RFI: Hornady Critical Duty 9mm

[CWM11B]

I am interested in feedback on the Hornady 135 gr non +P load. Backstory:
Hornady has been cold calling me at work and claims to be committed to diving in to the LE market big time. I have agreed to host them for a gel shoot (if you are close to the Piedmont region of NC and want to come, give me a shout. It's June 8th) but have told them in no uncertain terms I am happy with our current duty load, have no intention of switching, and have a three year supply in our warehouse. I do, however, subscribe to Doc's opinion of having alternate rounds approved in case of a drought. I have also told them in order to get me to switch, it would have to perform at the same level as the current load at a significant savings, or "blow my mind" (their words) with dramatic improvement over what we have.

Our current load is the original Gold Dot in 147. It was chosen based on the results west coast coppers have had with it and similar loads over the last couple of decades, and that when we switched from .40 to 9mm we already had a supply of it for our MP5-SDs. I want the feedback for the non +p version as we issue M&P Shields in addition to standard M&P FS, and the Shield is not rated for +p by the manufacturer. The published results I have seen on the CD in this flavor don't exactly blow the wind up my skirt. Any experience/independent test data would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for any assistance or information.

 

[DocGKR]

We previously tested the CD rounds: https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?7205-New-Service-Caliber-Handgun-Tests

The Hornady 135 gr works adequately.

Keep in mind that Critical Duty offers performance similar to the Speer G2 and Winchester Ranger Bonded, while Speer Gold Dot, Winchster Ranger Talon, Federal HST, and loads using Barnes Tac-XP bullets likewise offer somewhat similar terminal effects.

 

[Grayman]

If you are LE contact the ballistics lab at the FBI. A request on letter head for their ballistic CD is worthwhile if you are after any type ballistic test results. They have a significant amount of data on each of the common and some not so common 9mm duty loads.

 

[SoTex]

Hornady came out and put on a lab for us and other agencies in our area. We shoot the 135+P CD in our 9mm platforms, we liked it during the lab and went to it. We have yet to shoot anyone with it.

 

[DocGKR]

9 mm Hornady 135 gr Critical Duty at 1085 fps:
BG: Pen = 15.7, RD = 0.52, RL = 0.49, RW = 134.6
4LD: Pen = 17.8, RD = 0.47, RL = 0.55, RW = 134.1

(dime)

9 mm Fed 147 gr HST at 1005 fps:
BG: Pen = 14.0, RD = 0.65, RL = 0.41, RW = 147.6
4LD: Pen = 16.5, RD = 0.60, RL = 0.53, RW = 147.5

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9 mm Hornady 135 gr +P Critical Duty at 1185 fps:
BG: Pen = 17.9, RD = 0.52, RL = 0.50, RW = 135.6
4LD: Pen = 18.1, RD = 0.48, RL = 0.53, RW = 134.1

(dime)

9 mm Fed 135 gr +P bonded Tactical (LE9T5) at 1069 fps:
BG: Pen = 14.5, RD = 0.58, RL = 0.34, RW = 134.6
4LD: Pen = 15.0, RD = 0.56, RL = 0.43, RW = 134.1

9 mm BH 115 gr +P Barnes Tac-XP at 1069 fps:
BG: Pen = 15.0, RD = 0.52, RL = 0.49, RW = 115.4
4LD: Pen = 14.0, RD = 0.52, RL = 0.49, RW = 115.7

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9 mm 147 gr +P HST (P9HST4) at 1069 fps:
BG: Pen = 14.4, RD = 0.64, RL = 0.41, RW = 147.5
4LD: Pen = 16.3, RD = 0.59, RL = 0.43, RW = 147.8

(dime)

9 mm Fed 147 gr HST (P9HST2) at 1005 fps:
BG: Pen = 14.0, RD = 0.65, RL = 0.41, RW = 147.6
4LD: Pen = 16.5, RD = 0.60, RL = 0.53, RW = 147.5