Any test results on Hornady Critical Duty yet?

[FishTaco]

Perhaps I was confusing .45 with 9mm.

[jackmobes]

Those are really disappointing results. I think the critical duty ammo I bought just became range ammo

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[jbourneidentity]

Hey guys,
Has Doc or anyone reputable done any testing on the 9mm 135gr Hornady Critical Duty yet? (did a search, all the posts were pretty old)

I found 50 round boxes for a good price and I was thinking of picking some up since I cant find any of my normal load the 124+p GD right now.

I got to attend a Hornady LE ammo demo a few weeks ago at a local sheriff's department. I'm sorry that I don't have any pics of the projectiles after they were recovered from the gel, but it was a very fun day. The Hornady rep used the standard format and shot bare gel, denim, plywood, glass, etc. The 9mm 135+P Critical Duty was a fine performer. Average penetration was around 14 inches, velocities roughly 1050-1100FPS, and expansion was uniformly consistent through all tactical barriers, even the glass, though the expansion was not quite as dramatic and the bullets were slightly deformed. The handgun used was a Glock 17 and all of the Hornady ammo appeared to be of excellent manufacture, with no quality issues whatsoever. As I recall, the 9mm 135-grain +P Critical Duty didn't exhibit drastic expansion but it was uniformly CONSISTENT at around .50-.55. What impressed me the most about Critical Duty was that it was just so consistently well-performing. With each round fired, you knew that it did what it was designed to do. Hats off to Hornady.

For grins, we also shot my 9mm load of choice, the Federal HST 124-grain +P, my agency's former 9mm duty load, Federal 9BPLE 115-grain +P+, and the Remington Golden Saber Bonded 124-grain +P. I was pleased that the Hornady rep was open-minded enough to let us shoot other 9mm, but that is probably indicative of his confidence in the Critical Duty. His confidence was well placed, but the HST slightly outperformed the Critical Duty in terms of explosive expansion and recovered diameter in bare gel and denim (we did not get to shoot it through the other barriers). The HST expanded to over .60 in bare gel and penetrated over 13 inches. With denim, expansion was just slightly less than bare gel, and penetration was slightly more. The HST's expansion in bare gel was GREAT. The Golden Saber, which for a +P round is slow, did a surprisingly good job, though I wasn't expecting much. It's good to be wrong. It expanded slightly less than the HST and penetration was roughly the same. My old standby, the famous 9BPLE, showed dramatic expansion initially but the bullet fragmented and stopped at around 11 inches. I know it has killed many a man in real gunfights, but the Critical Duty, HST, and Golden Saber all outclass it now.

I'm not going to to retire my HST by any means, but I must say, the 135-grain 9mm +P Critical Duty is a beast of a round and certainly should be near the top of the list. It is widely available in my home state and I wouldn't hesitate to carry it in my self-defense G19.

A slight aside: The star performer of the test was Hornady's 110-grain TAP Urban .308. Absolutely incredible performance in gelatin, which it just massacred. Even through glass, it did superbly. We were amazed. The Hornady rep was not. He just grinned. He knows how good it is...