Eugene Nielsen
The Black Hills Ammunition HoneyBadger™ line of defensive ammunition represents a paradigm shift in bullet design.
Named after one of the most “badass” animals on the planet, this ammunition has been engineered to perform under the most demanding conditions faced by law enforcement officers. HoneyBadger was first introduced several years ago, but controversy still exists surrounding it as it challenges many decades of conventional wisdom.
Developed through a collaboration between Jeff Hoffman of Black Hills and Dave Fricke, former owner of Lehigh Defense, the HoneyBadger was created to solve a critical challenge: producing a bullet which can penetrate common barriers (such as auto glass, heavy clothing or drywall) without compromising terminal performance.
Black Hills’ founder Jeff Hoffman brings 38 years of law enforcement experience, including service on a special response team, ensuring the ammunition is designed with police needs in mind.
Let’s start by taking a look at the why behind the development of HoneyBadger ammunition and the science behind it.
Barrier Blind Reliability
For law enforcement officers, confronting threats shielded by barriers such as auto glass or drywall is not an exception, but a common reality. These obstacles often compromise the performance of traditional hollow point bullets which can clog, deform, fragment, or fail to expand as intended when passing through them. When expansion fails, the round may behave more like a Full Metal Jacket (FMJ), increasing the potential for excessive penetration. Such failures reduce their stopping power, diminish wound channel effectiveness and can place officers at greater risk when reliable and controlled terminal performance is essential.
The HoneyBadger addresses this challenge through its solid copper construction. Unlike conventional designs, it does not deform when striking hard barriers, ensuring that the bullet maintains its shape and penetrates as intended. It also resists fragmentation, preserving its mass and energy for maximum impact on the target. Critically, the HoneyBadger does not rely on expansion to achieve terminal performance, allowing it to deliver consistent effects even when traditional hollow points might fail. Together, these qualities make the HoneyBadger truly barrier blind. Whether the round encounters glass, clothing or other intermediate materials, it delivers consistent terminal effects and reliable performance across diverse environments.
Barrier Blind Performance in Action
Imagine a patrol officer engaging an armed suspect inside a vehicle. Traditional hollow points can crush/collapse when passing through windshields, reducing its ability to expand properly once it reaches the target. In some cases, the bullet can also fragment, shedding pieces of its jacket or core as it strikes the barrier. This fragmentation reduces retained mass and energy which can compromise penetration and terminal effectiveness.
The HoneyBadger, however, remains unaffected by the barrier. Its solid copper construction resists deformation and fragmentation, ensuring the round retains its full weight and energy. Once inside the target, its fluted design channels hydraulic energy outward, creating significant wound channels even after penetrating auto glass. In this scenario, the officer can rely on consistent performance, knowing that the round will deliver the intended terminal effect regardless of the obstacle.
The Science Behind HoneyBadger
Fluid Transfer Monolithic® (FTM®) Technology is the core innovation behind Black Hills’ HoneyBadger ammunition. Its performance lies in the patented radial flutes which manipulate fluid dynamics upon impact, creating a wounding mechanism fundamentally different from traditional hollow points.
Mechanism of Action
Impact Initiation: Flutes act as low pressure regions when the bullet strikes tissue.
Hydraulic Channeling: Tissue and fluid are drawn into the flutes and redirected along curved paths.
Violent Outward Acceleration: The trailing edges of the flutes accelerate the fluid outward, creating velocity spikes or regions of cavitation.
Tissue Damage Mechanism: These spikes cause massive tearing and cavitation, inflicting trauma without relying on expansion.
Fluid Dynamics vs. Deformation
Traditional hollow points rely on mechanical deformation. The bullet expands outward to increase diameter and transfer energy. Hollow points rely on the cavity at the nose to expand (“mushroom”) when striking soft tissue. If that cavity is blocked by fibers, glass or debris, the bullet may act more like an FMJ – penetrating deeply, but without the intended expansion.
The HoneyBadger, however, leverages fluid dynamics and fluid displacement rather than deformation. By weaponizing fluid flow itself, it produces wound channels which remain consistent across barriers. This makes it unique in the ammunition world: the first widely adopted defensive round to harness hydrodynamic principles instead of physical expansion.
Analogy: A High Pressure Water Nozzle
Imagine a garden hose fitted with a nozzle. When water flows through the nozzle, it is forced into narrow channels and expelled at high speed, producing a powerful jet which can cut through dirt or erode surfaces.
The HoneyBadger’s flutes work in a similar way. As the bullet moves through tissue, the flutes channel fluid into narrow paths and accelerate it outward. Instead of water jets, the result is hydraulic energy spikes which shred tissue around the bullet’s path. Unlike hollow points which depend on the bullet physically “mushrooming,” the HoneyBadger weaponizes fluid flow itself to cause trauma.
Engineering Precision
Each HoneyBadger round has been designed for its specific caliber and velocity profile, ensuring that performance remains consistent across different platforms. This precision engineering allows the bullet to deliver reliable energy transfer, striking the optimal balance between penetration and tissue disruption. The solid copper construction provides exceptional uniformity which translates into high accuracy on the range and in the field.
HoneyBadger Ammunition Evaluation
HoneyBadger ammunition is currently offered in a wide range of calibers, including .32 ACP, .380 ACP, 9mm, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, .40 S&W, 10mm, .44 Magnum, .45 ACP, and .45-70. Sometime ago, Black Hills supplied me with 9mm HoneyBadger in 100-grain +P and 125-grain subsonic for evaluation.
100-grain +P load: Listed velocity of 1,250 fps, producing 347 ft-lbs of energy, from a four inch test barrel
125-grain subsonic load: Listed velocity of 1,000 fps, producing 278 ft-lbs of energy, from a four inch test barrel
Although I did not perform gelatin tests, Black Hills has done so. Both loads were tested in accordance with the FBI ballistic testing protocol. The 125-grain subsonic produced a somewhat smaller temporary cavity, but penetrated deeper than the 100-grain +P. The 100-grain +P met the FBI’s penetration standards, while the 125-grain subsonic slightly exceeded the maximum threshold. The 100-grain +P achieved 16 inches of penetration, while the 125-grain subsonic reached 18.625 inches.
The FBI’s ballistic testing protocol established a penetration standard of 12-18 inches in calibrated gelatin, a range designed to balance officer safety with public protection. At least 12 inches of penetration ensures a bullet can reach vital organs even after passing through barriers like clothing, limbs or bone, while capping penetration at 18 inches minimizes the risk of overpenetration. To reflect real-world conditions, the ammunition is also tested against common obstacles such as heavy clothing, wallboard, plywood, sheet metal, and auto glass, ensuring reliable performance in the environments law enforcement officers encounter every day.
Reliability is the foundation of any defensive handgun system. Even the most accurate pistol is of little value if its ammunition fails to function consistently. Because some firearms can be sensitive to ammunition variations, it is essential to conduct thorough range testing before relying on any load for duty or personal defense.
Both the 100-grain +P and 125-grain subsonic HoneyBadger 9mm loads demonstrated flawless performance during my evaluation across a wide spectrum of popular defensive/service pistols. This consistency reflects Black Hills Ammunition’s rigorous quality control standards and underscores the dependability of the HoneyBadger design. The bullet’s profile, closely resembling a Full Metal Jacket Flat Nose (FMJ-FN), contributes to reliable feeding and cycling, while delivering enhanced terminal performance tailored for defensive use. Based on the results, HoneyBadger has become my standard carry ammunition.
Final Thoughts
By moving away from traditional hollow point designs and embracing solid copper projectiles with advanced fluting, Black Hills Ammunition has created a line of ammunition which is operationally reliable and tactically effective. Because the HoneyBadger challenges decades of reliance on hollow point expansion, controversy remains among shooters and professionals. The controversy exists because the HoneyBadger challenges decades of conventional wisdom. Hollow points are well understood, widely tested and deeply trusted. HoneyBadger’s fluid transfer monolithic design is innovative, but it requires law enforcement and civilian shooters to rethink what “effective terminal ballistics” means. It’s all in the science.
Eugene Nielsen is the owner and operator of a firm which provides private intelligence, security consulting and training services. He has a background in law enforcement and a BA degree from the University of California. He has written over 1,500 articles which have been published in various national and international journals and magazines. He was a member of SWAT Magazine’s contributing staff for more than 20 years.