Federal Ammunition is announcing their newest cartridge for self-defense, the 30 Super Carry. Along with it, they’ve shared a couple of early adopters: Nighthawk Custom and Smith & Wesson, and four new handguns that will chamber the new round.
The 30 Super Carry is a .32-caliber cartridge loaded to nearly the same power as standard-pressure 9mm Luger, but with a smaller diameter case that lets shooters carry more rounds in their magazines. On paper, the numbers are similar to 7.65 Luger, but with a semi-rimmed, straight-walled case for modern pistols.
It fires a 100-grain bullet at 1,250 feet per second generating just under 350 foot-pounds of force. According to Federal, defensive ammunition can achieve nearly 16 inches of penetration in ballistics gelatin, with projectiles expanding to .53 inches.
While it will vary depending on the pistol and magazine, Federal says a 9mm handgun with a 10-round magazine will hold two more rounds of 30 Super Carry, or about 20 percent more ammo per mag. So far, Federal has named two Nighthawk handguns and two Smith & Wesson handguns chambering the new cartridge.
“A great cartridge demands a firearm that’s just as good,” said Federal. “That’s why we worked hand-in-hand with Nighthawk Custom and Smith & Wesson while engineering 30 Super Carry to help these trusted manufacturers develop handguns that will extract all the cartridge offers. Initially available models include the Nighthawk Custom President and GRP and the Smith & Wesson M&P Shield Plus and Shield EZ.”
The two Nighthawk Custom pistols are premium full-size 1911s while the M&P Shield Plus and Shield EZ are affordable, trusted polymer pistols for concealed carry. With so many new micro-compact pistols hitting the market touting their relatively high capacity, it seems likely that more manufacturers will follow and add 30 Super Carry models for 2022.
SEE ALSO: Federal Premium Rolling Out Punch 22 Defensive Ammunition
Designed specifically for personal protection, 30 Super Carry isn’t meant to draw on military cartridges, which may make it especially popular in other markets as well. Many countries restrict firearms based on whether or not they fire standard military and police cartridges.
But performance on paper and improved capacities won’t overcome every hurdle this new cartridge faces. Many companies have tried to make their own new cartridges and failed to see widespread adoption.
Still, Federal Ammunition, with the backing of Nighthawk Custom and the giant Smith & Wesson, combined with a market hungry for higher and higher-capacity concealed carry guns, Federal might have a winner with the new 30 Super Carry.
Extra capacity, lower recoil, faster follow-up shots … for more information about this gutsy little cartridge, head over to Federal online today.
maybe if manufacturers came out with small pistols specifically deigned around it i would be interested… just sticking it in a current frame and saying hey you get two more rounds, isnt enough for me to get excited about. Id prefer the same amount of rounds in a more concealable frame.
I see the new offering as a betrayal on the manufacturer’s behalf using resources that six months ago weren’t available for the weapons that we already have. Nothing but a waste the only thing that we need more of is what we have if shooters lack the skills to be proficient or feel inadequate with the same weapons that millions before them used in combat then your problem is in the mirror.
There’s a reason 9mm was made to replace a .30 handgun round. It’s probably perfect for the 70% of us who aren’t hipsters or like .45s.
And it’ll be the first caliber to get back on the shelves. 5.56 being 2nd
Well, a’int that special. You can not even walk into a Walmart in any 300 mile direction and purchase a box of 22’s. That is what we need alright. Where in the hell can you even find the ammo, after you purchase a new firearm to shoot it?
Robert try Hibid. Com everything you need. Just to the ammo section .
20% more capacity is great.
I wish someone would make a cartridge that costs 20% less. The cost of this new one will never come down after the first box hit the shelf.
How about just sell me the primers.
Yep primers could be useful.
Last ones I saw were $.12 for one primer.
Had to make that one primer thing clear.
The gun grabbers should be happy that we’re doing their work for them.
Eff .30 supper crappy! I’m looking for a couple of stainless Remington 1858s. I’ll make my own caps the rest is available.
Just sounds like more fun to me, although I’ll probably never own a firearm in this Caliber. Every time something new comes out, there are people who hem & haw about how it’s unnecessary. I say keep innovating and producing new stuff. The market will decide what survives and what doesn’t.
My brain screams “Why”? It will just be another odd ball round that will be hard to find and surely not the magic bullet. It might sell in smaller pistol if the magazine capacity doesn’t exceed the magic 10 after which a firearm becomes “dangerous” in some states. If it does or is housed in a larger pistol…what’s it’s use? As other folks said. Go to the range and practice with what you already have. The ammo will be cheaper, and you can buy lots of it for the cost of another gun.
There has been a .38 cal super out The 38 Super, also known as 38 Superauto, 38 Super Auto, or 9×23mmSR, is a pistol cartridge that fires a 0.356-inch-diameter bullet. It was introduced in the late 1920s as a higher pressure loading of the 38 ACP, also known as 38 Auto.
I have a 1952 model Colt Commander 1911 in .38 Super Auto and it’s a very powerful round and is already proven to be quite capable. It’s a +P round and has more power than a 9mm and more energy than a .40 cal. Lots of competition shooters use it which is why it’s still around. I would love to see the firearm manufacturers bring back this caliber in many of the popular offerings.
I owned and reloaded for a.38 Super for many years.
Now, how is the .38 Super in any way analogous to this conversation???
It’s BIGGER than a 9mm, with more recoil.
The IDEA is to get a cartridge more powerful than the .380 Auto, with similar ballistics to a 9, and get more rounds in the same size or even more compact of a weapon.
In addition, .38 Super is a “semi-rimmed” cartridge, and CAN sometimes cause jams, especially in double stack mags.
Flat out, the .38 Super is NOT a good choice for a compact EDC gun, and IMO, not a good choice for the average shooter.
I shot it in competition, outside of that I see no use for it.
I like having the ability to refill my mags from my former opponents.
Here’s how it looks to me.
First off, I trust Federal and their overlords to be sensible and reasoned in nearly all things.
This cartridge looks to be an EPIC waste of resources when we already can’t get ammo in a lot of markets.
Why would I or anyone else take on buying an entirely new gun with individually committed magazines, barrel and extractors without a need to?
Then this, in the **do they know something that we do not know** vein:
(((“Many countries restrict firearms based on whether or not they fire standard military and police cartridges.”)))
Curiosity – relative to my first points, abounds!
Todd.
Yep I would be angry if I had stock in Vista/federal. Focus on target and hsts and when you have enough then think about wizzbang zoomer rounds
Its future lies in its name, 30 Super Carry.
An all new, scaled down pistol
that is slim and light
designed for the svelte 30SC cartridge
will have a market.
Appreciate the R&D and innovation, but IMHO 38 Super Auto is far superuser to most everything on the market.
1. The 38 SA case is 15% smaller than a .45 ACP. So you can load one extra round for each 6 in .45.
2. Same stopping power (foot pounds) as a .45 ACP
3. Better penetration than .45 ACP, especially against barriers.
4. Even during this current ammo drought, 38SA is generally available and reasonably priced.
5. Tried and tested since 1927
God Bless America!
Please just focus on producing ammo for the guns we already own and reduce this ammo shortage!
Well said !
I completely agree with with Nicholas’s comment…it is not the CCW carriers that have the attention of the anti gunners at this point in the game. It is companies like Sig Saur that bring out weapons of military grade and this 277 Fury ammo in a hybrid case…or federal with new ammo to allow more capacity. All of this is nothing else except a reason for Newsom and the Beto band wagon to yell to the populations and courts that you don’t need your guns and it will be in the next to impossible for anyone to defend…..you have to allow for the sake of our own lives and the constitution of which is why I am given the right to have them…..them process to not give them cause and justified argument.
You lost me at worrying about what tyrants think of human rights. IDGAF what some wanna be dictator/s think of my right to pile them up when they get enough nads to FAFO
You fret that a new caliber is going to upset a God-hating, gun-grabbing liberal… Hell, I may have to buy 2 of them if it’ll do that!!!
This will die on the vine.
You know, I was just going to leave this, but I have some advice for Federal, Nighthawk, and S&W. Stop fishing with new products just to increase your sales. Stop listening to attorney’s who haven’t a clue as to what the Constitution actually says, and does. You want to increase your sales exponentially, and prevent men like Newsome from passing legislation that is going to drain your coffers? Listen to the few of us who have actually studied the right, and more importantly the Duty in great detail.
I have been accused of being rude to others, but after writing numerous articles, debating attorney’s, and trying to educate the heads of some of the country’s so-called pro-2nd groups, I’m just fed-up with a community that is doing everything it possibly can to make sure that my children will live as subjects to a totalitarian state.
A couple of weeks ago, I went to a seminar on CCW hosted by my representative. They played a clip of an interview of Justice Scalia, the man who wrote the Heller decision. I was absolutely appalled when I heard that he did not know that the Militia is recognized 4 times in the original Constitution as the only authority with specific Duties designed to protect and defend our borders, our sovereignty, and all our rights. For Heavens sake, Justice McReynolds wrote 70 prior to the Heller decision that the purpose of the 2nd was “to assure the continuation and render possible the effectiveness of” the Militia so that it could perform the Duties commanded by the Constitution. That is precedent. The Heller court completely ignored the fact that a governmental institution staffed, and controlled by “We the People” is the only way to protect ALL our rights. The “individual right theory” has no force of law, creates no office that we can use to enforce OUR rule upon the state, and imposes nothing at all but to allow those who would never raise a finger to protect our rights, a way out.
Heller also ignored the fact that the Miranda court ruled that there can be no regulating of a right. The only thing that Heller did was to convince an ignorant public that the confusing wording of the decision actually enforced a right rather than a privilege. And now, over the last several years, the anti-gunners have realized that the Heller decision has allowed them to regulate our right to keep and bear arms to a point where it will be impotent.
How does a new cartridge you don’t like have anything to do with Heller? Are you just trying to tell people you know something? How does a new cartridge insure growing up in a totalitarian state? Isn’t another weapon sold(no matter the caliber) another step away from totalitarianism?
I don’t care who likes or dislikes the cartridge. Plenty of those already exist and we all probably own something someone else doesn’t like… Who cares. In America we have freedoms and one of those is to buy a gun in a caliber you choose.
Don’t like it – Don’t buy it!
Reincarnation of the .32-20 WCF in a non bottleneck cartridge.
Anybody remember “.45acp; because shooting twice is just plain stupid” ? The 9mm is why col. Cooper invented the ‘douple-tap’, and while this new number has the advantages of a few more shots, and better punch-thru than a 9 with the same bullet type, it also requires greater accuracy, while doing less damage. There will be the hydradynamic shock argument, but remember larry flint survived 2(two) pointblank 44 magnums to mass center; everybody reacts differrently to trauma. Ya pays yer money, and ya takes yer cherces, as said by the great wise man Popeye
Is this another answer to a question that no one asked?
Totally agree.
Gee, this appears to be such a radical departure from existing ammo and platforms…….
Anybody comparing the .30 cal. Tokarov round to this clown show?
Personally, I would rather see a couple of new platforms for that mega-penetrating little 95 gr. speedster (that has shown a propensity to penetrate Kevlar and soft armor) than an unproven and apparently un-needed new chambering, particularly since I have what’s required to continue hand-loading the Tok. brass.
A little publicity and new platforms might encourage some new and updated projectiles for the 7.62×25 cartridge, anyway. That would be welcome.
I think I’d rather have the Tokarev, if I could find one in stock. Besides, if I had to throw it in the river I wouldn’t feel too bad about it.
I was thinking the same thing, Guido! Several months ago, I was wondering why no U.S. gun manufacturer has brought out the 7.62X25 Tokarev cartridge in a handgun or a rifle. An 85 grain bullet at 1,700 fps with 550 ft-lbs from a handgun is quite an improvement in ballistics and lethality as compared to this newbie and really many other handgun rounds! Any gun company listening?????????
I spent several minutes typing out a thoughtful, supoortive, and intelligent reply to Guido and the people reading these comments, but for some reason, GunsAmerica Digest pulled it down! They are censoring speech for unknown reasons! They are screening out what they don’t want to hear just like Facebook and Twitter! Shame on them!
Was I wrong and incorrect? I hope so! My initial comments magically reappeared!
I wonder how difficult it would be to remake, say a Makarov chassis to shoot the .30 Tok? The actual Tokarev pistol has some clever ideas but overall is somewhat less than available. Would it be possible to remake the other Iron Curtain pistol into a Tokarev shooter? Or for that matter, redo a .32acp pistol to fire the Tokarev. The potentials are there and so are the chassis to use. And .30 Tok (7.62X25) is still available…
Why try and re-invent the wheel? So you get another 2 rds in a magazine compared to a 9mm – at no doubt double the price. Why? If you absolutely need those extra 2 rds I suggest more trips to the range are in order.
I’m thinking the length of cartridge makes the gun more or LESS easier to hold and shoot in an automatic … imagine a grip so large you barely touch the trigger…
I assume we were thinking of a gun the ladies would like…
A .22 LR is .975 OAL, that .32 ” SUPER CARRY has got to be about like the S&W .32 LONG or .32 H&R MAG…1.270 – 1.350 OAL… that’s getting a bit ” LONG IN THE TOOTH ” !
The .380 is .980, 9MM NATO runs 1.168, .357 SIG , 1.140…. 45 Auto, 1.260 OAL.
So were talking a grip as big as a .45 AUTO at least ! Wonder how that’s going to go over…
I’ll check with Marco Rubio and get back to you…
This looks like a case of trying to create a need where none exists. Just about any mid-size platform and most sub-compacts provide much more magazine capacity than is needed in 99.9% of self defense (and/or LE) deadly force encounters.
When I trained years ago, the first statement we read off the blackboard was “the first, most-accurate shot in a gunfight wins”. Years of subsequent research by countless agencies/departments cause me to offer an additional saying… “a bigger wound channel from a single, well-placed shot, trumps more rounds in the magazine”.
This new cartridge may sell for a while, until the new wears off, but I don’t see it having any long-term success.
I will not bother with it.
The 327 Federal Magnum and the 357Sig are two reasons why.
Ammo is scare and expensive enough. Why add to those negatives by pursuing a designer round?
I wish someone would have made a lever action in 327 Fed Mag. Now, that would have been fun, had ammo prodution (and therefore availability and cost) been expanded.
I believe Henry has a 327 Federal lever action. As a bonus it also digests 32 H&R magnum rounds.
Thanks, EasyEddie!
Henry does chamber the Big Boy in .327 Federal. I really wish someone would chamber an affordable Model 92 Winchester clone in .327. I believe that rifle and round were made for each other.
Thank you, Stick!
It’s good to see someone improve on John Browning first commercial success, the 32 ACP. More Power, A True Rimless (Not semi-rim) cartridge which will eliminate rim lock, is a very welcome innovation.
Hopefully, we will see this chambered in small, light guns that are easy to carry and conceal. Chambering this round in existing 9mm or 380 platforms is not going to drive it to success. We saw what happened to the 32 H&R mag and 327 Mag, toting that you could get one (or more) rounds in a revolver over 38 special or 357 magnum. The market rejected this approach,
I’d like to see Smith and/or Freedom Arms develop a super small and light weight, 5 shot double action only revolver in this caliber. Basically a modern version of their old Second Model “Lady Smiths”. Basically a scaled down 342 with a Scandium Frame and Titanium cylinder that uses full moon clips.
A single stack super slim striker fired pock pistol would be great too with either 6 or maybe 8 shots. Smaller, slimmer and much lighter than a Glock 42.
Hopefully someone will under stand that chambering this in a 1911 frame is a fail.
I like my 32 ACP pistols. This looms like a magnum (longer) version. More hitting power than 32 ACP, with less recoil than 9mm, but close to the same hitting force as 9mm. In the EZ this might very well be a perfect cartridge for slighter building people — mostly smaller women and elderly. I bought a 32 for my wife, but the all steel ( heavier so less recoil was my thought) requires a stiff spring and she can’t rack it without a strughle… nor any of my other autos. Bought her an EZ in 380 and she loves it. I would have got her an EZ in 30 Carry if it had been out. I think the 380 is adequate for in the home/short range defense (20′ and under), but a little more power without much more recoil wouldn’t hurt.
This seems like a bit of a reach in a few aspects. Touting a 9mm holding 10 rounds in the equivalent comp is odd…my S/A Hellcat holds 15. Most CC offerings hold 11-13.
In a day and age when you can find sought after ammo laying next to a 4 leaf clover, I think the focus is in the wrong place.
This will be another one of the offerings people will be comparing to Coke Zero in a few years. I’m all for innovation and what not, but why? Plenty out there already filling this gap that isn’t there. And there seems to be little, if any, benefit regarding this round other than capacity. I’m guessing this going to target the smaller frame/female population that have trouble with the snap of the .40 cal? Meh.
Another designer round to sell more stuff when there adequate calibers available.
This flavor of the month sounds like the 38 Super I have hand loaded for years.
Pass….
I’m all for innovation and whether I like it or not, the only true constant in life is change. Just for the record, I’m old enough that the emphasis should be on “not” in that previous statement. Do I really need a NEW handgun, that fires a NEW caliber in a world where calibers that are proven and have been around ALOT longer than I have are all too often difficult or virtually impossible to obtain and always way too expensive ? My answer is nope. Certainly not against it, but it’s not for me. I’ll stick with one of the several dozen pistols/revolvers that utilize one of the dozen + calibers that I already have.
32 MAGNUM …
More like 327!!!%
So in a world where the .45 ACP exists, we need a cartridge that is more 9mm than 9mm? Enjoy those two extra rounds when there are no more hi cap mags. XD
Good Luck Buttercup……Biden and your fellow Democrat Losers haven’t accomplished a damn thing legislatively or thru a Constitutionally sound executive order to the firearm industry