Well, it's two things. The first of which is purely marketing. For the same reason some gun manufacturers want to stress the point that their firearms are used by LE or military agencies.. it sells.

However, in some states (only NJ comes to mind immediately but there may be more) people aren't allowed to carry any HP ammo. So for those states the packaging is actually true.

 

I would add LE ammo usually has better sealed primers and for instance the pellets in buckshot are hardened for better penetration. I only use LE ammo. Some of it is hype though also.

 

Interesting. Never heard about this..

 

Its all marketing.

 

It's all marketing. The Gold Dots I have are the exact same Gold Dots that cops carry.

 

One thing though, the LE rounds are a lot cheaper. You can get a 50 round box of federal LE HST for the same price as a box of 20 marked Personal Defense.

 

For shotguns different wads will result in tighter groups.

 

Yes that is why I like LE132 12 gauge shells with the flight control wad. Shoots the tightest groups possible, sometimes it even looks like a slug on the target board.

 

Carrying "LE ammo" is just a way to announce that "Chicks Dig Me!"

 

There IS a difference with some of the LE/Self Defense ammo's out there. A good example is the Federal Hydra-Shok (HS) vs. Federal Hydra-Shok Tactical (HST).

The HST's provide better expansion, better weight retention, have an improved propellant mix that produces even less muzzle flash (for good low light performance), have better performance though the different barriers that the FBI use in their ammo tests, and comes in 50 Round Boxes vs. the 20-25 Round Boxes that a lot of Self Defense Ammo comes in these days.

The HST's are cheaper in their 50 Round Boxes as well for price per round. I get my HST's from Police HQ, but you can find them all over the net.

There is also a bunch of people on YouTube that do ballistics testing that show that there is indeed a difference between the different loads available. Any ammo that passes the FBI's tests would be a good carry ammo as long as it functions in your firearm.

I personally would stay away from the Winchester Ranger ammo as it's HP's are cut though all the way though it's nose, causing deformation to the nose on some pistols when it hits the feed ramp while chambering a round. You can easily squish in the petals of the HP's nose with your hand, which is too soft for steep feedramp firearms. Winchester's PDx1 Line fixed this issue that the Rangers had, and work awesome imho.

And for those that haven't done so that reload... I suggest (carefully!) pulling apart your different carry ammo brands with a bullet puller and see for yourself that the powder mixtures and bullets do differ between their different lines some of the time.

You might find it interesting that some mfr's even use propellant blends in their 'cheap' ammo. A good example of this is the Winchester White Box ammo. It's now using a mix of different propellant ingredients to provide cleaner burn and less muzzle flash.

Hope that information is helpful!

 

But its still marketing. The ammo is the same if you buy it at a gun store vs a big box store vs a police supply place.

 

Bullet diameter, weight in grains, muzzle velocity, bullet type (HP, RN, Poly tip), and pressure (+P, +P+). That's how you compare LE vs non-LE.

 

that makes as much sense s a 7 dollar bill