I've been on the look out for effective anti-personnel 9mm rounds. I've ended up with the aforementioned critical defense for my m&p 9c. Has anybody had any experience with these rounds? Also: what other recommendations do y'all have?
Hornady critical defense
- Thread starter BIGMAC116
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Ruger Nut
US Veteran
I use the 115gr FTX Critical Defense rounds in all my 9mm's.I don't target practice with them.That would be too expensive.
Hornady Manufacturing Company :: Ammunition :: Handgun :: Choose by Caliber :: 9mm Luger :: 9mm Luger 115 gr FTX® Critical Defense®
Hornady Manufacturing Company :: Ammunition :: Handgun :: Choose by Caliber :: 9mm Luger :: 9mm Luger 115 gr FTX® Critical Defense®
AZ115
Member
Winchester PDX1 147gr 9mm...mmm, mmm, good!
Im quite happy with these. Easy to find and not very expensive. The PDX1 is also available in 124gr and 124gr+p...I think?
Good choice is also Speer "Gold Dot"...Available in many calibers and weights.
Hornady is good stuff as well, I do prefer their heavier 147gr. as well.
And if your able to somehow find the "Winchester Ranger" or "Federal HST". These 2 are like the best of the best, but hard to find and sometimes quite expensive. The choice for Law Enforcement. If its good enough for them it's good enough for me!
Im quite happy with these. Easy to find and not very expensive. The PDX1 is also available in 124gr and 124gr+p...I think?
Good choice is also Speer "Gold Dot"...Available in many calibers and weights.
Hornady is good stuff as well, I do prefer their heavier 147gr. as well.
And if your able to somehow find the "Winchester Ranger" or "Federal HST". These 2 are like the best of the best, but hard to find and sometimes quite expensive. The choice for Law Enforcement. If its good enough for them it's good enough for me!
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Vision Remodeling
Member
I use 'em very happy, with the results I got shooting water jugs and heads of cabbage
I haven't found any of the PDX in 9mm yet but I tested them in 45 and got and extra gallon jug of penitration than the Hornaday.
I haven't found any of the PDX in 9mm yet but I tested them in 45 and got and extra gallon jug of penitration than the Hornaday.
I like Critical Defense for my carry ammo; I don't use it as range ammo (other than test firing for function.) I bought a box of Critical Duty, which is 134 gr, to see how they compare. I was looking at them side by side, and managed to dump a box of each on the floor. So, now I have a pile of mixed 115gr and 134gr ammo, and even under a magnifying glass, I can't find a discernible difference between the two rounds. I would have thought the weight would have been stamped on the case head, or something.
I just picked up the shells, and loaded them back into the two boxes...with no way to know if they are in the right box. I guess these two boxes will be range ammo...since I don't know which shells are what loads. It may not matter, but I'd rather shoot some Critical Duty for sure, before I carry it. Fortunately, they are only 20 round boxes.
I just picked up the shells, and loaded them back into the two boxes...with no way to know if they are in the right box. I guess these two boxes will be range ammo...since I don't know which shells are what loads. It may not matter, but I'd rather shoot some Critical Duty for sure, before I carry it. Fortunately, they are only 20 round boxes.
Ruger Nut
US Veteran
Back in the day (late 90s) I shot/used Black Talon rounds.
Black Talon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Black Talon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I use the 115gr Hornady FTX Critical Defense rounds as well in my MP9c.
Shot a mag through it a while back while shooting the same gr WWB, not much of a difference in felt recoil, and I know it will be more than good enough if I ever actually need to fire anymore of them.
Shot a mag through it a while back while shooting the same gr WWB, not much of a difference in felt recoil, and I know it will be more than good enough if I ever actually need to fire anymore of them.
I like Critical Defense for my carry ammo; I don't use it as range ammo (other than test firing for function.) I bought a box of Critical Duty, which is 134 gr, to see how they compare. I was looking at them side by side, and managed to dump a box of each on the floor. So, now I have a pile of mixed 115gr and 134gr ammo, and even under a magnifying glass, I can't find a discernible difference between the two rounds. I would have thought the weight would have been stamped on the case head, or something.
I just picked up the shells, and loaded them back into the two boxes...with no way to know if they are in the right box. I guess these two boxes will be range ammo...since I don't know which shells are what loads. It may not matter, but I'd rather shoot some Critical Duty for sure, before I carry it. Fortunately, they are only 20 round boxes.
You could weigh the rounds I suppose, if you have a good scale like a reloader uses.
NukeFromOrbit
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A Youtube channel hosted by tnoutdoors9 is an excellent resource for ammo tests. Here's his test of the 115gr Critical Defense round:
Hornady Critical Defense 9mm 115 gr FTX Test with Denim - YouTube
His recent tests use a new methodology, which involves firing through four layers of denim into a block of sim test gelatin. The Hornady Critical Duty round was tested using this method, right here:
9mm +P Hornady CRITICAL DUTY Ammo Gel Test - YouTube
Check out his other videos, too. He's doing a real service to handgun owners!
Good Luck,
Tony
sharpshooterassassin
Member
The critical duty has a red dye dot on the primer and if you set the critical duty side by side next to the critical defense, the critical duty is a little bit longer. At least that's how I can tell on my two boxes of C Defense and C Duty.
longhornfan69
Member
I also use the Hornady Critical Defense FTX 115 gr in my 9c. While out deer hunting a few weeks ago I went to retrieve a doe I had shot, when I got up to her to my surprise she wasn't quite dead. When she jumped up to run I didn't have time to grab my .270 so I grabbed my 9c from my side a tapped off 3 rounds into her neck and dropped her in her tracks, when I removed the 3 bullets from her all 3 expanded nicely so I have no problem at all using it in my EDC.
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The Duty rounds that I have don't have a dot on the primer, and they actually seem to be the same length, as least to me, when I hold them up side by side. I've looked them over with a magnifying glass as well. Maybe I just can't see it, but there doesn't seem to be any difference to me.
Oh well...it isn't that big a deal. I keep range ammo separately from my other ammo (for example, once a round has been chambered, and I eject it unfired, it goes into my range-only box...that way, I don't worry about bullet set-back.) I do wish they would at least put the bullet weight on the case.
duppie
Member
I have them in 9mm..38 and .357 for all my pistols which remain loaded.
I have fired all 3 calibers and am quite satisfied with the performance as well as confident that over penetration is minimized.
I have fired all 3 calibers and am quite satisfied with the performance as well as confident that over penetration is minimized.
I don't think the bad guys will care what you are shooting them with, even if it's mixed ammo. Maybe you can buy a new box of CD and as long as they feed well, you could use the mixed bag for carry.
Pretty expensive range ammo...
The only reason I was relegating it to range ammo is that I wanted to see how the Duty ammo would work compared to the Defense ammo...and if I'm not sure which one it is, I couldn't be sure which one was causing what reaction, so rather than assume that the Duty rounds will work in my gun (why wouldn't they? but I'd like to know for sure, and not find out in a SD situation!) then I'll just burn them up at the range.
It was only two boxes of 25 rounds each, so I won't be out a fortune. I can buy another box of Duty, and keep from fumbling it...maybe...and give it a shot.
I am not graceful.
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The only reason I was relegating it to range ammo is that I wanted to see how the Duty ammo would work compared to the Defense ammo...and if I'm not sure which one it is, I couldn't be sure which one was causing what reaction, so rather than assume that the Duty rounds will work in my gun (why wouldn't they? but I'd like to know for sure, and not find out in a SD situation!) then I'll just burn them up at the range.
It was only two boxes of 20 rounds each, so I won't be out a fortune. I can buy another box of Duty, and keep from fumbling it...maybe...and give it a shot.
I am not graceful.
The Critical Duty should have an embossed "H" in the polymer tip, and the Defense will not.
MarCorpsMustang
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I've run several 100 rounds of this exact ammo in my 9c and have never had any problems/issues at all. I highly recommend it.
Best Choices for Self Defense Ammo
also i did not use critical defense, but critical duty 135 gr p flexlock gave me 3-4 FTE problem out of 50 round box.
Winchester Ranger-T 124 +P (40 rounds) and Fedral HST 124 P (100 round) were flowless.
also i did not use critical defense, but critical duty 135 gr p flexlock gave me 3-4 FTE problem out of 50 round box.
Winchester Ranger-T 124 +P (40 rounds) and Fedral HST 124 P (100 round) were flowless.
