Is there any field reports on the...

J

jrothWA

New member
Hornaday Critical Defense .38Spl 135gr ammo?

Like to consider it as a replacement for my "Dwindling" stock of the old 140 gr XTP .38Spl load,

Thanks.
 
I am not finding any Hornady Critical Defense .38 special loaded with 135 grain bullets.

I can only find those loaded with 110 grain bullets.
 
I haven't seen a 135 from Hornady either. I have ran 90, 110, and 110+P through my KLCR - all worked great. Speer has a 135+P that's just a wee bit on the uncomfy side to me in that gun.
 
The closest thing I can find to what the OP refers to is a Critical Duty loading which uses a 135 gr bullet in .357 Magnum. Now, given that the .38 Special and .357 Magnum use the same diameter bullet, I suppose it wouldn't be too surprising if Hornady came out with a 135 gr Critical Duty .38 Special loading, but I'm seeing no such thing on their website. All I see in Critical-anything for .38 Special is 90 gr Critical Defense Lite and 110 gr Critical Defense in both standard pressure and +P varieties.
 
I wasn't aware they made a 135gr 357 at all. that's cool, i'll have to give those a try. I just loaded a bunch of the 140gr for lever's and they were not very accommodating for revolver loading. the super long OAL left little room for powder, although a mean looking bullet, the numbers just don't look good. I am a fan of the middle-weight bullets though, nice compromise between recoil, speed and penetration. not the best for expansion or penetration, but does both with more efficiency than choosing one characteristic or the other, IMO

if the make the 135 in .357 diameter, I can't see why they wouldn't stick them in a .38, especially with the strong popularity of the gold-dot
 
FrankenMauser said:
I ran some through my S&W 642.
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I'm curious as to where you got them. Hornady doesn't list them on their website, and a google search for Hornady 135 only yields results for 9mm, .357 Sig. and .357 Magnum.
 
Originally posted by skizzums
I wasn't aware they made a 135gr 357 at all. that's cool, i'll have to give those a try. I just loaded a bunch of the 140gr for lever's and they were not very accommodating for revolver loading. the super long OAL left little room for powder, although a mean looking bullet, the numbers just don't look good. I am a fan of the middle-weight bullets though, nice compromise between recoil, speed and penetration. not the best for expansion or penetration, but does both with more efficiency than choosing one characteristic or the other, IMO
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OAL is an issue with the Leverevolution bullets. If you look at one of Hornady's factory-loaded cartridges with that bullet, you'll notice that the brass is slightly shorter (also a real pain in the neck when it gets mixed in with your other brass). Also, my 9th edition Hornady Reloading manual specifies brass trim length for Leverevolution bullets (it's 1.240" in .357 Magnum vs. the normal 1.290").

if the make the 135 in .357 diameter, I can't see why they wouldn't stick them in a .38, especially with the strong popularity of the gold-dot
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The only reason not to that I can think of is that perhaps Hornady doesn't think they can run them fast enough to reliably expand at .38 Special/.38 +P pressure. The Critical Duty bullet doesn't expand as aggressively as the Critical Defense, so it might be unreliable at the rather sedate velocity Hornady would probably be running them at in .38 Special.
 
I'm curious as to where you got them. Hornady doesn't list them on their website, and a google search for Hornady 135 only yields results for 9mm, .357 Sig. and .357 Magnum.
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I read the post too quickly, and was mistaken. :o

I tested the 110 gr version.
 
I'd be worried about your 642. Like I said, I've had no issues with extraction of any of the Hornady .38 loads from my KLCR.
 
I'd be worried about your 642. Like I said, I've had no issues with extraction of any of the Hornady .38 loads from my KLCR.
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It was the ammo. The 642 is fine.

I will point out that I tested the 110 gr +P version when it first hit the market. I had the same (excessive pressure) issues with the .380 Auto 90 gr, 9mm 115 gr, and .38 Special 110 gr +P loads. I have since heard that the .380 load was "toned down" a bit, so I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Hornady reduced the pressure of the .38 Special +P load, as well.

115 gr Gold Dots run better in my 9mm, anyway, so I haven't paid attention to the CD 115 gr load, at all. I have no idea how well it has been received by other shooters, or if any changes were made.
 
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