{"id":1505,"date":"2020-06-17T18:03:22","date_gmt":"2020-06-17T18:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ammoforsale.com\/ammo-club\/?p=1505"},"modified":"2020-05-29T19:01:22","modified_gmt":"2020-05-29T19:01:22","slug":"hornady-critical-duty-vs-critical-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ammoforsale.com\/ammo-club\/hornady-critical-duty-vs-critical-defense\/","title":{"rendered":"Hornady Critical Duty vs Critical Defense"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since their foundation in 1949, Hornady has become one of America\u2019s preeminent bullet and loaded ammunition manufacturers. To have Hornady\u2019s specialized self-defense ammo in your carry weapon\u2019s magazine is to have peace of mind that you\u2019re equipped to cope when life attacks. But of the two primary options out there, which load deserves the privilege of a spot in your concealed carry gun? Critical Duty or Critical Defense?<\/p>\n

Critical Duty vs Critical Defense<\/h2>\n

\"Shooting Hornady caters to those who would rely on a firearm for personal protection with two lines of well-known ammunition: Critical Defense and Critical Duty.<\/p>\n

Critical Defense is optimized to suit the needs of the civilian. Critical Duty offers more to support the varied tactical needs of law enforcement professionals.<\/p>\n

Even if you are not a police officer, you are permitted to purchase and carry Hornady\u2019s Critical Duty ammunition<\/a>. But what are the differences between a Critical Defense vs. a Critical Duty load?<\/p>\n

Critical Defense Details<\/h3>\n

\"Hornady Hornady offers their Critical Defense line of ammunition to provide true stopping power when it is most needed.<\/p>\n

A Critical Defense cartridge features Hornady\u2019s own FTX bullet, a high tech jacketed hollow point projectile. FTX features something Hornady calls the Flex Tip. That tip is a piece of soft polymer that serves two functions.<\/p>\n

1.) It prevents the bullet\u2019s nose cavity from clogging with debris that could inhibit its ability to trigger expansion.<\/p>\n

2.) It jams inward during penetration to make that bullet expansion occur even more reliably. The wound channel delivered by an FTX is deep in addition to wide.<\/p>\n

The bullet also features Hornady\u2019s InterLock ring. This ring is a protrusion of the heavy jacket that effectively anchors it to the high antimony lead core. Its InterLock ring keeps the FTX\u2019s core and jacket firmly rooted together, so the two can retain the weight and momentum required to tunnel deeply into a target.<\/p>\n

The FTX is an accurate bullet as well. Its uniformly distributed core and concentric jacket complement superior rotational stability, enabling the FTX to hug its intended trajectory tightly.\u00a0The FTX\u2019s ballistically efficient profile also lets it generate less drag in flight. This means it can arrive at its target with more energy to transfer.<\/p>\n

Powder<\/h4>\n

A Critical Defense cartridge is loaded with low-flash propellant. This is invaluable during a self-defense scenario in a dim environment, as it prevents the shooter from becoming blinded by bright light when their eyes have already become acclimated to the dark.<\/p>\n

Casing<\/h4>\n

Critical Defense ammo<\/a> also features a nickel plated brass shell casing. Nickel creates less metal-on-metal friction in a semi-automatic firearm, enabling it to feed and extract more smoothly. This ultimately helps you avoid jams. Nickel is additionally corrosion resistant. Its reflectivity makes a Critical Defense round easier to see in the chamber in poor lighting.<\/p>\n

Critical Duty Details<\/h3>\n

\"Hornady In addition to law enforcement officers, Hornady\u2019s Critical Duty line of ammunition caters to those who value superior barrier penetration and prefer to carry a full-size handgun.\u00a0A Critical Duty load also has the same brass shell casing as the Critical Defense load\u2019s nickel plated casing. It features low-flash propellant and responsive Boxer primer.<\/p>\n

Bullet<\/h4>\n

The key difference is the bullet: Instead of an FTX, it has a FlexLock projectile<\/a>. Like the FTX, the FlexLock\u2019s hollow point nose cavity contains a Flex Tip that protects it from clogging during penetration. The FlexLock also has a high antimony lead core, although its jacket is even thicker. The FlexLock has an InterLock band<\/em> instead of an InterLock ring<\/em>, which keeps its jacket and core even more securely fastened to one another during barrier penetration.<\/p>\n

In the FBI\u2019s testing protocol, the FlexLock retains an even greater percentage of its weight than an FTX as it penetrates barriers including heavy fabric, wallboard, plywood, sheet metal, and auto glass.<\/p>\n

The Takeaway<\/h3>\n

\"Barrier Both Critical Defense and Critical Duty loads will deliver the expanding terminal performance that suits them so well for personal protection. The defining difference between Critical Defense and Critical Duty is their bullets\u2019 ability to penetrate barriers. Critical Defense\u2019s FTX is in no way incapable of penetrating most common urban barriers without retaining the mass it needs to inflict a deep wound channel.\u00a0The Critical Duty\u2019s FlexLock, however, delivers \u201cbarrier blind\u201d performance characterized by virtually complete weight retention.<\/p>\n

Barrier penetration is crucial for cops on duty. They are more likely to encounter a threat that will take cover and fire back at them. When a cop\u2019s bullet has to pierce a car door or wall to neutralize a suspect, Critical Duty delivers.<\/p>\n

A Critical Defense cartridge provides its full potential out of a smaller, more easily concealed handgun. A Critical Duty cartridge, on the other hand, is designed to deliver optimal performance only out of a full-size handgun. This isn\u2019t to say a Critical Duty load won\u2019t function in a compact handgun \u2013 but it won\u2019t deliver its very best performance, either.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since their foundation in 1949, Hornady has become one of America\u2019s preeminent bullet and loaded ammunition manufacturers. To have Hornady\u2019s specialized […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ammo-insights"],"yoast_head":"\nHornady Critical Duty vs Critical Defense | AmmoForSale.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A side by side look at Hornady's best selling hollow point loads - what are the differences between Critical Duty vs Critical Defense ammo? 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