Hornady Critical Defense and my 686+ PC

[Whitwabit]

Filled some milk jugs up with water and set them up on the ground in the back 40 .. Loaded my new unfired by me (2 shots at the mother house ) 686+ PC up with 125 grain FTX .. Muzzle velocity 1500 fps .. @ 50 yards 1301 fps .. 100 yards 1147 fps according to details on the box !!

First shot thru 2 layers of denim and then the water jugs exploded the first jug and threw water 5 feet behind me so about 12 feet .. round ended up in the 4th jug .. 2nd round same results .. completely destroying the first jug showering a large area with water .. round ended in the 4th jug also .. 3 more rounds shot with the same results .. all rounds recovered ..

they average about 685.. largest measured was .697 .. all 5 were very close to the same specs .. The rounds mushroomed uniformly in size and diameter .. so almost doubled in size ..

That's with a 2 1/2 inch barrel .. don't have a chronograph so don't know how much velocity decrease because of the very short barrel .. but all the rounds opened as they should and had a good evenly shaped mushroomed round ..

So I've found a good carry round .. now to find that comfortable holster ..

 

[pittpa]

You are hard on your jugs, for sure.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[3rdgeargrndrr]

Ive had nothing but good results from the critical defense lineup, although I must question the pink 38 Lite loads, never tried them

 

[HughD1]

I believe Hornady uses an 8 inch test barrel for their 357 velocity figures. Your velocity will probably be well under their numbers. They obviously still have enough velocity to get the job done. That is a good round.

 

[ABPOS]

I think the big question is: Will they penetrate sufficiently. As far as I understand it, they don't meet the FBI 12" requirement in gel testing.

 

[CA Escapee]

I think the big question is: Will they penetrate sufficiently. As far as I understand it, they don't meet the FBI 12" requirement in gel testing.

Critical Defense ammo wasn't designed to pass the FBI requirements. From what I've read Hornady says it may pass the FBI criteria.

I've seen a video online where Dave Emary, the designer of the FTX style bullets, states the Critical Defense rounds will not over penetrate. He recommends Critical Duty if you want more penetration because they're generally a heavier bullet with a harder lead core, and a thicker copper jacket.

It does seem as though they mushroom as advertised, though.

Bill

 

[Whitwabit]

I think the big question is: Will they penetrate sufficiently. As far as I understand it, they don't meet the FBI 12" requirement in gel testing.

TNOUTDOORS9 YouTube video shooting into ballistic jell
from a Ruger GP100 3" barrel .. stopped at the 16 1/8th mark .. well within the FBI requirements !!

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTWFbuzX-l8[/ame]

 

[SquarePizza]

That's only IF you care about the FBI requirements.

From some of the articles I read, the 12" requirement came from the Miami shootout where an officer took a lateral shot on one of the criminals. The round went through the arm, across the chest and stopped 1" short of vitals (I've never read which vital, but I am assuming the heart).

Most defensive usage videos I have seen were both people facing each other, so the bullets are not traveling across the lateral plane of the chest.

For me, accuracy, muzzle flash, and recoil of my loads comes before I worry about depth of penetration. And from all the critical defense ammo I have shot, they tend to be really nice in all of those categories.

But that's just my 2 cents.

 

[kaaskop49]

That's only IF you care about the FBI requirements.

I could not say it better. Thank you.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

 

[white cloud]

Filled some milk jugs up with water and set them up on the ground in the back 40 .. Loaded my new unfired by me (2 shots at the mother house ) 686+ PC up with 125 grain FTX .. Muzzle velocity 1500 fps .. @ 50 yards 1301 fps .. 100 yards 1147 fps according to details on the box !!

First shot thru 2 layers of denim and then the water jugs exploded the first jug and threw water 5 feet behind me so about 12 feet .. round ended up in the 4th jug .. 2nd round same results .. completely destroying the first jug showering a large area with water .. round ended in the 4th jug also .. 3 more rounds shot with the same results .. all rounds recovered ..

they average about 685.. largest measured was .697 .. all 5 were very close to the same specs .. The rounds mushroomed uniformly in size and diameter .. so almost doubled in size ..

That's with a 2 1/2 inch barrel .. don't have a chronograph so don't know how much velocity decrease because of the very short barrel .. but all the rounds opened as they should and had a good evenly shaped mushroomed round ..

So I've found a good carry round .. now to find that comfortable holster ..

This sounds like excellent performance to me. It is my experience that Hornady understands bullet design pretty well.

I love large frame .357s with great sighs and triggers. Isn't it nice to have a carry gun you can actually hit with at 50 yards?

My 2.5" GP100 rides in a LOBO IWB offset belt clip or a Sourdough Pancake depending on what I am doing or where I am. I wasn't sure the LOBO would work for this size gun but I am very pleased.

 

[ABPOS]

Well, I would imagine the FBI requirements are a good thing. But I totally get that it's just a guideline. It does seem like barrel length and such sometimes changes the way a round will perform.

Personally, I like to choose penetration over expansion. In the winter here, people have a tenancy to layer and were a lot of clothes or thick jackets and I haven't really settled on a round for summer and winter. Although honestly, my carry load out is kind of ecclectic. I load Hornady American Gunners in my gun 125 grain. I know they penetrate well, cuz they don't really open up too much typically. Then I carry 4 rounds on a speed strip of 125 Golden Saber +P's. I have seen some tests show good performance, despite the fact that they tend to shed their jackets. I think the lead usually penetrates well. And to me they have significantly less recoil than Gold Dot plus p's. Then on my second speed strip I have 5 rounds of 130 grain FMJ. Part of that is probably because I'm not a good enough shot with it to notice how different the POI is from load to load. But usually I'm either pretty centered or a bit high right. I've yet to see very many rounds go left and low. So that's probably on me. Yanking the heavy DA trigger.

wadcutters and a few more loads in there....



I know, weird. I sort of like covering all the bases. Either that or I just think it's fun. Who knows. All those loads have similar POI in my gun. My gun actually is somewhat consistent with POI from load to load. Which is a blessing now that I think of it.

 

[Whitwabit]

In the winter here in Central Illinois the temperature range is above freezing down to -20 below .. so a pretty wide range which induces people to wear a wide variety of winter outer clothing !!

That's the reason I have carried a pistol chambered in 40S&W .. A bit more power then 9mm but less then the 357 Magnum round ..

Critical Defense in both the 40 and 357 penetrate to FBI specs in all the demonstrations I've seen on those rounds !!

 

[CA Escapee]

The FBI requirements cover penetration through auto glass, sheet metal (auto bodies), dry wall and other stuff. I'm not going to try to stop bad guys by shooting through any of that.

Bill