm, with properly selected ammunition, like SS190, generally manages to penetrate most of the common soft body armor, which bad guys and hoodlums increasingly use in the New Century. .30 SC doesn’t even have that going for it.