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The Annoyed Man wrote:Engaging in a little thread necromancy here...

...I just got home with a new .357 snubbie, and I bought a box of these in .357 magnum, and I'm anxious to try a few rounds. The pistol is a S&W M&P 340 PD Airlite. It should be an "entertaining" combination.

That's a great gun.

Be prepared for some pretty snappy recoil.

Most of the folks I know who've tried this combination (I haven't) have called the firing experience "painful". They usually end up carrying .38 Spcl ammo for SD purposes.

I'll be looking forward to hearing your take on this.

TexasVet wrote:The polymer filling looks very similar to Cor-bons Pow'R Ball, except the ball in the Cor-bon load makes the round feed like ball ammo. And you can get it in 9mm Mak and many others. According to the websites Hornady critical defense numbers 9mm 115gr. 1140/332 (vel/energy at muzzle) vs. the Pow'R ball 9mm (p+) 100gr. 1450/467 (vel/energy at muzzle).
Any thoughts ?

From the very limited and generally informal test results I've seen, the soft hollowpoint filler in the Critical Defense ammo and in Federal's Expanding Full Metal Jacket offering seems to offer an increase in expansion reliability over many other rounds.

My understanding of the purpose of the Pow'r Ball's plastic tip is feeding reliability, not prevention of plugging by barrier material. Also, in the Pow'r Ball tests I've seen, the bullet and jacket often come out in pieces, where the Critical Defense rounds appear to retain virtually all of their weight .

I haven't seen a head to head test of the new Hornady and Federal rounds against the CorBon Pow'r Ball, but it sure would make an interesting comparison.

Anybody know a gun writer with access to lots of free ammo from all 3 companies?

AEA wrote:Looks very similar to HST.

The HST is designed for violent expansion as well.

The big difference is the polymer plug in the Hornady ammo. It keeps barrier material (clothing, wood, drywall, etc.) from plugging up the hollowpoint and making the round perform like an FMJ. This enhances expansion reliability by quite a bit.

Steve,

Great report - thanks.

This ammo may elevate rounds whose diameters start with a "3" to a higher level of reliable terminal ballistic performance.

I'd like to see testing of how it performs from very short barrels - e.g., Ruger LCP and KelTec.

I'm also looking for data from street incidents that tell the most meaningful story, but it sure looks promising at this point.