Jeff just said that the 30 Super Carry is the cats azz
This cartridge intrigues me--but not as a self-defense round. It's sporting potential for varmints and small game is much like that of the 32 H&R Magnum--a 100 grain bullet at a claimed 1250 FPS. I'll bet the report is eardrum-drilling, as it runs at 50 Kpsi.
Story time.......for about 30 years I've owned a MAS Model 1935 pistol, which was a French service sidearm from that year into the 1960s. This cartridge wasn't some new thing--not at all, it was the round developed for use by the Pederson device, a 7.65 x 20 autopistol-like cartridge with 80 grain bullet that ran about 1300 FPS when fired in a Pederson device in a Springfield bolter in 30-06. The idea was that at some point our doughboys would rise from the trenches and with the semi-auto fire enabled by these gizzies the Huns would be routed by waves of massed semi-auto fire. This didn't happen, as it turns out. Armistice was declared, and the devices missed their chance.
The French were impressed by this cartridge, and chambered both the 1935 pistol and a 1938 SMG for the little round. In the pistol its 77 grain mil-spec load gets about 1150 FPS; I've run 84 grain #313249 to about 1100 FPS and it knocks jackrabbits on their natural aspirations pretty well. It's a cool little pistol, resembling a SIG P-210 that got shrunk in the wash. It is sort of a 32 Super Auto. Loud little beast, too.
The 7.65 x 20 Longue was my first thought when the '30 Super Carry' was rolled out. It is dimensionally VERY SIMILAR--its rimless base and rim are about 006" larger than the 7.65 x 20 case's--the case length is one mm longer--and the same length as the 30 Luger, but a straight-wall design. At 50 Kpsi, its velocity yield is about that of the 30 Luger with similar bullet weights (the 30 Luger runs in the 35 Kpsi ballpark). There is nothing new here, folks--just century-old-plus concepts re-packaged in a 2022 marketing venture to exploit the CCW surge brought on by our catch & release criminal justice system.
I've endured the Federal Cartridge marketing spiels until my eyes glaze over. Mostly they tout the pistols' incrementally-higher mag capacity compared to the same S&W carry pistols meant for 9mm, and also praise the superior terminal performance to that of the 380 ACP and that same performance as being like that of the 9 x 19. Yadda yadda yadda.
These same ammo makers haven't done a decent job of producing ammo in calibers that have been around and commonly available for 120 years--and NOW you want to roll out this uber-new mid-caliber felon repellent/dissuader? Quit it.
If this was marketed as a hunting/sporting pistol (or rifle) with decent sights and good trigger, I would consider parting with some folding money. A CZ-527 with a 5/10 round mag would make a great bunny-to-coyote rifle, and in a bolter the horsepower could be down-loaded to be subsonic and suppressor-friendly.
This concept as a self-defense tool is sub-marginal when psychopaths and/or drug-fueled goblins are your most likely adversaries. I like the 1250 FPS part of the equation well enough--it's the diameter and weight variable that give me pause. In my view, you only start getting serious at this speed once past .35" and 24% heavier. Of course, my preference is 80% heavier at 950 FPS.