This load was introduced at the 2014 NASGW show and should be ready for the general public in early 2015. If you think you’ve got some of this ammo, contact Hornady immediately.357 Magnum The bad ammo shipped between June 5 and July 16, 2014. In other words, if an officer has loaded with ammo from this lot, none of it may work. This ammo may have light or no powder charge. In July of 2014, Hornady issued a recall notice for lot # 3141635 of the Critical Duty 9mm 135 gr +P ammunition. For example, there was a 107 fps increase in the VP9, an 81 fps increase in the Shield and a 104 fps increase with the Remington R51. The increase on the company numbers is 100 fps, and that was closely reflected in the numbers I found. The higher-pressure 9mm load measurably increased velocity. Hornady’s specs may be more accurate to the muzzle velocity, and are likely to be measured with more precise equipment. I measured velocities with a Competition Electronics ProChrono Digital Chronograph that was set up approximately 15′ from the muzzle, and the numbers represent an average of five-shots. That is to be expected with the shorter barreled weapons. If you look at the table above, you will see that the velocities I measured were slower than the published spec. I’ve often found that Hornady loads are a little slower out of factory guns than the factory published numbers. This might vary depending on the gun you shoot.Īll rounds shot 100% reliably in each of the firearms tested. Even the +P loads didn’t seem to jump as much as some other +P ammo. I found all loads to be reasonably accurate and soft-recoiling. In this video, Hornady runs the 9mm +P load through the FBI testing: So, given my druthers, I’d rather rapidly put multiple good hollow points into a target than the same number of cheap FMJs. However, there are clearly some designs that perform better than others. Rapidly putting multiple rounds into vital areas is more likely to stop a fight than the choice of Federal vs. I am a firm believer that shot placement trumps bullet design. Even though the ammunition has been on the market for several years, and subjected to more than one independent ammunition review, I simply don’t know how many agencies have adopted the loads. I’m cautiously optimistic about the performance of this ammunition, but I’m simply not familiar with any real-world shootings with it. Hornady gives a brief overview of the ammo in this video:Īn expanded. Hornady seals the primers and case mouth to help prevent moisture penetration. Considering how many times an officer is stuck in the rain or snow, this is actually an important consideration. Also, nickel is less likely to tarnish or corrode than plain brass when exposed to the weather. This – in theory – makes the cases easier to extract. While I don’t know that it makes a great deal of difference, nickel is a metal with high lubricity. Nickel is typically used to plate premium self-defense ammunition. A low flash has the additional benefit of making it harder to pinpoint the officer’s location when bad guys are shooting at him or her. 40 S&W load uses a bullet weighing 175 grains. It is possible that Hornady’s use of a polymer plug plus a higher antimony content in the lead alloy is the reason for the unusual bullet weights rather than any engineering decision to develop a non-standard bullet weight.Ĭritical Duty ammunition use low-flash powders to reduce the blinding of officers who are shooting the rounds in low light conditions. For example, the 9mm loads (both standard pressure and +P) use 135-grain bullets. The Critical Duty loads featured slightly unusual-for-the-caliber bullet weights. A high antimony lead alloy will allow for deeper penetration when compared to a softer alloy. Hornady uses an InterLock band to hold the bullet jacket to the core, rather than using a chemical bonding process often used by other manufacturers. The benefit to this method is that the company can use a heavier, antimony-rich core rather than a soft, pure (or close to pure) lead typically used with bonded bullets. Yet, it also helps expansion when striking the target by compressing and putting pressure on the inside of the hollowpoint the same way flesh or a ballistic medium would. The Flex Tip prevents the hollowpoint from being filled when passing through clothing or another barrier. The bullets use the company’s Flex Tip technology, which is a polymer-filled hollowpoint.
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