Also, I don’t know if what follows had anything to do with Harrell posting the above video or not, but I find a curious coincidence here. In March of 2017, Harrell posted a video titled “
Police Pistols: 9mm vs .40 S&W”. At 17:17 into the video, he compares the 135 grain 9mm Critical Duty load to the 175 grain .40 S&W Critical Duty load, using his famous “meat target”. The 9mm 135 grain Critical Duty performed
much better than the Federal Blue Box 115 grain JHP he tested earlier in the video in the meat target, but predictably, it did not perform as well as the heavier .40 S&W Critical Duty cartridge.
Three weeks ago, I came late to that video, and posted a question:
Hi Paul, I know it’s been a while since you posted this. I am curious to know if the the 135 grain Critical Duty you tested in the Glock 17 was the +P or standard pressure load. Hornady offers both in a 135 grain bullet weight for the Critical Duty line. I have both +P and Standard Critical Duty in various 9mm Glocks I own. I’d like to know if the +P compares successfully to the .40 S&W Critical Duty.
Also, I know that you like to test with the cheaper, and often more available brands/loads - and that is a legitimate approach - but a lot of us choose for whatever reason to go with premium cartridges, like the Critical Defense/Critical Duty, or the Federal HST, etc. I know that one of the benefits of your approach to YouTube video is that you try and operate on a budget similar to the average shooter, who has to spend wisely, and so you try to clear the air of all the hype. I like that. But for my own part, I’m willing to spend more for my carry ammo, since I don’t shoot that much of it, in the hope that if I should ever HAVE to use it, it will be more effective. Maybe that’s a vain hope.....I don’t know. But it does give me greater confidence, and confidence is an important factor.
So I am curious to know if you have ever tested: (1) +P premium 9mm ammo against premium .40 S&W using the same brand/line [i.e. Critical Duty vs Critical Duty, or HST vs HST]; and (2) within a given caliber, say 9mm, have you ever tested one brand against the other for similar offerings - for instance +P 9mm Critical Duty against +P 9mm Federal HST?
Thanks for producing all these great videos, and keep up the good work.
He has answered other questions of mine in the past, but didn’t answer this one - perhaps simply because the video was more than a year old when I posed the question. But, 3 weeks after I posed the question, Harrell posts a new video stating why he doesn’t like hyper ammo, and he includes in that definition, piled on the side of the table with all the other “hyper ammo”, the Hornady Critical Defense and Critical Duty ammo. So, my question is answered - intentionally or not - by his lumping of what I would call “premium” ammo in with what I agree is “hyper” ammo such as the RIP and novelty loads like the Zombie Max.
And that’s where I have to disagree with Harrell. It may be an almost insignificant difference at the kind of ranges that self-defense shootings take place, but there usually IS a measurable difference - at least in my experience - between what I would call “affordable” ammo, and “premium” ammo. (I don’t waste my time with novelty and hyper ammo.) At least, this has proven true in my choices of rifle ammo. For example, I have
consistently shot tighter groups with Federal Gold 168 grain .308 BTHP Match, than I have with Prvi Partisan 168 grain BTHP Match. Federal’s quality control is simply better, and they are using Sierra SMKs, which is a better bullet than whatever Prvi uses. The Prvi may be more affordable, but the Federal is just plain better ammo. So, there
is such a thing as premium ammo netting better results than the cheap stuff. Whether or not that translates into self-defense accuracy with a handgun may be irrelevant....in fact, it probably is. But, as I mentioned in my question to Harrell, confidence is an important factor. Of course, confidence can be misplaced if you don’t actually shoot and train regularly, including with your carry load.
His video did remind of me one thing.... I’ve got several boxes laying around of what I call “legacy” ammo.......ammunition that I used to carry, but no longer do for whatever reason, and I might as well shoot it up. I also still have a partial box of 230 grain .45 ACP Black Talons (AKA “Buscadero Ticondas”
) that I bought way back in the day when those were still being sold in their hay day. I’ll hang onto those simply for their archival value.
Anyway, I do like Harrell’s approach to testing/comparing firearms and ammunition, and I have found much of his information to be useful and pragmatic, without all the tactical hype; and that is refreshing.
