30 Super Carry Ballistics And Other Info

One of the most talked about new products of SHOT Show 2022 is Federal Premium’s new self-defense cartridge called 30 Super Carry.

What is the 30 Super Carry?

The 30 Super Carry is a 31 caliber self-defense cartridge designed to work in semi-automatic firearms. The slimmer cartridge profile allows the defender to carry more ammo than in a similarly sized 9mm gun.

It was developed by the engineers over at the Vista Outdoors ammo brands like Federal Premium, Speer, and CCI/Blazer.

Many folks have said that this is a solution in search of a problem, and it would seem like it’s not the best idea to develop and manufacture new cartridges when supply is still so limited for older cartridges, but we can touch on that a little bit later.

What’s the point of 30 SC?

The 30 SC is a slightly thinner cartridge than 9mm. Because it is, it allows you to have increased capacity. So you can carry as much ammo as you can in a bigger gun, only in a much smaller package. The 30 Super Carry has similar power to the 9mm, and much more than the 380 Auto.

This new cartridge won’t be for everyone, however. For me, personally, I can’t see myself leaving my 9mm guns behind.

Check out our video from SHOT Show of us shooting the 30 Super Carry out of two different guns, and getting an interview from Federal:

30 Super Carry Ballistics:

We’re currently relying heavily on manufacturer data for these ballistics charts, but have compiled all of the currently available ballistic numbers into one page, below:

Federal Premium HST –

This 30 SC ballistic chart shows 100 grain 30 Super Carry HST Jacketed Hollow Points:

Blazer Brass –

The following ballistic chart shows Blazer Brass 115 grain 30 Super Carry rounds:

Speer Gold Dot –

The following 30 Super Carry ballistics chart shows 115 grain Speer Gold Dot Jacketed Hollow Point rounds:

9mm VS 30 SC:

Where things start to get interesting, is that after capacity is taken into account, they’re actually pretty similar. In other words, capacity is really the only area where 30 Super Carry defeats 9mm.

You can carry more ammo, but recoil is about the same. Ballistics are also roughly about the same, even though the smaller diameter 31 caliber bullet will expand less than the 35 caliber 9mm bullet will.

And of course, no caliber can touch the price per round effectiveness of the 9mm Luger. 9mm has too big of a following for any other cartridge to displace it, price wise.

30 SC VS 380 Auto:

I think a better comparison would be to 380 ACP. The 30 Super Carry will be similarly priced, have better performance, good capacity, etc.

The downside when comparing to 380, is recoil. If you’re a recoil sensitive shooter who likes full-sized 380 Auto guns, the 30 SC will not help you out much because it’s close in recoil to the 9mm.

If recoil is of no concern to you, then the 30 is a much more effective option than 380 ACP for self-defense.

Ammo Shortage:

I’ve covered the ammo shortage in great detail over the past two or so years, and have been updating this post on a regular basis whenever something big happens that should affect the ammo supply or price.

But it does seem odd that Federal would introduce a new handgun cartridge when they’re still charging $29 for a box of 50 9mm or $31 for a box of 50 380 ACP rounds.

To me, and plenty of others, it would have been much better to use the resources to try and figure out how they could have brought us lower cost ammo so we could all afford to shoot more.

Instead, we got more expensive ammo with only two or three currently available guns in a platform that the customer base never asked for.

Us 9mm carriers are content with what we carry, we just want it to come down in price. I can’t speak for the 380 folks, and maybe they needed something in between the two.

But based on price alone, it doesn’t matter how great the 30 SC is because I can’t afford to shoot it. Most people can’t. In my eyes, that’s a fail.

Conclusion:

I’m in no way saying that I think the 30 SC is a bad cartridge, or that Federal shouldn’t have developed it. If they see a market for it, then we’ll let the market decide. I will personally not be buying any guns for it, because I’m quite content with 9mm for the time being.

Will that change? Anything is possible. But for now, I’ll see where the market goes.

Next, check out our big handgun ballistics chart page.