Hornady Critical Defense

[jocko]

I would

I don't know about the critical defense ammo as I have not yet received my order of it but I tried the Hornaday .380 TAP ammo in my P380 and had 2-3 light strikes per magazine. No other issues with Gold Dot or the Herter's brass cased ammo. I tried multiple times and got the same result. Some rounds took 2-3 tries to get it to fire. Not going to use it as defensive ammo at this point. I have full confidence in the XTP round that I have had for quite a while. I may wait and try again later once the ammo shortages get better and maybe their loading process or primers will get better.

stay away from it, you have proved it is not relaible in your lcp. there are to many other great defense rounds out there that are totally reliable. Find the one that works and just stick with it. Not a heh of alot of differnce between all of them in the first place, IMO. I presently shoot power ball in my lcp and my P380 . goes bang every time and feeds perfect, Hell never shot anybody in 48 years of carrying, so WTF.

[bikerbill]

I've been carrying them for a while in my PM9, and just bought several boxes to test in my nightstand .45 1911 ... I love them; no feed issues, very accurate at SD distances and no more expensive than other HPs ... Every article I've read about them says they are more likely to upset than other normal HPs ...

[Dietrich]

I remembered that Golden Loki had recently done gel tests in 9mm 115grain of the Critical Defense round.Here are the results.
Penetration 14.5 inches
Expansion .477 in.

Test gun was a Kel Tec with a 3.1 inch barrel.A minimum of 3 rounds were fired and the average results were shown.Shots were fired through two layers of denim and the polymer plug was in the wound channel about 3 inches from the bullet. There are several other brands of ammo tested and the results are posted, If you want to check them out,google Golden Loki.com and click on gel tests.

[8th SPS USAF]

CD ammo

I called Hornady about 10 days ago and asked about the new 45 CD
ammo. It will be out this month. I also asked about the primer question.
I was told they never used those primers and never had problems. I want
the CD 45 for my PM/P 45's 185 gr HP
8th

[Vicarious_Lee]

I've bought a bunch of Hornady Critical Defense.

In my well-used Beretta 92FS, it cycles flawlessly, hits accurately. One mag and 15 rounds was all I needed. That **** is expensive and my Beretta generally eats anything anyway. I did notice that the recoil was identical to the 115GR reloads that I was shooting, and significantly less than the 147GR Hornady TAP rounds that I put through the Beretta.

In my new Kahr, I couldn't tell a difference in recoil or accuracy between the CD, the TAP 147GR, or the Remington Golden Sabre 124+P loads, all mixed randomly into 2 magazines.

They, of course, were all very accurate.

All cycled flawlessly.

Go with what works.

[Shawn Dodson]

According to Steve Johnson, Hornady Marketing Communications Manager, the Critical Defense line of handgun ammunition:

"...is not designed to shoot through glass, is not designed to shoot through a car door, and is not designed to shoot through a wall. If you have to shoot through something like that in a personal defense situation you're probably going to jail."

NRA's American Guardian TV

Thus if you CCW and need to shoot from the inside of your car, through glass or sheetmetal, then you cannot rely on Hornady Critical Defense handgun ammo to perform. If you're stopped at the side of the road changing a flat tire and you're attacked, you cannot rely on Hornady Critical Defense handgun ammo to shoot through glass and sheetmetal, if that's what it takes, to stop the attack.

Windshield glass is a difficult barrier for handgun bullets.

Ironically at least one TV commercial for Hornady Critical Defense handgun ammo depicts a couple stopped on the side of a road, in a remote location, changing out a flat tire. In a scenario such as this you might have had to shoot through a raised trunk lid, glass hatchback, or through the sheetmetal of an open car door.

If you use Hornady Critical Defense handgun ammo for home defense you cannot rely on it to perform if you have shoot through concealment, such as the corner of a wall or through sheetrock near a doorjam, if that's what it takes, to stop an attacker who's partially exposed.

Hornady Critical Defense handgun ammo is not designed to shoot through anything other than clothing. It's not tested against anything other than bare gelatin and clothing. Performance against commonly encountered light barrier materials is untested and unknown. Therefore if your self-defense requirements include the capability to shoot through commonly encountered light barrier materials then Hornady Critical Defense handgun ammo is not your best choice.

The human target presents the same challenges to private citizens as it does to law enforcement. Is a law enforcement officer more likely to have to shoot through glass, sheetmetal or walls than a private citzen? Probably. But because the odds are greater for law enforcement to encounter these kinds of situations does not mean that the odds are zero for a private citizen.

Personal defense ammo designed especially for "private citizens" is a niche market. Perhaps it's somehow more socially/morally appealing for a private citizen to use ammunition with less terminal performance capability compared to "more powerful" law enforcement ammunition?

[jocko]

nice points, didn't know that about critical defense. I would bet corbon power ball would be in the same boat then to. I have been told by corbon that their dpx round will go through glass and car doors but also alot depends on the caliber of the weapon to. They have a video out somewhere (corbon) shooting through a very slanted car glass with ease but the caliber was also 10mm, which we know is one hot puppy to, so not sure there is any one sure round that can do all things well. Again there are so many good rounds out there and it allboils down to what one wants to load up with but #1 again has to be total reliabilty. If it willgo through glass and steel but won't come out the end of the barrel, then it ain't worth jack sh-t. Most scenarios we talk about are just so so rare indeed for a civilian to ever encounter, doesn't mean to not be aware of situations either but IMO don't get overly paranoid over all the defense ammo hype either. IMO, #1 carry all the time no matter what caliber. #2 the gun must go bang every time with the ammo of ur choice #3 avoid at all cost bad situations. #4 a ccw gun to me is my last ditch effort, not my first ditch effort...

enjoy the 4th guys, I'm going Harley riding, without a freaking helmet in this good ol state of Indiana..

[wyntrout]

The 4th of July is a good day to wear a helmet and eye protection due to the chance of encountering falling projectiles from celebratory gunfire... the whackos who unload into the sky not thinking or caring about where those rounds come down.
Wynn

[RichN]

I tried the 40 S&W Critical Defense in my MK40. It fired reliably but I was not overly impressed with the accuracy. It is only available in 165gr, and my gun does not shoot any 165gr ammo accurately, so I think that it is an issue with the weight and not the particular round. I am going back to the Hornady 155gr TAP, which is very accurate in my MK40.

I would say try it, and if it is accurate and reliable for you then it is probably a good choice.

[Dietrich]

The latest results I have seen for Critical Defense Ammo was on the Golden Loki website.The test gun was a Kel Tec P11 with a 3.1 inch barrel using 9mm 115 gr.bullets.Average of 3 shots through 2 layers of denim over ballistic gelatin.

Velocity-1041fps
Foot pounds of energy-244
Penetration-14.5 inches
Expansion-.477
All rounds expanded and the little plastic thingy was in the wound channel.