Shotgun ammo: Hornady Critical Defense 00 buck vs Federal 132LE00

SCORE!

The Hornady load is quite adequate. My preferred load in my SBS, but that is because my barrel has a fixed modified choke. The Hornady load plays better with the choke than the Federal version. In most gun without choke, the Federal will perform better, especially in the reduced recoil 8 pellet version. But in the current ammo climate, that’s a good score, and again, the Hornady load is perfectly adequate for home defense distances and purposes. One of the better loads out there in that regard.

I've patterned both through three different guns and I'll take the Federal FC all day every day. It's vastly superior to the the Hornady. Even old school Winchester and Remington #1 buck loads patterned better than the Hornady CD.

Hornady CD uses unplated shot with no shot buffer and that kills it's performance. All the others used plated shot and a buffer. It makes a dramatic difference. The low recoil Flight Control is by far the best patterning load I've shot. Guns were a Benelli Vinci (shot through multiple chokes), Browning Auto 5 (chopped barrel, so cylinder) and a Mossberg 590A1 (cylinder). The Hornady needed some choke constriction and acted like a conventional bird load on the patterning board. With the Federal FC a cylinder bore is best and works better with the wad, constricting it opens the pattern. The Hornady and Federal do use the same wad but act opposite from each other in constricted chokes so my theory is pellet deformation being the difference. ETA: Also velocity. The Hornady is much faster so the wad opens it's pedals faster, the result is traveling less distance before separating from the shot column. The Federal hangs together over a farther distance.

I also tried the Hornady varmint load #4 buck and found it wouldn't pattern acceptably for coyotes past 20 yards regardless of choke. My state restricts night shooting to no larger than #6 bird so I was hoping I could at least have a 50 yard load for daylight hours. I do and it's Winchester Long Beard XR with the matching choke. It's devastating but it's birdshot I really wanted that Hornady to work as I had a decent supply of it.

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Originally Posted by LJP

The Hornady load is quite adequate. My preferred load in my SBS, but that is because my barrel has a fixed modified choke. The Hornady load plays better with the choke than the Federal version. In most gun without choke, the Federal will perform better, especially in the reduced recoil 8 pellet version. But in the current ammo climate, that’s a good score, and again, the Hornady load is perfectly adequate for home defense distances and purposes. One of the better loads out there in that regard.

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My new shotty comes with cylinder, modified and full choke tubes

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Originally Posted by Spartan1980

I've patterned both through three different guns and I'll take the Federal FC all day every day. It's vastly superior to the the Hornady. Even old school Winchester and Remington #1 buck loads patterned better than the Hornady CD.

Hornady CD uses unplated shot with no shot buffer and that kills it's performance. All the others used plated shot and a buffer. It makes a dramatic difference. The low recoil Flight Control is by far the best patterning load I've shot. Guns were a Benelli Vinci (shot through multiple chokes), Browning Auto 5 (chopped barrel, so cylinder) and a Mossberg 590A1 (cylinder). The Hornady needed some choke constriction and acted like a conventional bird load on the patterning board. With the Federal FC a cylinder bore is best and works better with the wad, constricting it opens the pattern. The Hornady and Federal do use the same wad but act opposite from each other in constricted chokes so my theory is pellet deformation being the difference. ETA: Also velocity. The Hornady is much faster so the wad opens it's pedals faster, the result is traveling less distance before separating from the shot column. The Federal hangs together over a farther distance.

I also tried the Hornady varmint load #4 buck and found it wouldn't pattern acceptably for coyotes past 20 yards regardless of choke. My state restricts night shooting to no larger than #6 bird so I was hoping I could at least have a 50 yard load for daylight hours. I do and it's Winchester Long Beard XR with the matching choke. It's devastating but it's birdshot I really wanted that Hornady to work as I had a decent supply of it.

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I'll try the Federal first. I'm hoping it wins out because I have more of it.

In my 1301, the Federal patterns tighter than the Critical Defense, but not by a whole lot. The CD is noticeably spicier in terms of felt recoil though. What's most interesting to me is that they both patterned right behind the red dot at 15 yards, which is what I wanted anyway. I have critical defense in the gun right now, when I eventually run out of that I'll go to Federal.

Out to about 15 yards, the two loads have always been pretty close in my guns. Past 15 and the FFC out performs the Hornady loads with the Versa-Tite wad. At least that has been my experience with 3 or 4 different guns.

My experience with the Federal & Hornady 8 pellet loads is similar. They are very close in performance out to 20 yards (the farthest I've tested both). Either will do.

I'm picking up my shotgun today on my lunch break. It's gas operated so I figure I will run 100 light target loads through it. If it runs well, I'll try the Federal 132LE00.