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Hornaday Critical Defense

A

anchors

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Read a good article in handgun magazine about Hornaday Critical Defense 357 ammo,it was shot from a 4" barrel gun.
My question is,has anyone used this ammo in a 640-1 or other snub guns and how do you like it?
 
I haven't used it in .357 but the .38 spl I shot I had a couple failures to fire.
They sent me a replacement box which ran fine though.
 
anchors said:
Read a good article in handgun magazine about Hornaday Critical Defense 357 ammo,it was shot from a 4" barrel gun.
My question is,has anyone used this ammo in a 640-1 or other snub guns and how do you like it?
Click to expand...
Hornady critical Defense ammo was developed for short barrel handguns so it will work well in your M640-1. I normally use Winchester 145gr Silvertips in my M640-1. For some reason my 640 just loves that ammo and delivers better accuracy than I can normally shoot.
 
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I had tested out the .357 Mag of Hornady Critical Defense in my 340PD and it have pitted my cylinder.... :( The bullet is 125 gr and I only shot 5 round when this happen. I just got this gun over a week ago and now I got to sent it back to S&W.

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Somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered reading something about Ti cylinder guns and light bullet loadings. I found it in the owner's manual for Ti, SC, and PD guns:

"Do not use Magnum loadings with bullet weights of less than 120 grains - This will reduce the possibility of premature cylinder erosion in Titanium alloy cylinders."

Notice they didn't say "eliminate." It also appears that they may need to re-think that 120 grain limit.
 
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:eek:..........one round fired/chamber doing that is about as close to "premature cylinder erosion" as you can get.
 
I purchase this revolver on the 18th of March and I finally shot it this Sunday when it happen, only 5 rounds.... :-( I called S&W on Tuesday about it and they said they will mail me a returning label but I still have not receive it yet.....
 
I got to the range yesterday,my 640-1 loves the 125gr Hornaday 357,it also likes Remington 125gr Golden Sabre.
It's nice to have a choice. All shooting was off hand at 30 feet.
 
I use Hornady Critical Defense rounds in all my firearms[handguns] and it is the best I have seen about it. 9,.38/.357,.40 and .45 is all I shoot in my 3 Glocks and in my S&W and Ruger Steel revolvers. I do stay away from the titanium and scandium frame handguns. Steel handguns in revolvers work for me. rz625-8
 
Me too

Me too. Took my brand new 340PD to the range and fired 10 rounds of Hornady .357 Critical Defense ammo. All 5 chambers had cuts and erosion on the face of the cylinder. S & W paid shipping both ways. I got the gun back with a new cylinder but no explaination of why bullet above 120 grains would have done this damage.
I got the gun back and fired 3 rounds of the same ammo through it and stopped when I realized the chambers of those rounds shot those 3 were damaged. I called back and wanted some sort of explaination as to what was happening but all I got was "Ship it back". I got another person on the phone and told them if it comes back with a new cylinder and no letter or phone call telling why this is happening I will be a lot noiser since I dont want to be firing 3 shot them stuff the gun in a FedEx box and wait for a new cylinder again. Terrible customer service. They all see to be working from scripts.





mike718 said:
I had tested out the .357 Mag of Hornady Critical Defense in my 340PD and it have pitted my cylinder.... :( The bullet is 125 gr and I only shot 5 round when this happen. I just got this gun over a week ago and now I got to sent it back to S&W.

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IMG_0098.jpg
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I'm using Hornady Critical Defense 110 grain FTX for my 442. It can use .38 Special +p but I went with standard at the advice of my gunsmith and after reading quite a few articles. I'm very happy with how accurate I can be with this ammo and how it helps minimize recoil in such a small gun.
 
mike718 said:
I purchase this revolver on the 18th of March and I finally shot it this Sunday when it happen, only 5 rounds.... :-( I called S&W on Tuesday about it and they said they will mail me a returning label but I still have not receive it yet.....
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If you gave them an e-mail address you want to be sure to check your e-mail for the return label. It happened at our shop, they said they were mailing a return label and we found it in our e-mail.
 
russp1 said:
I'm using Hornady Critical Defense 110 grain FTX for my 442. It can use .38 Special +p but I went with standard at the advice of my gunsmith and after reading quite a few articles.
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Got to wonder why you are avoiding +P's? The difference in velocity between a Hornady CD standard and +P load is only 80 fps....so it isn't like the +P is some fire-breathing dragon load or something. A .38 fired from a short little barrel needs all the help it can get, so avoiding +P's seems unwise to me! Or if you must, practice with standard loads, but at least load +P's for self defense???

I have put enough +P's through my 342 (aluminum frame AirLite Ti) and Ruger LCR's (aluminum frame), to know these fire reliably and accurately, and they aren't going to damage anything. After testing them on a variety of media, I also conclude that they work as adventised (reasonable penetration/excellent expansion).

My 360SC (aluminum/scandium frame AirLite Ti) has had a few Hornady 125 gr .357's through it, and nothing untoward going on there....either.
 
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off road said:
Got to wonder why you are avoiding +P's? The difference in velocity between a Hornady CD standard and +P load is only 80 fps....so it isn't like the +P is some fire-breathing dragon load or something. A .38 fired from a short little barrel needs all the help it can get, so avoiding +P's seems unwise to me! Or if you must, practice with standard loads, and at least load +P's for self defense???

I have put enough +P's through my 342 (aluminum frame AirLite Ti) and Ruger LCR's (aluminum frame), to know these fire reliably and accurately, and they aren't going to damage anything. After testing them on a variety of media, I also conclude that they work as adventised (reasonable penetration/excellent expansion).

My 360SC (aluminum/scandium frame AirLite Ti) has had a few Hornady 125 gr .357's through it, and nothing untoward going on there....either.
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I'd have to dig through my clutter and see if I can still find my research but everything I found suggested avoiding +P in the airweights. When my gunsmith also said it, I decided to go with that.
 
russp1 said:
I'd have to dig through my clutter and see if I can still find my research but everything I found suggested avoiding +P in the airweights. When my gunsmith also said it, I decided to go with that.
Click to expand...

Like I said, it isn't going to hurt the gun if you carry it with +P's for self defense. (I assume you are interested in SD, or you wouldn't be paying for expensive SD specific ammo.) If it ever comes to that, you will only have to fire the gun a few times to save your life! If you figure that "ruined" your gun, it did its job and you can go buy a nice new gun the next day (maybe an M&P 340 instead).
 
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off road said:
Like I said, it isn't going to hurt the gun if you carry it with +P's for self defense. (I assume you are interested in SD, or you wouldn't be paying for expensive SD specific ammo.) If it ever comes to that, you will only have to fire the gun a few times to save your life! If you figure that "ruined" your gun, it did its job and you can go buy a nice new gun the next day (maybe an M&P 340 instead).
Click to expand...

Now I definitely need to find the information again. I don't even think damage to the gun was an issue discussed but instead they talked about recoil and accuracy issues using the +p in the air weights. I believe the feeling was the increased accuracy out weighed the slight increase in stopping power. I need to see if I can find the info again in a way I can post it.
 
russp1 said:
I'd have to dig through my clutter and see if I can still find my research but everything I found suggested avoiding +P in the airweights. When my gunsmith also said it, I decided to go with that.
Click to expand...
I have had 3 Airweghts (M638, M442 and M642) over the past 6 years and none of them were damaged by +p ammo. I shot Remington FBI ammo, Speer 135gr SB ammo, DoubleTap +P ammo and several others ranging from 125gr to 158gr. (and a few hot reloads too) Like I said, none of the revolvers were damaged in the least.
 
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