For those of you running home defense ARs do you use hollow point 5.56/.223?

[flenna]

Dont bother, they should rename it Critical Failure Ammunition. 7" of penetration with the 55gr, 10" with the 73gr, the 12" FBI minimum exists for a reason.

Reading Hornady's webpage on these loads has this description:

FTX® BULLET TECHNOLOGY
The unique design of the Critical Defense® FTX® bullet offers quick expansion and limited penetration from self-defense rifles.



So it looks like low penetration in addition to fast expansion is expected from this line of ammunition.

[Todd.K]

Anyone running or have info on how the Hornady 55gr. Critical Duty performs? I can't seem to find much on it.

Critical Duty and Critical Defense are two very different lines, based on what I know of their handgun ammo.

[vicious_cb]

Critical Duty and Critical Defense are two very different lines, based on what I know of their handgun ammo.

There is also no such as .223 Critical Duty, only Critical Defense. Critical Duty line only has pistol cartridges.

Reading Hornady's webpage on these loads has this description:

FTX® BULLET TECHNOLOGY
The unique design of the Critical Defense® FTX® bullet offers quick expansion and limited penetration from self-defense rifles.



So it looks like low penetration in addition to fast expansion is expected from this line of ammunition.

Hiding poor performance behind marketing is a poor tactic and flies in the face of every legit terminal ballistics study out there. You know what else penetrates 7" in gel? Birdshot.

[flenna]

Hiding poor performance behind marketing is a poor tactic and flies in the face of every legit terminal ballistics study out there. You know what else penetrates 7" in gel? Birdshot.

So Hornady designed a crappy line of ammunition and decided to cover it up with fancy marketing? Or maybe they designed what they set out to do- a round designed for short range with limited penetration and super fast expansion. I can see a narrow focused use for these indoors in an ultra urban area.

[Todd.K]

It's either based on old terminal performance beliefs, or designed to sell to those with old terminal performance beliefs.

[1168]

or designed to sell to those with old terminal performance beliefs.

Believe it or not, there are LE agencies that fit that description precisely, and issue varmint ammo.

And really, the entire Critical Defense lineup (not Critical Duty) is designed this way.

[vicious_cb]

So Hornady designed a crappy line of ammunition and decided to cover it up with fancy marketing? Or maybe they designed what they set out to do- a round designed for short range with limited penetration and super fast expansion. I can see a narrow focused use for these indoors in an ultra urban area.

No, the design was done purposely and the marketing is deceptive to make low penetration sound desirable. They've been doing it for years with their v-max varmint bullets in their TAP line of duty ammo.

They're purposely trying to fool the uneducated when they know full well that the FBI standards are since they make ammo for FBI contracts, yet they further this stupid idea that under-penetrating loads like bird shot is ideal for home defense

[flenna]

No, the design was done purposely and the marketing is deceptive to make low penetration sound desirable. They've been doing it for years with their v-max varmint bullets in their TAP line of duty ammo.

They're purposely trying to fool the uneducated when they know full well that the FBI standards are since they make ammo for FBI contracts, yet they further this stupid idea that under-penetrating loads like bird shot is ideal for home defense

Ok, gotcha. Eh, the market will bear it out. If the buyers don't want this level of performance in their rifle rounds then this line will die a slow death. It wouldn't be the first time a company, even one as solid as Hornady, put out a product that either didn't make much sense or was too narrow focused to survive.

[TomPenguin5145]

Believe it or not, there are LE agencies that fit that description precisely, and issue varmint ammo.

And really, the entire Critical Defense lineup (not Critical Duty) is designed this way.

Like 55 TAP Urban. :-)

[Ron3]

Believe it or not, there are LE agencies that fit that description precisely, and issue varmint ammo.

And really, the entire Critical Defense lineup (not Critical Duty) is designed this way.

Yup. Thousands of AR's riding in Patrol vehicles every day are loaded up with 55 gr Soft Points and "Ballistic Tip" JHP's.

Oh, and probably 50% only have a trace of oil residue in them, with another 25% bone dry.