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Hornady Critical Defense 45g

14K views 30 replies 19 participants last post by  TMW99577 
#1 ·
Yeah man!-back order from Sportsman Guide came in today. Hopefully .22mag ammo is starting to come back.
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#4 ·
I have been shooting the Critical Defense in a couple of my WMR's & have been happy with accuracy & performance.

Have also noticed it is not overly destructive on small game even with body shots.... have yet to shoot 'yotes or larger stuff with them but have taken them squirrel hunting several times with good results.
 
#5 ·
I have been shooting the Critical Defense in a couple of my WMR's & have been happy with accuracy & performance.

Have also noticed it is not overly destructive on small game even with body shots.... have yet to shoot 'yotes or larger stuff with them but have taken them squirrel hunting several times with good results.
It's loaded down to 22LR velocities, so expect it to have similar terminal ballistics.
 
#12 ·
So am I to assume that the critical defense is really designed for hand guns?
It would make sense if the powders are such to obtain faster burning for short barrels.
If this is so, why test them in long guns?
i suspect the main difference us not in the powder burn rate but rather bullet design; with the .22mag not being a powerhouse, i think they optimized bullet design to take advantage of the available power by using a projectile that will hold together and penetrate , but which will still expand at slower pistol speeds.

in my case, i tried 'em as hunting rounds because i have 20 boxes of them & wanted to see if they were less destructive on small game...when squirrel hunting, they penetrate more & are less destructive than some of the various HP and lightweight tipped WMR loads..... since we get quite a few hogs in some of the areas i squirrel hunt, i wanted deeper punch when taking body shots.
 
#16 · (Edited)
I originally posted the chart shown on page 1 of this post; it was lost when Comcast deleted personal pages. These are indeed the velocities from the rounds and rifles shown over my chronograph, with my rifles. While the Hornady 45 gr FTX is marketed for short barrel personal defense, it also makes a dandy hunting round out of rifles, although not as flat shooting as some of the zippier rounds. Several of my rifles are very accurate with it.
 
#18 ·
Accuracy in a rifle ?

Yes I can see this is an older thread, but tried some for the first time today, 50 yards, 5 shot groups, Rem 547C. Got 1 group under 1/2", lots of 4-good-1-flyer groups that opened up to about double the 4 shot group size. My typical experience with WMR ammo. Anyway seems to have some potential. What kind of accuracy are others seeing ? Also seemed to recoil less than Rem 33 gr Accutips shot later. Thanks !
 
#19 ·
I just checked the latest delivery and in it is a box of 45 grain Hornady 22wmr.
As expected, it's a CCI product with a Hornady label.
CCI manufacturer's date code on the side of the typical CCI styrene plastic box.
Once you understand that it's a CCI product, you can understand why there are
so many opinions regarding it's accuracy and trajectory consistency.
As with any CCI made rimfire, there is no lot grading and no guarantee of accuracy.
Results on target will vary brick by brick, box by box, shot by shot.
All because CCI uses us as it's quality control service.
Make it, box it, ship it, sell it. If there's a complaint, send 'em a coupon for a free box of ammo.

I'm going to send this box of 50 across a chrony at 200 yards.
It can be compared to all the other 22wmr previously tested.
 
#20 ·
You're really raining on my parade. I was holding onto to the happy delusion that this stuff, which, BTW, has performed really well out of my old 24" Mossy, was a competitors cartridge made out right by Hornady.

Alias, I hope my luck with the boxes I own holds true, 'cuase it's been a great hunting round for groundhogs.
 
#22 ·
Tried a box of 50 at 200 yards.
Disappointing results.
Not a surprise based on the visual inspection before shooting.
Irregular cartridge dimensions, canted seating, varied seating depths.
Fine for handgun use at short range, not an accurate target round.
 
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#23 ·
Yup, no worries there.

I have enough of the Hornady/CCI Critical Defense 45g to last several years. But, I will make a closer inspection of my lots and sort out cartridges that appear out of spec. Hopefully, this will cull some "flyers" :rolleyes: from getting into my magazine.
 
#24 ·
Hopefully, this will cull some "flyers"

It's a CCI product.
Sometimes they get it right, sometimes they don't.
Minimal quality control and zero lot grading on the CCI line. Make it, box it, ship it sell it.
For close range use as a pistol round it'll do the job.
As labeled, that is it's intended use.
As a rifle cartridge, 15 inches of spread at 200 yards ain't my idea of quality rimfire.
 
#25 · (Edited)
I came home from work to day and sitting on my porch was a box from Midway USA... In the box was to 2 50 round packs of Hornady 30 V-Max and 2 50 round packs of Hornady Critical Defense ammo... So I decided to break out my Browning T-Bolt Sporter 22 WMR and shoot a group... the gun was originally sighted in for Federal 50gr HP so it was shooting high just off my target. I put my aiming point a little to high on my target... so I flipped target upside down and tried it again... Now I can see my impacts on target... I shot 5 rounds 4 of the 5 were in a tight little 3/8" cluster and the 5th round was about a 1/4" from the 4 round cluster for a 5/8" group...



I will be resigning this gun in with this ammo and I will be testing it out this fall in the squirrel woods!!!

I'm tickled with the accuracy and I ordered a brick of it from Buds
 
#26 ·
Well it’s Dec and I decided to break the T-Bolt out with the CD ammo to re check my zero and this ammo was not shooting as good as it was back in Aug... I’m thinking this ammo is a little temp Sensitive... I may have to re sight this gun in with some CCI 40gr HP for late season squacks
 
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