So any thoughts on this ammo compared to Speer or Federal? Was told that because of the rubber tip that it had better expansion. Some stuff I read says good expansion but poor penetration, some say it passed FBI test some say it didn't and some say that it doesn't matter either way. I have no clue what to think on it. A guy at the local gun shop thinks it's better than Speer GoldDot, but most of the local LO seem to carry Speer GoldDot so... Plus the Hornady only seems to come in 115gr, which is fine if it performs as well or better than a 124gr round but now I'm back to the problem of what info to believe. The ammo I was looking at getting was Speer GoldDot 124gr JHP +P.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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There are two different Hornady loads out in the marketplace.





1) Critical Defense - Designed for 10" to 12" gel penetration (10%) with Bare/Clothed Gel. NOT designed to be a good barrier blind load. Multiple loads in various cartridges. Not my choice because Hornady is telling me what loads they think I need.





2) Critical Duty - Designed for 12" to 16" gel penetration (10%) with all barriers. Available in 9x19, 9x19+P, and .40 S&W only. This looks interesting, but I carry HST, or DPX, so I'm no no hurry to buy them.





With the marketplace crowded with loads that are ok, or better, I would look at the Ammo FAQ's, buy a box, see if your firearm likes it, then buy more. Do not buy on hype.





 

At least in my weapons the Critical Defense was less than ideal. It has horrible penetration and less than ideal expansion. The Critical Duty currently available in 40Sw and 9mm is a very good load. I have tested it a couple times and it has good expansion, good penetration low muzzle flash and lower recoil than comparable 40SW loads. It is my current carry load in my Glock 22 that is issued to me by Sheriff;s dept. Critical Duty is pretty expensive unless you can find the 50 rd boxes.Budspolicesupply.com is the only place I have found them and they were $23.00 plus shipping  for 50 rd boxes which is a good price for premium self defense loads. Most places I have saw will charge you close to $1 a rd for the smaller boxes. I would avoid the Critical Defense at all cost especially in the larger calibers. In 380 it is OK but I would prefer the DPX loads, Ranger T or the Gold Dots in that caliber.

Did this the other day.

I my experience Hornady defence ammunition is one of the WORST performers out there for JHP ammunition

This picture is from another members testing of .380 Critical Defence, with GDHP for comparison... Pretty sad if you ask me



Stick with HST, PDX1, or Gold Dot

HST is my favorite

Guy on youtube did backyard test with drywall in front of gel, and little expansion. 17" of penetration though.

There is your answer OP, in order from left to right of what I would choose first. I ccw M&P 40's and 1911's. I like the HST's in 180's for the .40's and Winchester RA45B's for the 1911. When I'm in the woods hiking I like Hornady XTP's, the heaviest load, in either caliber for the added penetration and they still open up relatively well with almost zero muzzle flash. I would NOT carry the Hornady Critical Defense line of ammo. There are far too many better choices to choose from.

Hornady is doing a bangup job marketing CD ammo because I get a steady stream of customers who want nothing else based on some magazine reviews and innernetz videos. Thankfully, that leaves more Gold Dot on the shelf for me to buy.

This, but add Ranger-T to the list.

Just out of curiosity, what did you shoot those into?  I'm kind of pissed, because I always have carried GDHPs, and I just switched to 9mm and I picked up the Critical Duty round thinking it would suffice.  Clearly, not as well....

KOTB

Milk jugss filled with media. (wet paper)

is there some samples of other calibers? doing the same thing? with the critical defense load, my gun eats it fine but id like to see how it fairs with others till i pick one to stick with.

That's the only one I have saved on my computer, however you can go to YouTube and find a ballistics gel test on about any load you are interested in from tnoutdoors9

He has all the major calibers in Gold Dot, Hornady CD, Federal Ranger, Golden Sabre, Hydra Shock, ect....

The critical defense is pretty bad. That said, the critical duty is pretty great. Seems like they've fixed everything that was wrong with critical defense in critical duty. Also 135gr +p is a much nicer load than standard 115gr.

I bought a quite a few boxes of S&W 40 Critical Defense and it looks similar to Hornady Z-Max except the plug is green instead of red. Also the Z-Max is just regular brass where CD is nickel plated brass.  I still have a some boxes of critical defense but I will be shooting at the gun range until it is gone. At the time I did test fire 100 rounds of Critical Defense and it went bang every time I pulled the trigger. That being said once I saw Critical Duty was available and I tested it I'm keep my USP loaded with Critical Duty now. I believe Critical Duty is supposed to be used in full sized 9mm or 40S&W pistols only.

thanks ill check that out. ,*update* his video of the critical defense was pretty favorable, although only one round through 4 layers of denim.  needless to say the pics of the ones that did not open up is a little nerve racking. though it would still do some damage. think i might switch to the duty version or corbons