Hornady Critical Duty 45+p 220 grain/ Glock 30


D

Deltaring68

New member
Have any of you tried this ammo in your Glock 30 firearm? If so how is the accuracy, recoil Etc.:smile:
 

I'm not sure if you are looking for suggestions or specifically want to know how the Hornady round does.

If it's the former, our Sheriff's Department uses 230 gr Speer Gold Dot jacketed hollow points. Everyone who has shot with them loves them. They like the feel, the feeding, shot placement, recoil, etc.
 
wolf fire, I was specifically curious about the hornady round. however, I listen to all suggestions and use an open mind. I also picked up some federal 165 grain low recoil hydra shok rounds since I am fond of the hydra shoks.
 
It works great in my combat commander and the accuracy is fine, but you have a bigger issue here than accuracy and recoil. This is a defensive round, you are ONLY worrying about angle of badguy, and when it comes to defense you wont notice the recoil. HOWEVER, I would be more concerned, based on your line of questions, on your ability to handle your chosen firearm and caliber to begin with. If you are concerned about the recoil, you would be better off considering a different caliber. Fear of the caliber will create a bigger issue than the extra recoil of the +P round... This manifests in a fear induced flinch. and no matter what the situation is you are going to lose all accuracy in that instance. I am Not stating this to be mean or nasty. Just over thirty years ago I was shot. It took a long time and massive amounts of range time to overcome the flinch I developed as a result of being shot. So what I am saying to you, is based on personal experience.
 
When selecting self defense ammo, take barrel length into consideration. The Glock 30 has a 3.77 inch barrel. However, most self defense ammo manufacturers and reviewers perform their tests out of a 5 inch barrel in the .45 ACP caliber. Since the bullet is slower out of a shorter barrel, it will perform differently. With less energy, it may not expand or penetrate as well. You should specifically look up short barrel ammo and corresponding tests. Note that +P ammo has generally more energy, which likely results in better and faster expansion and potentially in less penetration.

When talking about how a handgun caliber affects accuracy, you really only talk about recoil and the shooter's ability to deal with it. Handgun accuracy is mostly influenced by sight radius and by the shooter. Flinching (recoil anticipation by the shooter) is, in my opinion, the biggest culprit.
 
ScottS ,Recoil does not bother me in the least, it was a general question. Hell, I used to own a s&w 629 44 magnum with a 4 inch barrel and shot it often 1 handed and I do believe the recoil was a lot more harsh than any 45 that I've ever owned. I am 46 years old and am very experienced with the 45 caliber which happens to be my favorite.
 
bofh said:
When selecting self defense ammo, take barrel length into consideration. The Glock 30 has a 3.77 inch barrel. However, most self defense ammo manufacturers and reviewers perform their tests out of a 5 inch barrel in the .45 ACP caliber. Since the bullet is slower out of a shorter barrel, it will perform differently. With less energy, it may not expand or penetrate as well. You should specifically look up short barrel ammo and corresponding tests. Note that +P ammo has generally more energy, which likely results in better and faster expansion and potentially in less penetration.

When talking about how a handgun caliber affects accuracy, you really only talk about recoil and the shooter's ability to deal with it. Handgun accuracy is mostly influenced by sight radius and by the shooter. Flinching (recoil anticipation by the shooter) is, in my opinion, the biggest culprit.
Click to expand...

Sorry but this is just common tripe and fallacy. Barrel length is irrelevant. When you are comparing performance figures look to the barrel length and compare apples to apples and let it go after that. In the real world where you are shooting a firearm that is meant to be carried and not generate statistical data, things relative. If brand a is faster than brand b in a 5 inch barrel it will still be faster in a 3 3/4 inch barrel the fact is the ammo that is designated defensive ammo WILL perform with the same relative performance out of any barrel length that caliber is made in. There IS no such thing as "short barrel" ammunition... I've been at this for close to 50 years and this is the WORST line of bull I have heard to date. This proves the old adage " every time I say I've heard it all, somebody proves me wrong".

I dread hearing the next one...
 
Then you just answered your own question! (good comment not snide remark) Hornady Critical Defense is one of the best performing defensive rounds you will find, regardless of the caliber. It is designed to expand to it's maximum potential regardless of clothing the 'target' is wearing... and the bullet is designed to retain the maximum weight. This is about all you really need to worry about in a defensive round. anything over 950 fps will do the job, and these are substantially faster. On a side note, you can tell by some of the other responses here, you probably have more experience than they do. So some of these need to be taken with a grain of salt.
Go to Hornady's website and check out their current catalog. I believe it is on line. I receive them regularly via snail mail, they have actual pics of recovered rounds of the Critical Defense slugs for the primary calibers after going through various barriers and media demonstrating real world round performance...
As for answering your own question, that happens a lot, its a matter of talking it out, putting your points out front and then looking at what meets those needs
 
ScottS said:
Sorry but this is just common tripe and fallacy. Barrel length is irrelevant. When you are comparing performance figures look to the barrel length and compare apples to apples and let it go after that. In the real world where you are shooting a firearm that is meant to be carried and not generate statistical data, things relative. If brand a is faster than brand b in a 5 inch barrel it will still be faster in a 3 3/4 inch barrel the fact is the ammo that is designated defensive ammo WILL perform with the same relative performance out of any barrel length that caliber is made in. There IS no such thing as "short barrel" ammunition... I've been at this for close to 50 years and this is the WORST line of bull I have heard to date. This proves the old adage " every time I say I've heard it all, somebody proves me wrong".

I dread hearing the next one...
Click to expand...

First off, there is such thing as "short barrel" ammunition: Link Removed.

Your opinion may be that this is a marketing gimmick or that the performance difference between regular and short barrel ammo is not big. Take a look at ShootingTheBull410's ammo quest at Final Results of the .380 ACP Ammo Quest | Shooting The Bull and see how bad certain top .380 ACP brands perform out of a 2.8 inch barrel, which have been tested by manufacturers with a typical 3.75 inch barrel length.

Second, you can't cheat physics. There is a performance impact when reducing barrel length. How big that performance impact is depends on barrel length, caliber, and ammo.

Yes, you can offset that performance impact by using a faster brand, but as you said well, you have to compare apples with apples. A 200 grain .45 ACP +P round is faster than a 230 grain .45 ACP standard pressure round, but their weights are different too. For Gold Dots, the standard .45 ACP test barrel length is 5 inches. For the short barrel brand it is 4 inches.

The video below (also from ShootingTheBull410) sums up the small differences in short vs full barrel 230 grain .45 ACP standard pressure Gold Dots. "Either one is fine."


Both examples show that there MAY OR MAY NOT be an impact. A blanket generalization either way is not possible. I always refer to hands-on testing than to manufacturer claims and guesses.
 
FYI: The Hornady Critical Duty .45 ACP +P 220 gr JHP tested with a 3.3 inch and a 5 inch barrel. Less expansion and more penetration out of the 3.3 inch barrel.

 
Which are we talking about Hornady's Critical Duty or Critical Defense? I just picked up a box of the Defense so I would like to know. Thanks

Dennis in Idaho
 
I have been shooting the Critical Duty and it shoots well, and at 25 yds groups 3/4 inch. I like this ammo.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New Threads

Members online

No members online now.
Total: 133 (members: 0, guests: 133)

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
49,544
Messages
611,263
Members
74,964
Latest member
sigsag1

Share this page

Back
Top