Lehigh Defense Ammo Review (2026): Gel Tested in 5 Calibers

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Lehigh Defense makes the fluted solid copper bullets that a lot of other ammo companies load, and it sells its own factory ammo too. For this Lehigh Defense review I put the Xtreme Defense line into gel in 9mm, .380 and .45 ACP, the 10mm Xtreme Penetrator into bare gel from a Glock 20, and the 300 Blackout Controlled Chaos into gel from a 16 inch AR.

The short version: Xtreme Defense does what Lehigh says. All 15 of my heavy clothing shots landed between 12 and 18 inches, and not one bullet changed shape. What you give up is expansion, a lot of money per round, and the 10mm Xtreme Penetrators are hard to find in stores.

Last updated October 21, 2026

Table of Contents

Lehigh Defense Review at a Glance

Lehigh Defense is the company behind the fluted solid copper Xtreme Defense bullet. Through heavy clothing it put 15 of 15 shots in the FBI window in 9mm, .380 and .45, and it never expanded, because it is not built to.

Our Rating: 7.5/10

Lehigh load	Gun	fps	Bare gel	Heavy clothing	Clothing shots in 12 to 18 in
9mm 90 gr Xtreme Defense	Glock 19 4.02 in	1,286	17.60 in	16.20 in	5 of 5
.380 ACP 68 gr Xtreme Defense	Glock 42 3.25 in	1,041	14.30 in	13.20 in	5 of 5
.45 ACP 190 gr Xtreme Defense	Springfield 1911 5 in	968	18.40 in	17.10 in	5 of 5
10mm 185 gr Xtreme Penetrator	Glock 20 4.61 in	1,114	27.5 in	not shot	–
300 Blackout 115 gr Controlled Chaos	16 in AR	2,146 at impact	19 in	not shot	–

Who Makes Lehigh Defense Ammo Now?

Wilson Combat owns Lehigh Defense. Bill Wilson announced the purchase in January 2022, and lehighdefense.com now opens Wilson Combat’s store, which lists 80 Lehigh-branded factory loads.

Lehigh built its name on solid copper and brass bullets, and other ammo companies load them. Underwood’s Xtreme Defender and Xtreme Penetrator carry Lehigh-designed bullets, and Black Hills licenses the design for its HoneyBadger line. Our Underwood ammo review covers the Underwood side, and those same-bullet results sit beside ours below.

The Lehigh boxes still say Lehigh Defense, and the product codes on Wilson’s store tell you the line: XD for Xtreme Defense, XP for Xtreme Penetrator, CF for Controlled Fracturing, CC for Controlled Chaos, TCC for Tipped Controlled Chaos and ME for Max Expansion.

How We Gel Tested Lehigh Defense Ammo

Five shots per load from 10 feet into bare gel and through four layers of heavy clothing, the FBI fabric test, with a chronograph at the muzzle. Each load went through the gun it would really ride in.

The 9mm 90 gr Xtreme Defense went through a Glock 19, the .380 68 gr through a Glock 42 and the .45 ACP 190 gr through a 5 inch Springfield 1911. The 10mm 185 gr Xtreme Penetrator went through a Glock 20 into stacked bare gel blocks, and the 300 Blackout 115 gr Controlled Chaos came from a 16 inch AR. The FBI window is 12 to 18 inches: deep enough to reach the vitals, not so deep the bullet keeps going.

A fluted monolithic bullet does not expand, so I measured depth and checked the recovered bullet for any change in shape. Every Xtreme Defense bullet came out at its original diameter with the flutes intact.

How Lehigh Xtreme Defense Works

Xtreme Defense is a solid copper bullet with deep flutes cut into the nose. Lehigh calls it a fluid transfer monolithic, and the box says XD FMT.

Instead of opening like a hollow point, the flutes push tissue and gel outward as the bullet moves. Lehigh’s own words: its XD rounds have “an optimized nose flute, total weight, and velocity to achieve a penetration depth range of 18 inches with a permanent wound cavity” that it says no expanding hollow point matches. For the .380 it published 14 plus inches and a 2 inch permanent wound channel in 10 percent gelatin.

The upside is that there is nothing to plug. A hollow point that fills with denim can act like a full metal jacket and over-penetrate. The Xtreme Defense has no cavity, so clothing changes its depth by about an inch and nothing else.

Lehigh 9mm 90 gr Xtreme Defense

My Glock 19 ran the 9mm 90 gr Xtreme Defense at 1,286 fps against Wilson’s 1,300 fps box figure from a 4 inch barrel. It averaged 17.60 inches in bare gel and 16.20 inches through heavy clothing, 5 of 5 clothing shots in the window.

Medium	Every shot, in	Average	In 12 to 18 in
Bare gel	17.0, 17.4, 17.6, 17.9, 18.1	17.60 in	4 of 5
Heavy clothing	15.8, 16.0, 16.2, 16.4, 16.6	16.20 in	5 of 5

Clothing took about 1.4 inches off and nothing else. Compare that with Underwood’s +P load of the same 90 gr Lehigh bullet in our Underwood session: 1,501 fps from a Glock 17, 18.00 inches in bare gel and 16.5 inches through leather and denim. Faster, a touch deeper, same behavior.

Hornady’s Critical Defense 115 gr, a hollow point built not to plug, went 13.06 inches through heavy clothing from an M&P9c with 4 of 5 in the window, in our Critical Defense review. So Xtreme Defense goes deeper and stays more consistent, while Critical Defense opens up. Lehigh also loads a 68 gr 9mm XD rated 1,700 fps from a 4 inch barrel. Our best 9mm ammo guide ranks the rest.

Lehigh .380 ACP 68 gr Xtreme Defense

From a 3.25 inch Glock 42 the .380 68 gr Xtreme Defense ran 1,041 fps and averaged 14.30 inches in bare gel and 13.20 inches through heavy clothing, all 5 clothing shots in the window.

Medium	Every shot, in	Average	In 12 to 18 in
Bare gel	13.8, 14.1, 14.3, 14.5, 14.8	14.30 in	5 of 5
Heavy clothing	12.6, 13.0, 13.2, 13.4, 13.8	13.20 in	5 of 5

That lands right on Lehigh’s own 14 plus inch figure. The catch is the gun. In our best .380 ammo guide the LCP had failures to feed with the two lightest bullets we tried, the 60 gr HoneyBadger and this 68 gr Lehigh. Run a couple of boxes through your own pocket gun before you carry it.

Lehigh .45 ACP 190 gr Xtreme Defense

The .45 ACP 190 gr Xtreme Defense ran 968 fps from a 5 inch 1911 against a 980 fps box figure, and averaged 18.40 inches in bare gel and 17.10 inches through heavy clothing.

Medium	Every shot, in	Average	In 12 to 18 in
Bare gel	17.9, 18.2, 18.4, 18.6, 18.9	18.40 in	1 of 5
Heavy clothing	16.6, 16.9, 17.1, 17.3, 17.6	17.10 in	5 of 5

In bare gel the .45 ran a little past 18 inches, and through clothing it came back into the window. Lehigh also sells a lighter, faster .45 ACP 135 gr XD rated 1,250 fps; that is the one on our cards. Our best .45 ACP ammo guide covers the hollow points.

Lehigh 10mm: Xtreme Penetrator and Xtreme Defense

The 10mm 185 gr Xtreme Penetrator is built to go deep, and it did: 27.5 inches of bare gel at 1,114 fps from a Glock 20, with most of the tearing between 9 and 18 inches.

Wilson rates the 185 gr XP at 1,150 fps from a 5 inch barrel and the 140 gr XP at 1,500 fps. In our Underwood session, Underwood’s 140 gr Xtreme Penetrator, the same Lehigh bullet, stopped at 24.25 inches. That is a woods and hog load, not a load for a crowded apartment.

For people, Lehigh’s 10mm 115 gr Xtreme Defense is the defensive load, rated 1,700 fps from a 5 inch barrel. Our best 10mm ammo guide ranks the field, and our 10mm bear defense guide covers bear and trail loads.

Lehigh .40 S&W, .38 Special and .357 Magnum

Lehigh loads Xtreme Defense in the revolver and .40 calibers too, all as light, fast solid copper loads.

Wilson lists the .40 S&W 115 gr XD at 1,400 fps from a 5 inch barrel, the .38 Special +P 100 gr XD at 1,050 fps from 4.25 inches and the .357 Magnum 120 gr XD at 1,400 fps from 4.25 inches. They use the same fluted design that held its shape and its depth in every caliber we shot. Our best .38 Special ammo and best .357 Magnum ammo guides compare the revolver loads.

Controlled Chaos, Controlled Fracturing and Max Expansion

Lehigh’s other bullets work the opposite way. Controlled Chaos and Controlled Fracturing break into fragments on purpose, and Max Expansion opens wide. Most of them are rifle loads.

From a 16 inch AR, the 300 Blackout 115 gr Controlled Chaos hit the gel at 2,146 fps, against Wilson’s 2,350 fps box figure. It went 19 inches, made a 1.75 inch neck before it started to tear, and kept 43.1 grains as its base, with petals averaging 12.9 grains.

Controlled Chaos is the biggest line, 25 of the 80 loads, in calibers including .223 Rem, 300 Blackout and .358 Winchester. Controlled Fracturing covers 14 handgun and rifle loads, Max Expansion 5, and Tipped Controlled Chaos 9 hunting loads.

Is Lehigh Defense Ammo a Gimmick?

No. The fluted bullet held its shape and its depth in every caliber we shot, and it did not care about clothing. What it is not is magic: it makes a narrower hole than a hollow point that opens fully.

The argument for Lehigh is consistency. 15 of 15 heavy clothing shots landed in the window, in three calibers, with the same bullet shape every time. The argument against is that a fully expanded hollow point makes a wider permanent hole, and Lehigh’s wide wound channel claim comes from stretching tissue rather than from a bigger bullet. Our best defensive ammo guide has hollow points that do both.

Lehigh Box Speed vs Our Chronograph

Every Lehigh load we chronographed ran a little under its box figure, and the gap tracked barrel length. The short guns gave up the most.

Lehigh load	Box speed and test barrel	Our gun	Our average	Difference
9mm 90 gr Xtreme Defense	1,300 fps, 4 in	Glock 19, 4.02 in	1,286	-14 fps
.380 ACP 68 gr Xtreme Defense	1,100 fps, 3.8 in	Glock 42, 3.25 in	1,041	-59 fps
.45 ACP 190 gr Xtreme Defense	980 fps, 5 in	Springfield 1911, 5 in	968	-12 fps
10mm 185 gr Xtreme Penetrator	1,150 fps, 5 in	Glock 20, 4.61 in	1,114	-36 fps

The .380 lost the most, 59 fps, and it also had the biggest barrel gap: Wilson rates it from a 3.8 inch barrel and our Glock 42 has a 3.25 inch one. The 1911 gave up only 12 fps from a barrel the same length as the test barrel. None of it mattered to depth, because a fluted solid does not need a speed threshold to open the way a hollow point does.

Lehigh vs Underwood vs Black Hills HoneyBadger

All three sell fluted solid copper bullets, and Underwood and Black Hills load Lehigh designs. The difference is the load behind the bullet and where you can buy it.

Underwood loads the 90 gr 9mm bullet hotter, as a +P Xtreme Defender that ran 1,501 fps from our Glock 17 and went 18.00 inches in bare gel. Lehigh’s own standard-pressure 90 gr ran 1,286 fps from a Glock 19 and went 17.60. If your gun is rated for +P and you want the extra speed, Underwood is the hotter box. If you want standard pressure, Lehigh’s own is the one.

Black Hills licenses the design for its HoneyBadger line, which our best .380 ammo guide covers in .380 as a 60 gr load. Lehigh’s own 9mm 90 gr is on more stores’ shelves in our catalog than Underwood’s. Our Underwood review has the rest of the Underwood data.

Which Lehigh Load for Which Gun

Match the line to the job. Xtreme Defense is for people, Xtreme Penetrator is for the woods, and Controlled Chaos is a rifle load.

• Compact or full size 9mm: 9mm 90 gr Xtreme Defense, 16.20 inches through heavy clothing from a Glock 19.
• Pocket .380: .380 68 gr Xtreme Defense, 13.20 inches through clothing from a Glock 42, after you have proven it feeds in your gun.
• 1911 or full size .45: .45 ACP 190 gr Xtreme Defense, 17.10 inches through clothing from a 5 inch 1911.
• 10mm for the trail: 10mm 185 gr Xtreme Penetrator, 27.5 inches of bare gel from a Glock 20.
• 300 Blackout for hogs or home: 115 gr Controlled Chaos, 19 inches with a 1.75 inch neck from a 16 inch AR.

Known Problems With Lehigh Defense Ammo

Lehigh’s problems are price, availability and one feeding issue, not performance in gel.

• Price: the 9mm 90 gr Xtreme Defense costs more per round than Hornady Critical Defense 9mm on our cards. Watch the cards before you stock up.
• Availability: our cards found Lehigh-branded rows for the 9mm, .380, .40, .45 135 gr, 10mm 115 gr, .38 Special and 300 Blackout loads, and none for the 10mm Xtreme Penetrators or the .45 190 gr.
• Light .380 feeding: our LCP had failures to feed with the 68 gr load. Test any light bullet in a small gun first.
• Narrower hole than a full expansion: a fluted solid keeps its diameter, so it trades the width of a fully opened hollow point for consistent depth.
• Xtreme Penetrator goes deep on purpose: 27.5 inches of bare gel is right for hogs and bear country, and wrong for an apartment.

Who Should NOT Buy Lehigh Defense Ammo

Lehigh is the wrong buy for four kinds of shooter, and each has a better pick on our site.

• Shooters on a budget: Lehigh’s 9mm costs more per round than Critical Defense 9mm on our cards. Hornady Critical Defense put 4 of 5 in the window through clothing; see our Critical Defense review.
• Pocket .380 owners who will not test: the 68 gr load gave our LCP feeding trouble. If you will not run two boxes first, buy a heavier load; see our best .380 ammo guide.
• Anyone who wants maximum expansion: Xtreme Defense never opens. Federal HST opened to 0.85 inches in .45; see our HST review.
• Range shooters: buy brass FMJ for practice; see our Federal American Eagle review.

Lehigh Defense Variants

These five Lehigh loads cover most buyers, from a pocket .380 to a 10mm trail gun.

Speeds and test barrels are Wilson Combat’s. Every Lehigh handgun load comes 20 to a box.

Lehigh Defense Price and Where to Buy

The cards on this page carry live prices per round from several stores, so we print no prices in the text. Lehigh sells in 20 round boxes, so compare per round, not per box. Our ammo buying guide explains how to read a deal.

Lehigh Defense Review: The Verdict

Lehigh Defense earns 7.5 out of 10. Xtreme Defense put 15 of 15 heavy clothing shots in the window and never changed shape, the Xtreme Penetrator went deep and straight, and Controlled Chaos fragmented the way Lehigh says. You pay for that consistency per round, you give up expansion, and you buy it through Wilson Combat now.

Buy Xtreme Defense for a gun you carry through heavy clothing and want the same depth from every time, and the Xtreme Penetrator for the woods. For a budget carry load, Critical Defense and HST did nearly as well for less.

Lehigh Defense FAQ

Quick answers to the questions buyers ask most about Lehigh Defense ammo.