Hornady FTX vs XTP

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Just curious, the benefits of the Hornady FTX as found in their "Critical Defence" loads are pretty obvious but why might somebody opt for or prefer the more basic hollow point design of the XTP?
 
Ammo marketing has gotten a little silly these days, just like everything else. Every other month someone comes out with some new design of a bullet that was supposed to be superior to the rest. Its hype. Look at Remington's 'new' Ultimate Defense' round. Its the same Golden Saber round they've been producing for years. Just a new name. So you tell me what are the benefits of the FTX over the XTP because they're not obvious to me.
 
Those are the actual bullet models if you were to purchase loading/reloading supplies. the FTX comes in the critical defence and has a soft plug in the hollow point to combat problems from thick clothing and poor expansion. Lots of great reviews and test out there for this one. the XTP is their model which is basically just a JHP round- haven't heard much of anything about this. Some others, such as the Winchester jhp (silvertip?) has a very good name...
 
Probably for the same reason people buy inferior Critical Defense loads in 25 round boxes for over $1 a shot when they could have bought better tech/testing/performance Critical Duty in 50 round boxes for $.60 a shot.
 
Originally Posted By: bvance554
Look at Remington's 'new' Ultimate Defense' round. Its the same Golden Saber round they've been producing for years. Just a new name.


When I researched defensive ammo, these are the 3 top ones I ended up choosing.

Federal LE Tactical HST
Winchester Ranger Talon
Remington Golden Saber
 
Originally Posted By: buck91
Just curious, the benefits of the Hornady FTX as found in their "Critical Defense" loads are pretty obvious but why might somebody opt for or prefer the more basic hollow point design of the XTP?


The FTX bullet (AKA critical defense) should be flat out avoided. The stuff is garbage, and it is quite amazing that Hornady has sold so much of it to unsuspecting consumers. I would take an XTP bullet over the FTX any day, and twice on Sunday. You see, the FTX doesn't penetrate while the XTP does. The three most important things in ballistics, in order, are shot placement, then penetration, followed by expansion. The FTX's low weight and rapid expansion reduces penetration to less than FBI 12" minimums.
 
As far as Hornady's offerings go:
FTX/Critical Defense works well in a few scenarios but very poorly in others.
XTP works well in many scenarios but poorly in a few.
Hornady's Critical Duty round is the best of both worlds (for defensive applications, anyway).

My four favorites:
Hornady's Critical Duty
Speer's Gold Dot
Federal's HST
Winchester's Talon/Ranger T/PDX1 variants (AFAIK, this is a progression of the same basic design)

I do like Remington's Golden Saber/Ultimate (Home) Defense rounds in my 1911 (.45 ACP) because they feed more reliably and fire more accurately than some other rounds I've tried. My 1911 is picky about ammo, and it seems to like Remington better than most other brands (FMJ and JHP alike).
 
There's a really through fellow on YT that has done dozens of tests of expanding ammo named TNoutdoor9. He calibrates ballistic gelatin and faces it with denim. The Hornady's come out very impressively in these tests; both Critical types. I have found them to feed in my Rugers without a hiccup. OTOH, my SR40C feeds everything very easily; including GS and hand-loaded Sierra JHP's.
According to Hornady, the plastic plug is to initiate expansion and prevent the hollow point from being plugged by clothing, which would cause it to function as an FMJ.
 
Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Originally Posted By: buck91
Just curious, the benefits of the Hornady FTX as found in their "Critical Defense" loads are pretty obvious but why might somebody opt for or prefer the more basic hollow point design of the XTP?


The FTX bullet (AKA critical defense) should be flat out avoided. The stuff is garbage, and it is quite amazing that Hornady has sold so much of it to unsuspecting consumers. I would take an XTP bullet over the FTX any day, and twice on Sunday. You see, the FTX doesn't penetrate while the XTP does. The three most important things in ballistics, in order, are shot placement, then penetration, followed by expansion. The FTX's low weight and rapid expansion reduces penetration to less than FBI 12" minimums.


can you link me anything that shows penetration less than 12" for critcal defense? do you know of a comparison that shows the xtp to be superior to the ftx ?
 
Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Start reading here and find out why Critical Defense is not used by ANY police dept in the country, and therefor should be avoided by citizens also.

http://www.ar15.com/ammo/project/Self_Defense_Ammo_FAQ/


I'm a big Hornady fan and decided not to use Critical Defense ammo. IMO, sufficient penetration through various barriers is an important performance parameter. Critical Defense was not designed to defeat barriers the same way Critical Duty was.

I switched from Hornady TAP FPD (w/ the old XTP bullet) to the new Critical Duty 9mm 135gr round.

Comparing the XTP and Critical DEFENSE to the Critical DUTY (not defense), the XTP and Critical Defense will not pass all parts of the FBI testing protocol while the Critical Duty will.

Youtube has videos showing the performance of the rounds. Here's a good article:
http://www.handgunsmag.com/2012/07/19/hornady-critical-duty-vs-critical-defense/

FWIW, when time came to rotate out the old TAP FPD, my choice came down to Critical Duty and Federal HST. In fact, I have HST for my .45 while both of my carry guns have Critical Duty. So I got both.
smile.gif
 
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