Sunday, April 6, 2014

45 ACP Federal HST vs Hornady Critical Duty



Second in our testing series is a comparison between 2 of the top tier 45 AUTO defensive loads on the market. Most of the EDG contributor crew use .45 ACP pistols as their regular carry. So looking at the .45 was a logical step. My personal internet research on terminal ballistics had led me to choose the Federal HST 230gr...

...standard velocity as my everyday carry ammo, but I hadn't had chance to see it for myself. At my suggestion, Joel purchased the HST when he purchased his PX4 Storm, but also picked up the 220gr +P load from Hornady.

So, with that setup, let's get into it. Here were my notes with the corresponding times that I made as I watched the complete video through for the first time.

:55 I know I know, the bullet doesn't have any additional pressure. +P cartridge, not bullet.
1:24 I keep looking down... I'm not working from any notes, just looking down at the ammo boxes for inspiration.
1:49 We went through 3 different cameras that day. Unfortunately, it shows in the poor quality of some of the clips.
2:43 Benchmark gun? What's that?!? We'll have to explain that for you in a future video ; ].
3:10 Joel made an effort to zoom in to catch a better view of the shot, but again, our camera failed us yet again.
3:55 Totally forgot what I was trying to say there for a minute...
6:35 Anyone else notice that I saw "alright" alot? Gotta work on that.
7:25 Was recorded the same day as our PDX1 video, hence the comment about rifle round damage.
8:47 Both Critical Duty still had the polymer plug in the center. Was kind of expecting those to have just disappeared coming through the gel.
9:08 Don't know how to describe just how fun it is to pull a nicely expanded bullet out of ballistic gel that you made yourself. Neat experience. So please, excuse my giggling.
Q & A segment for this video is a bit short, hopefully that means I'm getting better at organizing my communication to you, the viewer.
Mrs. EDG:
Q - Could the repeat shots into 1 block affect the penetration or expansion of the bullets?
A - While Vyse (the "ordinance" grade gelatin company) says 1 shot per block is a must, it's just hard for the Everyday gun owner to do multi-shot tests and keep enough gel mixed up to maintain that standard. While it's possible that prior shots could affect some change, the fact that 1 of the Hornady shots partially overlapped the HST wound and the other went into "clean" gel, but both performed almost identically suggests that any deviation due to previous shots is minimal.
"Rob" in Texas:
Q - Why are you using the FNX? Because of it's reputation as a gun? Or just because that's what you own?
A - Well, partially because it's just what I own. That way we can be consistent and fire any and all .45 tests out of the same gun. Also, you might have caught my mention of a "benchmark" gun, and that's something that I'll explain when we do get to a review for the FNH FNX-45.


So there it is. Extra info, a look behind the crappy curtain, and some Q & A for the less initiated. Check out the next blog post for several photo stills and a couple more thoughts on the test.

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