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Ammunition

Hornady’s New .32 H&R Magnum Critical Defense Load

Hornady .32 H&R Magnum Ammo

The Critical Defense .32 H&R Magnum is another self defense load announced by Hornady at the 2012 NASGW show last week.  Designed for any revolver chambered for the .32 H&R Magnum, the ammunition performs equally as well in .327 Federal Magnum revolvers also.

This load uses an 80 grain FTX bullet.  The FTX bullet is a polymer tipped hollowpoint that has proven to be very successful in both self defense and hunting applications.  A friend who uses the Hornady Leverevolution .30-30 ammo with an FTX bullet tells me the wound channel they create is unbelievable.  These rounds use the same bullet technology.

Hornady .32 H&R Magnum Ammunition

Velocity is listed as 1150 fps at the muzzle.  I did not see what kind of barrel was used, but I suspect it was a 4″ test barrel based on other Hornady tests.  So, if you have a shorter barrel gun, expect less velocity.  At 1150 fps, the bullet generates 235 ft-lbs of energy.

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Ammunition

Hornady .38 Special Critical Defense Lite Ammo

Critical Defense Recoil

For 2013, Hornady is introducing a reduced recoil .38 Special load in the Critical Defense line of ammunition.  The Critical Defense Lite is a light weight .38 load loaded to standard pressures specifically designed to minimize abuse to the shooters of small, light revolvers.

Seemingly everyone carries a snub nose revolver in their pocket.  I’ve got a J-frame Smith & Wesson in mine as I write this.  They are easy to carry and have numerous advantages when compared to other guns and style of carry.  But, small revolvers carry at least one significant disadvantage:  recoil.  That’s where the Critical Defense Lite comes into play.

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Ammunition

Critical Defense .32 NAA Ammo

Ammo for the .32 NAA has been very limited, with very few companies loading for the niche cartridge. However, Hornady is expanding their Critical Defense line of ammunition to include a .32 NAA load.

The new .32 NAA ammo will feature the Hornady FTX bullet, which is a hollowpoint tipped with a polymer insert. The polymer helps to prevent hard materials from clogging up the hollowpoint cavity, and also helps the bullet expand when encountering flesh. The FTX design has proved to be both effective and popular.

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Ammunition

New Hornady Shotgun Slugs

Several new Hornady shotgun slug loads have been announced at the 2013 NASGW Expo: two Superformance shotgun slugs and an SST Lite Shotgun Slug.

The new Superformance slugs will be available in both 12 gauge and 20 gauge. Both loads use a MonoFlex slug. Originally developed for lever guns, the MonoFlex design uses a monolithic hollowpoint bullet with the famous Hornady Flex Tip. The slugs are made from a gilding metal, instead of pure copper, to increase their strength and retain 95% of original weight. This helps the slugs to penetrate deeply.

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Ammunition

Hornady .410 Triple Defense Ammo for the Taurus Judge

Hornady Triple Defense ammo is a new load specifically designed for the Taurus Judge and other similar .410/.45 Colt revolvers. This new load is part of the company’s Critical Defense line of ammunition.

This specific round stacks a non-jacketed (bare lead only) FTX slug on top of two .35 caliber round balls. Standard 00-buckshot is .33 caliber and 000-buck is .36 caliber. So, the two balls are slightly larger than 00, but not quite 000-buckshot.