No Ball Busting intended....

I've happened to notice a lot of people mentioning the Hornady brand here, mostly just the projectile itself it seems. Now, I know many of you reload yourselves so I doubt you have any issues, at all.

BUT!
In my very own meager, personal experience, factory Hornady ammo is JUNK!:peep: ABSOLUTE JUNK! Especially the "Critical Defense" rounds. Several FTFs in my Ruger SR40, out of a box of 20, only 14 hit the paper/steel. Another account was when I took my CCDW class. A woman had a Taurus .25cal pistol (can't remember model) and she too, had "Critical Defense" rounds to test with and had barely gotten the required 11 rounds on target with all the FTFs from that ammo. We threw her "blanks" in the pond behind us for fear they would magically ignite laying on the range. Shame on you Hornady! Lower your prices or amp up QC!
Thank Jesus for plain 'ol Winchester White Box 180gr JHPs for my 5 headshots and 15 body shots to pass my test. No way would I have bought the Hornady CDs for my test... Or self defense for that matter. They're critical alright, critically endangering to your own life if you wish to keep it!

Now this is all just my own experience and opinion. Maybe someone else has had zero problems, maybe you've experienced it too. But I'll keep buying 50rnd boxes of Win White Box JHPs at WallyWorld for $21 all day!:cool:

That's too bad. I've done extensive testing of all the self defense factory ammo I can get my hands on in .380, 9mm and 45 ACP. I never had a FTF or FTE with any of the Hornady Critical Defense fodder, in any of the calibers tested. They provided good penetration and excellent expansion when I shot them into stacks of wet newspaper at 7 yards. At the conclusion of my testing, I decided upon Hornady for the little feller (.380), and Federal Guard Dog for the other two. I'm a firm believer in the fact that you gotta have faith in the gun and the ammo in order to be able to confidently handle a threat, so you have to go with what works best for you!

I have no issues with Hornady Critical Defense in 22 magnum, 9mm, 40, 45, or 38 Special. Used in, no less than, 9 different handguns and all are different manufacturers & types of actions.

That ain't good one reason I roll my own self defense loads even though they say don't do it.

I love hornady bullets, use them in just about everything. Only exception to that is I use Sierra some. I've had great luck with critical defense in my 9mm s&w. I don't hesitate to pack a magazine full and carry knowing my life may depend on them.

As far as bad experience I have had one; I bought two boxes of factory loads with the 117 interlocks for my gf to use in her 25-06 and they shot so poorly I thought her scope took a crap. My handloads with 117SST put 5 touching so she hunted with them this year.

I'd say 98% of my bullet stash is red boxes and I don't see that changing any time soon. I also don't see me buying any of their loaded ammo again any time soon.

Only ammo I ever had issues with FTF is Winchester 22 magnum. About 1-2 out of ten won't fire in my savage 93. I hate to hear a click when I pull the trigger! I still have two 50 round boxes of it. Groups good when it shoots. I make my own center fires and never had an issue.

I don't know if I've ever fired Hornady pistol ammo, but I'm a fan of their XTP pistol bullets in handloads of various calibers.

I think pretty highly of most of Hornady's rifle ammo though (and bullets of course). The only line I'm not too fond of is the Superformance stuff; a few rifles shoot it well, but I haven't seen one yet.

I have only tried the C.D. ammo in the 357 Mag 125gr FTX loading, and in a S&W model 19 and my ol' SAA clone it shoots like a laser right to POA every time. When I bought the S&W it came with a couple boxes so I figured I burn up a box and try 'em out.

I love Hornady Bullets for several of my rifles, but other than above I don't know if I have shot any of their loaded ammo.

Hornady components I don't believe are top shelf by any means. Brass is OK but better oprions for cheaper. Bullets usually priced cheaper than other options. They work fine but Sierra, Barns, Nosler and Berger are better options and more expensive. Bottom line, they are middle of the road.

I have never had an issue with any Hornady components. They may not be top of the line, but who cares as long as they perform. Price is not a good criteria to judge anything on. I have an old car I can sell you for 30,000. It's still an old car.

Glad to see some replies!
I'm specifically talking about factory CD ammo, not the actual bullet. I dont handload, and will never trust buying reloads at the LGS, so factory plink/self defense ammo is my limit. So, I've shot A LOT LOT LOT of different ammo. When it comes to FMJ, I'll shoot just about anything but Wolf, had bad experiences withcorrosion from their powder. For some reason, the Win white box 180gr JHPs like my gun, the gun likes them, and I like the combo. I can count on em to stop some idiot making the last mistake of their life! The Federal American Eagle stuff is great too, the 165gr FMJs are super hot factory loads and are a blast to hit steel with.

I changed from the Remington Hydrashocks to Hornady Critical Defense ammo in all of my self defense platforms (except my AR's) a couple of years ago due to an experience a friend had with a failed Remington round in a .45 in an actual self defense experience. I spent a great deal of time with a few CD rounds and landed on the Hornady after a lot of reading and field testing. I have shot a pile of the Hornady from several of my handguns (.45, .40, 9mm and 357) and from my M1 Carbine...mostly from a .40 and 9mm though. I have yet to experience an FTF after several hundred rounds...I'd say maybe you got a bad lot (it happens)...but can't explain your friends experience...who knows.

They say don't do it due to law suites. The law may say you are fine nut trust me the peckerwoods family may sue.

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Originally Posted by Dirty Steve

They say don't do it due to law suites. The law may say you are fine nut trust me the peckerwoods family may sue.

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Yeah I know, pecker woods family will probably sue no matter what the circumstances. Like they say... Say only I was in fear of my life and I want my attorney.

Not every single type of factory ammo will reliably go BANG in every single factory weapon. Which is why one should shoot at LEAST a few boxes of whatever you plan to carry in a defense weapon. I've heard just as many, if not more, anecdotal stories of WWB having multiple fail-to-fire and fail-to-feed. Same with Remington UMC and pretty much any other bullet out there. Fed Hydra-Shok weren't 100% in my G19 and I now use Winchester PDX which work great.

As for Hornady's rifle bullets...I've shot Berger, I've shot Sierra, I've shot Nosler, and I've shot Hornady and for my $$$ Hornady is far and away the best value (unless you can get Noslers cheap, which I have).

You 6.5mm shooters, do yourself a favor and keep overpaying for 142 SMKs and 139 Scenars - the 140gr Amax & HPBT are total garbage that aren't remotely accurate at extended ranges.

Ok. Some of you shwould have taken my remark about the projectile themselves with a grain of salt, never said they made a bad bullet. My OP clearly defines a point being made about FACTORY LOADED Hornady Critical Defense rounds.

As for the pecker woods, my instructor didn't flat out say these exact words to the class, but it was something along the lines of: 'Don't let anyone leave in a meat wagon, put em in a bag!' Basically, shoot to kill if/when I have to draw on a person. Less questions. Hopefully, it never happens though.

I even shot some crap PPU ammo and it was just fine, til I saw a video of over-penetration(about 15"+ and further) and the jacket stripped from the slug. It became target ammo. Bought some Blazer steel casing stuff and was leery since all the gun had through it was brass, it operated the same too.

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Originally Posted by mazda3gun

Ok. Some of you shwould have taken my remark about the projectile themselves with a grain of salt, never said they made a bad bullet. My OP clearly defines a point being made about FACTORY LOADED Hornady Critical Defense rounds.

As for the pecker woods, my instructor didn't flat out say these exact words to the class, but it was something along the lines of: 'Don't let anyone leave in a meat wagon, put em in a bag!' Basically, shoot to kill if/when I have to draw on a person. Less questions. Hopefully, it never happens though.

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My instructor had the same advise..."make sure they leave in a bag..." he also happened to be an attorney.