Hornady introduced a new load in the company’s young Critical Duty line of ammunition designed for law enforcement. The new .45 ACP round uses a 220 grain bullet and is loaded to +P pressures. From a 5” test barrel, the round makes for 975 feet per second, which works out to be about 464 foot-pounds of energy.

The bullet is a specially designed FlexLock bullet that uses a polymer tip in a hollowpoint to help ensure expansion and prevent the clogging of the bullet’s cavity. Additionally, a “massive” InterLock band is used by Hornady to prevent the separation of the jacket from the bullet.

Hornady introduced the Critical Duty line of ammunition in later 2011, and only offered 9mm and .40 S&W loads at that time. While looking similar to the Critical Defense line of ammunition, the Critical Duty line is built for different reasons and is designed to perform well in the FBI protocols. The FBI ammunition tests require bullets to adequately penetrate ballistic gelatin after encountering a variety of intermediate barriers such as a car windshield.

The Critical Duty rounds have the primers and case mouths sealed to enhance reliability in wet and humid environments.