What is the scoop on Hornady's new handgun ammo with the plastic in the hollow point.

[DocGKR]

"Then gamma rays are your ideal choice."

Now that was funny!

Like most things in life, there needs to be a balance between penetration and expansion when discussing handgun projectiles. The degree and rapidity of any physiological incapacitation is determined by the anatomic structures the handgun projectile disrupts and the severity the tissue damage caused by the bullet. Physiologically, immediate incapacitation or death can only occur when the brain or upper spinal cord is damaged or destroyed. Circulatory system collapse from severe disruption of the vital organs and blood vessels in the torso is the only other reliable method of physiological incapacitation from small arms. If the CNS is uninjured, physiological incapacitation is delayed until blood loss is sufficient to deprive the brain of oxygen. A penetrating handgun projectile physically crushes and destroys tissue as it cuts its path through the body. The space occupied by this pulped and disintegrated tissue is referred to as the permanent cavity. The permanent cavity, or wound track, is quite simply the hole bored by the handgun projectile's passage. The formation of this permanent cavity is consistent and reliable. More rapid incapacitation may occur with greater tissue disruption; obviously, handgun bullets of greater diameter crush more tissue, forming a larger permanent cavity. However, projectiles must be able to penetrate sufficiently to reach vital organs; handgun bullets that may be required to incapacitate aggressors must reliably penetrate a minimum of approximately 10 to 12 inches of tissue in order to ensure disruption of the major organs and blood vessels in the torso from any angle and through excessive adipose tissue, hypertrophied muscle, or intervening anatomic structures, such as a raised arm.

[sff70]

Absolutely these things are all interconnected, and there are tradeoffs for everything. I do not envy the job of the engineers at the ammo companies. They have a very tough set of challenges to address.

And absolutely there is a "sweet spot". Per the FBI criteria, it's more than 12" and less than 18". But also in their words, over penetration is more desirable than underpenetration.

A projectile that expands at the cost of sufficient penetration is not a good tradeoff. One of the better examples of this is the STHP.

Once you have an adequate range of penetration to reach the vital organs, vessels, and structures, then a bigger projectile (expanding) is better. But you have to get to deep enough to reach them 1st.

A .75" diameter projectile penetrating 6" into the torso is not going to have the same effect as a .57" diameter projectile penetrating 12".

The more expansion you have, the less penetration you have, typically. One has an inverse effect on the other.

The challenge is how do you reliably increase both?

I would also argue that bullet placement is the most controllable variable in a self defense event. It's like real estate - location, location, location.

I acknowledge that proper placement can be sometimes difficult to attain in a fight, though through training we can increase the skill level to make this more likely.

[Parabellum9x19mm]

a few questions

1)
is there the same problem with jacket separation like we see in the other poly filled hollow point projo, the Corbon Pow`R Ball?

in the high speed photos i saw, the Pow`R Ball completely separated into its three components: jacket, core and poly-ball. this occurred after only a few inches of bare jelly.


does anyone know if the new Hornady rounds are bonded better?

2)
how does the Hornady Critical Defense ammo stack up against the Federal EFMJ?

where can one even buy EFMJ? i haven't found a good source

3)
should i forget about the new Federal and Hornady loads and just stick to Speer GD?

[ToddG]

3)
should i forget about the new Federal and Hornady loads and just stick to Speer GD?

That one's easy.

Yes.

[Zhukov]

a few questions

2)
how does the Hornady Critical Defense ammo stack up against the Federal EFMJ?

where can one even buy EFMJ? i haven't found a good source

Are you located in a state that doesn't allow HPs? If so, then the Hornady's *might* be a good choice assuming their testing is legit.

But like the previous poster said - if you're already carrying GDHPs, then don't switch.

[Parabellum9x19mm]

no, i'm not in New Jersey or anything.

i can have hollow points.

i'll just stick to Gold Dots. they feed well in everything and they perform well.

always looking for a better mousetrap for some reason, don't ask me why.

thanks for the info all.

[DocGKR]

EFMJ, Powerball, etc... are NOT better than a robust expanding JHP, however, they are better than FMJ.

[Alpha Sierra]

Maybe someone should test it according to IWBA protocols before pronouncing sentence?

[DocGKR]

We are, this week in fact.

[Zhukov]

We are, this week in fact.

Good news. Anytime something new comes out, people are always interested in finding out more about it. Hopefully you can share the results of your testing, especially if you're going to test the .380...