Hornady critical duty a disapointment for me

N

NateKirk

New member
So I went to the range today to test out my new pistol, a CZ 75BD. Put about 250 rounds through it to get a feel for it and break it in a bit, and before I left I put a box of the Hornady critical duty's through it to make sure they didn't upset the new gun expecting them to work flawlessly.

I put two magazines of the stuff through the gun, and boy was I shocked when I had an average of three stove pipes per magazine!:eek: It was almost as if the rounds didn't have the oomph to push the slide back far enough to properly eject the cartridge. All the standard FMJ's I was shooting through it before hand were ejected flawlessly, so I just felt it was odd, seeing as how the critical defense's perform so well in my little Sig. I guess I'll be switching to a different brand for this particular gun.

Anyone else have any experience with Hornady's defensive loads?
 
The Hornady CD is a hollowpoint bullet. The FMJ's shoot fine, correct? Did you try any other hollowpoints? Sounds like a feeding problem. Good luck sorting it out. I use Hornady CD in my Springfield EMP and have had zero problems.
 
I've had excellent results with feeding, function, and accuracy using Critical Duty (along w/XTP's) through my pistols, especially the CZ's. As stated, could be a feeding issue. It will be interesting to see how other brands of hollow points work for you in it. Good luck!
 
They run through my various Glock 9 mms. Of course, that doesn't mean that they run everywhere. I once had tons of trouble with Speer. Who knows?
 
There's plenty of pistols that have that problem.
They cycle round nose ball ammo just fine and choke on others.
No doubt your pistol can be cured.
Most can.
Disappointing, though.
 
I feel like folks aren't actually reading the OP. He's not describing a feeding issue. If anything it's an ejection issue, which is rather odd.


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Some of my CZs were spring somewhat heavy and wouldn't cycle some factory loads that did not have a strong recoil impulse.

Which Hornady CD round were you shooting - bullet weight?
 
I feel like folks aren't actually reading the OP. He's not describing a feeding issue. If anything it's an ejection issue, which is rather odd.
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Ejection issues can be caused by many of the same factors that cause feeding issues.

For example: Having a different nose profile on a bullet can result in the slide riding differently over the top cartridge in the magazine during recoil, or may even allow the case being extracted to snag on the case mouth of the cartridge in the magazine.

--

Not long after each of the Hornady CD lines were released, I tried several cartridges and loads. Most were disappointing. Two, in particular (9mm and .38 Spcl), were so hot that I refused to shoot any more and disposed of the remaining ammunition. (The .38s, for example, required a hammer for extraction! :rolleyes:)

But... things have improved since then.
Though I still only run Speer 124 gr Gold Dots in 9mm, I do use Hornady CD loads in .380 Auto and a few other things.
 
My shield eats um just fine. But it has eaten everything Ive put in it. As it should.
Being its stove-piping Id try running a few more rounds to loosen the recoil spring a bit. If it continues try different Defensive ammo.
If it still continues ditch the gun no one wants an SD weapon they cant rely on to function with 100% confidence 100% of the time.


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TunnelRat said:
I feel like folks aren't actually reading the OP. He's not describing a feeding issue. If anything it's an ejection issue, which is rather odd.
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Ditto, especially considering that defensive ammo tends to be loaded fairly hot, and my experience with Hornady Critical Duty is consistent with this although I've only ever tested one 25rd box of it. Hornady claims 1,010 fps and 306 fpe at the muzzle for the standard-pressure load, which is not exactly at the apex of 9mm performance, but it's nothing to sneeze at either.

I wonder if the ammo is actually defective. NateKirk: Did the recoil and report seem normal? Have you tested it in another pistol? Do you still have the box so you could report the lot number if you call Hornady? (In case of such problems, I always keep ammo boxes until every single round that came in the box has been fired. I also won't dump the contents of multiple boxes into another container.)

Other possibilities are a defective extractor or a burr in the chamber. Did you keep the fired cases? If so, do the Hornady cases exhibit signs of the extractor claw having skipped out of the extraction groove? Are there any scratches from a possible rough spot in the chamber? Are there any large brass or nickel rub marks around the ejection port of the pistol to indicate consistent ejected case contact as the slide slams shut? (Note: don't assume too much based on this last one; some pistols exhibit small rub marks when functioning properly. It's a matter of degree.)

One last remote possibility is that you fired .380 Auto cartridges in the pistol by accident, although I doubt this because Hornady doesn't offer a .380 Critical Duty load.
 
Having a different nose profile on a bullet can result in the slide riding differently over the top cartridge in the magazine during recoil, or may even allow the case being extracted to snag on the case mouth of the cartridge in the magazine.
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Well I can see where this is possible, to me that's rather unlikely. The edges of the cones for the Hornady round should be displaced enough from the walls of the case that I don't really see the extracted case getting snagged there and the walls of the case are the same as other brands. Hornady does use a bullet with a bit of a step at the top of the case mouth so maybe that could present an issue, but that would require the extracted case to be dropping down as the slide is going back and might suggest an extractor tension problem.

I still think people are getting hung up on feeding because they're seeing an issue with hollowpoints in the title and thinking feeding. Even what you're describing is primarily an issue with ejection.

Were it me I'd try a different brand and see if it's any better. A gun not liking Hornady wouldn't be an issue for me personally as I don't really care for their offerings.
 
Some ammunition works with certain guns, some don't. That's why we test things to know whether they're dependable to defend ourselves.

I've seen issues with the Hornady Critical Defense/Duty before, mostly with feed issues and that polymer tip dragging on the feed ramp or stopping the round from going into the chamber.

It's common enough that I decided it's not worth more than Hornady Custom or other XTP hollow point ammo. The polymer tip doesn't guarantee expansion and it's there to allegedly stop the cavity from being plugged with clothing. Even when it does expand, it doesn't expand more than 1.5 times the original diameter.

Critical Defense is even sadder. If it's shot out of a longer pistol barrel, say 4.5" and up, the copper petals break off and decrease the penetration depth of the bullet. Best for use in short barrels of 3.5 inches or less.

Having said that, the one thing I think Critical DUTY does well is out of a rifle/carbine. The velocity will drive normal JHP bullets so fast that they'll shear the petals off, but Critical Duty, when it expands, it does it in such a way that there are no petals and so higher velocities are not a hindrance to the bullet. So long as it feeds and ejects well in the gun, I'd say Critical Duty is the best defensive ammo one can shoot in a pistol caliber carbine.
 
I tried to use Hornady in my SIG p232 a couple of days ago. It would not feed. At all. Guess I'll try some other hollow point ammo. It has handled 700+ rounds of RN ammo without a fault of any kind.
 
rt11002003 said:
I tried to use Hornady in my SIG p232 a couple of days ago. It would not feed. At all.
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FWIW due to the fixed barrel, blowback pistols like the P232 tend to be more fussy about bullet profile than tilting-barrel locked-breech pistols like the CZ 75, because the bullet in a fixed-barrel .380 typically has to very quickly follow a more S-curved path into the chamber. The tip may contact the upper chamber wall, which can cause truncated-cone bullets to hang up.

I don't own a P230 or P232 (yet!); however, my fixed-barrel Beretta 84BB occasionally jams on Winchester White Box flat-nose bullets, yet it eats Hornady Critical Defense like candy. :)
 
My 75B, and 75D PCR feeds, and ejects Hornady Critical Duty, and Critical Defense just fine. I have them loaded in both for self defense. Bad batch maybe? These are not true hollow points as the cavity is filled with polymer.
 
IMO 9mm needs to be loaded very warm if not hot for a medium powder. I doubt a fast powder is used by most makers. If it won't run reliably with NATO type ammo the fault is likely the pistol.
 
Which Hornady CD round were you shooting - bullet weight?
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They were the 135 gr I believe.

Did the recoil and report seem normal?
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It seemed to me to be slightly soft, but it could be confirmation bias for my theory of it not being loaded hot enough or it being a bad batch. Any way you slice it, it was still close to what the FMJ's I was shooting felt like, and those performed flawlessly.

Any other defensive ammo suggestions? I think some of you mentioned Speers...
 
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