I just saw in my latest issue of American Rifleman magazine that Hornady has expanded their line of Critical Defense ammo. The new offerings are .357 Magnum, .40 S&W, .45 ACP and…. 12 gauge 00 buckshot.
I’ve written about Critical Defense before. I think the concept is interesting and shows promise, but there’s just not enough data out there. What data there is is Hornady’s marketing. Granted, they wouldn’t irresponsibly bring something to market (I hope not!) nor would they bring something to market without a lot of research and study. Plus Hornady has a reputation for good products and performance ammunition. But I’m just not sure I’m ready to bet my life on Critical Defense… not until there’s more third-party data and study of the round. Hopefully with the ammo now being offered in the remaining popular self-defense calibers, we may see more testing.
So don’t get me wrong, I’m not down on Critical Defense, I just want to see more data.
I’d be happy to produce that data myself, but I don’t have the money nor means.
The buckshot is interesting. The big deal about Critical Defense is the use of the FTX bullet, and of course buckshot isn’t going to have that. But they did use a special wad that helps keep tight patterns. That’s good, and really that’s what you want. I know a lot of people think it’s better to blow a big cloud of shot in a self-defense shotgun, but it’s not. You do want a little spread, sure, but you really want a tight pattern because you want to ensure all of that shot hits the target and nothing else.
I would be curious to know if the buckshot loads are normal or reduced recoil. IMHO, reduced recoil would be the way to go. The intended purpose for this load is self-defense, home-defense. Given that, most folks aren’t going to need more than maybe 25 yards or so of range. With reduced recoil you can still get that range, get that necessary energy, but not beat up the person using the shotgun and allow faster follow-up shots since recoil will not be so pronounced.
Stuff From Hsoi 
Nickel plated casings? That explains why they’re a buck and a quarter a pop.
They sure are pretty but when the bullets start flying do the bad guys really care if you’re shooting them with Blazers in aluminum casings or nickel plated critical defense loads. “Oh shit! See those nickel plated cases popping out of his Glock?!? Those are a buck and a quarter each! This guy’s really trying to kill me! I should have stayed in school and become a dentist!”
I couldn’t afford to practice with these or shoot enough of them to convince myself of their reliability that I would buy them at that price. I’m not going to load them into my self defense gun if I haven’t shot a few hundred of them through it before.
Now, if I needed a photo with a bunch of shiny bullets laying about, these would be great.
Nickel supposedly has a higher lubricity, thus feeds and extracts better. I’ve yet to find it a big issue on your semi-autos. But I must admit, extraction out of a revolver does seem to work a bit easier with nickel cases.
But you know… this is how most of your higher-end self-defense ammo is going to be. My Gold Dots have nickel cases. And if I’m going to use 9mm for self-defense, I want good expanding bullets (in .45 ACP, ball is arguably acceptable). The bigger difference here tho is Gold Dots have a solid track record and are proven loads. Critical Defense? Not so much. But note that I would like to see it become a proven load… it just needs the work to prove it.