I don't know, but when I hear short bbl. I think of 3" or less.

 

I hadn't heard of their ammo being optimized for short barrels. I saw a test of their 135gr 9mm load and it consistently failed to expand out of a 3" barrel. In my experience if you want ammo to perform well out of a short tube keep the bullet weight down. 185gr for .45 and 115-124gr for 9mm.

 

Are you allowed to have solid copper rounds? If so take a serious look at Lehigh Defense (now owned by Wilson Combat) or Underwood ammo.

 

Or Black Hills Honey Badger.

 

Critical Duty is a 220 grain bullet with a muzzle velocity of 975 fps. Critical Defense is a 185 grain bullet with a muzzle velocity of 1000 fps. Both ratings are presumably from a 5" barrel. In your guns you would lose about 30-40 fps of muzzle velocity. The Critical Duty round has approximately 16% greater momentum that the Critical Defense round. Lucky Gunner ammo tests confirm that The Critical Duty round gives better penetration and expansion performance that the Critical Defense round when fired from the same gun (3.64" barrel). I would choose the Critical Duty rounds if I was in your situation. Penetration is vital to reach vitals. Interesting that these rounds are not considered HP by the NJ authorities. Handgun Self-Defense Ammunition - Ballistic Testing Data (luckygunner.com)

 

New Jersey is a trip. Had to go to Atlantic city on an investigation so I was carrying a 9mm with critical duty ammo. . I was chastised by a state trooper for trying to fuel my vehicle, which was an unmarked, guess he noticed the lights and asked if I was a LEO. I replied "yes". He then asked if I was carrying HPs. I must have had a DUH look, but I said yup!. He then again chastised me about hollowpoints in NJ. Discretion being the better part of valor, I bit my tongue. He wanted to see the ammo so I produced a spare mag with the CD loads..his reply was these aren't hollow points.....!!. Now I must have had a What the Heck look, but again shut up. So I learned that if someone was assigned to go to NJ, it would be a new guy. LOL.

Be safe
Bob

 

Carry in good health, my friend. It's my 9mm carry load. The good news is that Lucky Gunner Labs tested all their 9mm rounds in Chris Baker's SMITH & WESSON M&P9C, which happens to have a 3.5" barrel. In the micro-compact-full sized world of today, I favor the compact for carry, with a modified Kimber Compact CDP II in .45 and now a Wilson Combat SFX9 4".

Here is their gelatin test (4 layers of denim) for the Hornady 115 gr Critical Defense out of a 3.5" barrel.

9mm Defense Ammo For Sale - 115 gr JHP FTX Hornady Ammunition In Stock - 25 Rounds

Hornady 9 mm 115 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point FTX Ammo For Sale

www.luckygunner.com

Not too shabby at all. I carry the Hornady Critical Duty 135 gr round myself, and here is the test for that one, again in the S&W M&P9C.
They don't have the video for this one, testing the +P, which I think is unecessary, but the regular round penetrates 19.0", expands to an average of 0.43 inches.

The 115 Critical Defense round penetrates less, but it's a bit faster so expansion is greater. I think you're in good shape, and being NJ legal is just icing on the cake!

The 115 gr Critical Defense round above, again, 3.5" barrel. Penetration 13.1", expansion 0.50", vel 1143.

 

Excellent post. For 9mm

 

My daily carries are Kimber Ultra's, all with 3" barrels in both .45 and 9mm. Most times they're loaded with CD in both calibers. Sometimes a Sig P938 or Kimber Micro 9 in hot summer weather, both 3" guns.

I test my SD loads in my 3" guns in water-filled gallon milk jugs to see for myself what kind of expansion they give.
Here's my results with both calibers, all Hornady CD:

Expanded bullets in 9mm, stopped in jug #5, fired out of my Sig P938, 3" bbl:



About the same performance in .45, shot from a Kimber Ultra CDP, 3" bbl:



Not a scientific test by any means, but to me it gives a pretty good idea of performance in my guns intended for SD in the wild.
My Wilson SFX9 3.25" produced almost the exact same results on the milk jugs. The CD load also functions 100% in every pistol I've tried it in.

 

So Critical Defense/Duty is legal in NJ but conventional hollow points are not? Let's hope a curious anti-gunner never takes a pair of tweezers to that little rubber tip...

 

Cut & Pasted direct from the NJ State Police website Firearms Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) | New Jersey State Police (nj.gov):
I’m not a police officer, are hollow points legal for me to possess?
Yes. They are legal for purchase and possess in your home or on land owned by you. They are legal to possess and use at a gun range. They are also legal to possess while traveling to and from such places. Ammunition lacking a hollow cavity at the tip, such as those with a polymer filling, are not considered to be hollow point ammunition. An example of this can be seen with the Hornady Critical Defense / Critical Duty, Cor-Bon PowRball / Glaser Safety Slug and Nosler Inc. Defense ammunition.

 

This is what I carry. Gold Dot G2 in 45 ACP and 9mm. Hollow point is filled in with some kind of compound. I would imagine these are legal in NJ if Hornady's Critical Defense is legal. Not sure if the FBI is still carrying these but back a few years a friend who was FBI steered me towards these for self defense.

Speer Gold Dot G2 Review - Handguns

Now that Speer is selling the Gold Dot G2 commercially, you have another quality option for home defense and concealed carry.

www.handgunsmag.com

 

I wasn't aware of the Gold Dot G2. I'll have to look into that. As long as that clear polymer plug completely fills the cavity and is flush with the nose it should be NJ legal (if there is any concave depression, though - no matter how shallow - NJ would likely try to say it's a hollow point).

 

So glad I don't live in one of these communist states. What a mess.

 

Sorry, I missed you carry both a .45 and a 9mm. I was referring to the 9mm only, I'm not familiar with the Critical defense/duty line for .45 ammo.

In my .45 I carry Remington Golden Saber 185 gr +P, but that's not an option in NJ. Check out the Lucky Gunner lab results for the .45, though, they were shot with a KAHR CW45, with a 3.6" barrel. You need not worry about barrel length with any Hornady Critical line, just check out the Lucky Gunner Ammo Lab results, and don't worry, be happy.

 

Hornaday makes lousy self defense handgun ammo. They, like the Feds, are obsessed with penetration. That dogma gave the Feds the loser Speer Gold Dot 147 gr. G1 and 'improved' G2 which is no better:

 

Given those two choices I would go with Critical Duty 135gr +P.

 

I live in NJ. Have moved from critical defense to Lehigh “solid” ammo feeds on my compact 1911’s and my EMP

 

 

 

That Caspian is a sharp pistol.

 

Thanks. I had Bill Laughridge at Cylinder & Slide build it to my specs for me many years ago.

 

Cut & Pasted direct from the NJ State Police website Firearms Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) | New Jersey State Police (nj.gov):
I’m not a police officer, are hollow points legal for me to possess?
Yes. They are legal for purchase and possess in your home or on land owned by you. They are legal to possess and use at a gun range. They are also legal to possess while traveling to and from such places. Ammunition lacking a hollow cavity at the tip, such as those with a polymer filling, are not considered to be hollow point ammunition. An example of this can be seen with the Hornady Critical Defense / Critical Duty, Cor-Bon PowRball / Glaser Safety Slug and Nosler Inc. Defense ammunition.

I wasn't aware of the Gold Dot G2. I'll have to look into that. As long as that clear polymer plug completely fills the cavity and is flush with the nose it should be NJ legal (if there is any concave depression, though - no matter how shallow - NJ would likely try to say it's a hollow point).

Only a hardcore leftist state could come up with a law that asinine. Any time you see laws that make absolutely no sense you know the liberals had a hand in it.

 

Several years ago I bought a couple cases each of Critical Duty in 9, 40 & 45. Then I found that it didn't feed in several of my guns, don't know if it was the rubbery tip or the shape of the HP but it would catch/jamb on the feed ramp all the time. It's jus expensive range ammo now.

 

(I know some will say forget the Hornady Critical line altogether and go with HST/Gold Dot/etc., but I'm in New Jersey so conventional hollowpoints are not an option).

Eventually as a Senior Citizen I will run out of my JHP supply and I will just use FMJ.

Be safe my friend.

 

I know this is a tangental comment, but some might find it useful:

A few years ago I decided to update something I had done back in 1999. Then I used a 6.5” S&W 610 no dash to test accuracy of factory 10mm ammo at 25 yards. I wanted a benchmark for my own handloads. The best load was the original HydraShok, and the groups it produced were so good I still have them hanging in my reloading room.

I repeated the test during the pandemic when I had a bit more time, this round using stuff that didn’t exist back in 1999. The gun was a 6.5” 610 Classic.

The most accurate load by a significant margin was the 175 gr. Hornady Critical Duty. They’re clearly put together with respectable consistency.

 

Apologies if I missed this in the thread. My understanding is Critical Duty uses more antimony to make the bullet harder so it will pass the FBI sheetmetal and windshield test. Critical Defense uses less antimony so it’s more likely to expand in tissue, but not perform as well being shot through sheetmetal and windshield glass.

 

Reading all this reminds me of why I'm so glad I don't live in NJ or those other like-minded states. Oregon is liberal, thanks to only two cities in the entire state, but even here, no one is concerned about what ammo is in your EDC, at the range, at home, or in the wild.

Liberal state? Yes.
Mostly still free? Yes.
Not to mention the fact that we've also got millions of BLM and USFS acres to roam, shoot on, and enjoy with any firearm one would normally choose.
Some live where they must, some are fortunate to live where they want.
End of rant.

 

Jersey also.....and as much as I try to like these rounds in 45acp, I just don't know about their penetration effectiveness.....seen many of the vids but there's something that leaves me unsure......carrying Hardball right now during the heavy coat season..............

 

Understand your views.
When I carry one of my 1911 .45's, I carry the 185gr CD load for faster follow-up shots due to less recoil impulse.
The pic is of one of these rounds shot into water-filled gallon milk jugs, in line touching and fired from 7 yards. The bullet stopped in jug #5:



I quit carrying Ball on the street, fearing over penetration. Glad I do not have any real-world experience in the terminal effects with this load, but anecdotally, it appears to work as advertised.

 

I reached out to Hornady directly with my Defense vs Duty question, and got a quick reply from them ----

"Thank you for contacting us. Based on the barrel lengths of your 4 ' 9mm and 4.25 ' .45acp 1911 firearms, our Critical Defense ammunition would be a suitable choice. It is designed to perform well from shorter barrels, which includes those around the 4-inch mark, and you should expect reliable performance from both of your handguns. However, we always recommend verifying function with your specific firearm."

 

The Bureau issues both 135gr Critical Duty and Speer 124gr G2; at least both are in the supply chain. If it's good enough for them it's good enough for me and should be highly defensible in court, should the need arise. Regardless, we are talking handgun rounds so shoot carefully!