Hornady Critical Defense Info !!

[yankee2500]

I found this info on the Hornady Critical Defense Ammo and thought it may be of interest.

Here is a link to the site it came from and there is a more other interesting information there.

http://www.firearmstactical.com/tactical.htm


A Word of Caution about Hornady’s Critical Defense Handgun Ammunition
- by 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 carry a concealed handgun for personal defense 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.

Laminated automotive windshield glass is an especially 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 to shoot through a raised trunk lid, glass hatchback, raised engine hood, 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 and 2x4 studs near a door jam, to hit the center mass of a violent home intruder who's partially concealed, if that's what it takes to stop the attack.

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 the corner of a wall than a private citzen?  Probably.  But because the odds are probably 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 morally/socially appealing for a private citizen to use handgun ammunition with less terminal performance capability compared to common law enforcement handgun ammunition?

If you're looking for specific advice about what handgun ammunition to choose for self-defense then I suggest you consider the loads that have been tested and found to provide outstanding terminal performance which are listed in the thread Service Pistol Duty and Self-Defense Loads posted by Dr. Gary K. Roberts ("DocGKR") at M4Carbine.net Forums.

John

[kjtrains]

Very good article, John.  Had not read that before.  Upon now reading it, my box of Critcal Defense, will now go the deepest part of the ammo box.  Having never used it or tried it, it will remain that way.  Thanks!

[yankee2500]

Might be good to just use up at the range.

John

[kjtrains]

No thanks!  I've got enough Silvertips to last a lifetime; actually, more than a lifetime .  I'll keep the Critical Defense as a paper weight or something.    

[Alphonso]

Timely article for me.  Last week I had a startling experience with Hornady Critical Defense in .380.  

The target holder at my back-yard range uses cheap metal curtain rods as the  horizontal bar to which I affix targets.  The rods are hollow, made of  thin metal and are very inexpensive.  They are about 1/2 in diameter.  

Occasionally I or a guest shooter will hit one of these curtain rods.   The rods are, of course, either punctured or cut in half, depending on how they are hit.  

Last week I let my neighbor shoot my Kahr P380 loaded with Hornady Critical Defense.  He hit the flimsy curtain rod dead on--and the rod stopped the bullet dead in its tracks.  

The bullet was very deformed, the jacket was separated from the lead, and the whole thing was lodged in the depression that it made in the curtain rod.  

I think that my Sheridan pellet rifle is capable of penetrating one of these flimsy curtain rods.  Needless to say, I am researching new carry ammo for my (rarely carried) Kahr 380..

[yankee2500]

   Check out the Winchester Ranger 380 it works great in my  
P-380, it is the replacement for the Black Talon ammo. I have read good things about it.

John