cocojo

gglass, read the rest of Dr. Roberts testing. He called Hornaday about this testing and they sent him more ammo. This time it worked as it was designed. He tested the famous Speer +P 135 38 in denum and that failed. Being a newer round that non +p 110 FXT may have needed some tweeking or maybe they has a batch with a lighter than spec powder change. Whatever the reason the ammo performed the way it was designed. What happened to the 135's? Maybe the same thing. Stephen Camp also tested the non +P 110's and had good results. I like the fact that it gave up some expansion for deeper penetration. 12 inches in bare gell and 14 with denum and expanding in the mid 40's is a nice round for a non +p 38 special out of a 2 inch gun. That's great performance for a low power non +P 38 special, real nice performance. Look up "Best Choices for self defense ammunition". Go to 38 FXT vCor Bon DPX +P v Speer 135 +p. Remember this is not +p rated ammuntion. Great for my older Colts and S&W 37. I like it.

gglass

I have in fact read the follow-up report by Dr. Roberts many times. The one thing I found suspicious in the second report is that Dr. Roberts did not use off the shelf Hornady ammuntion, but rather he allowed Hornady to submit their own hand picked samples to test. (Will you be purchasing a hand selected box of FTX when you go to your local dealer? I doubt it.) That is not to say that I find Dr. Roberts' second evaluation was necessarily flawed, but it leaves room for questions. I did not see that he allowed any other manufacturers to do this. It was a little strange that the Gold Dot 135's functioned admirably in the first test, but faired quite poorly in the second... But, I digress.

I did not place Gold Dot 135's over the Critical Defense 110's. I simply pointed to one of the first real evaluations of Hornady's FTX ammunition that cast some doubts on its performance... This at a time when everyone was universally hailing FTX "Critical Defense" as the next BIG thing in self-defense ammunition. Hence my phrase, "Behold the Power of Marketing".

With my marketing background, I tend to question marketing claims and hype more than most. I think that everyone should carry whatever ammunition floats their boat, but I tend to be a little more analytical when choosing something that may save my life. Or, you could just follow the advise of Dr. Roberts, in which he says, "As always, don't get too wrapped in the nuances of ammunition terminal performance. Spend your time and money on developing a warrior mindset, training, practice, and more training".

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cocojo

gglass, you bring out a good point on the hand select issue. I personally don't think it was done, but we really don't know, which lends doubt. I know if Dr Roberts thought about Hornaday hand selecting rounds, that he would have scoffed at it. Roberts may know them personnaly and possibly trusts them, who knows unless we ask him. I would give the benefit of the doubt to Dr Roberts. If anything issues were brought to their attention and possibly corrected. If anything, only a positive can come from this. Including fixing any issues that may be wrong with this round. I have to say that marketing was not an issue for me, I don't buy into all the hype. I also read that misfires were going on with this line of ammunition. I have not experienced any issues.

chrise2004

i'll be interested to try this out!

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10thmtn

I use this in .380 in my wife's LCP - alternating with FMJ-Flat Points. The .380 CD gets about 10" penetration in gel - a bit less than the FBI standard, which is why I alternate with the FMJ.

I had more 9mm Federal EFMJ 124 gr +P on backorder for months at Streicher's. Called them a few days ago - still no ETA on the EFMJ. So, I had them switch my order to the 9mm 115 gr CD - it's not +P, but seems to work fairly well from the tests I've seen. Here's one:

http://www.goldenloki.com/ammo/gel/9mm/gel9.htm

I like the concept of expanding bullets that do not have a traditional hollow cavity that can get plugged, wrapped, or crushed.

I've also used PowRBall, but they are light weight for caliber (9mm is only 100 gr), and every test I've seen shows the core and jacket separating - not good. They are also a bit "snappy" in recoil.

I've also read some troubling reports of failures with EFMJ not expanding. Seems like the CD design would be more reliable. I also like how "pointy" it is - seems like it would feed well in a semi auto.

I'll try some in my G19 and 26 when I get them in - but I have little doubt they will work just fine. As a bonus, not being +P means firing a burst should be easy due to less recoil.

Hornady's ads say the CD rounds will "expand every single time!" I don't know about that...but they do seem like a good design overall.

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