Hornady Critical Defense 410 FTX Slug – Unique Triple Defense Load

Description

The Hornady Critical Defense 410 FTX Slug is an unusual answer to an unusual gun. Rather than loading birdshot or a single slug, Hornady stacks three projectiles in one 2 1/2 inch hull: a 41 caliber FTX slug on top of two 35 caliber round balls, all leaving at about 750 fps and designed to land together on a man sized target at seven yards.

• Hornady Critical Defense 410 FTX Slug Overview
• 410 Defense Ammo Ballistics
• Why The Triple Defense Slug And Ball Load Works
• Specifications
• Guns That Take This 410 Revolver Home Defense Shell

Hornady Critical Defense 410 FTX Slug Overview

Hornady item 86238 loads one non-jacketed 41 caliber FTX slug and two 35 caliber cold swaged lead round balls into a 2 1/2 inch 410 shell. Twenty rounds per box.

Hornady designs the load so all three projectiles print on a man sized target at seven yards. That is a deliberately modest claim and a useful one, because it tells you exactly what the round is for and roughly where it stops being sensible.

The slug is sized at 41 caliber so it engages the rifling in a 410 revolver barrel, while the round balls sit beneath it at 35 caliber. The high antimony alloy in the balls resists deformation, which helps them penetrate rather than flatten.

Hornady markets this as Triple Defense within the wider Critical Defense family, which is why you will see both names on the box and in catalogues. It is the same 410 defense ammo either way.

410 Defense Ammo Ballistics

At roughly 750 fps this is not a high velocity load, and it is not trying to be. A 410 shell has a small powder capacity and a rifled revolver barrel bleeds gas past the projectiles, so the sensible engineering answer is a heavier payload moving moderately.

What you get is three wound channels from one trigger pull rather than one. That is the whole argument for the design, and within seven yards it is a reasonable one.

Recoil is modest. A 410 in a large frame revolver like a Taurus Judge is far easier to shoot than the 45 Colt those guns also chamber, which is part of why people buy them.

Be realistic about distance. Seven yards is the figure Hornady publishes, and beyond it the three projectiles separate quickly. A 410 revolver home defense shell is a close range tool and the design does not pretend otherwise.

Why The Triple Defense Slug And Ball Load Works

The 410 revolver is a gun that divides people, and most of the argument comes down to ammunition. Loaded with birdshot it is a snake gun and very little else. Loaded with a single slug it is an inaccurate low velocity pistol. Neither uses the platform well.

Hornady’s answer is to treat the short rifled barrel as a constraint to design around rather than a problem to ignore. Three projectiles, moderate velocity, and a payload tuned so the group stays together at the distances a defensive encounter actually happens at.

The FTX slug on top carries the Flex Tip that gives the line its name. The polymer tip resists clogging in heavy clothing and helps the slug open at a velocity where a conventional hollow point would struggle, and 750 fps is very much that kind of velocity.

Beneath it the two round balls do something different. Cold swaged from high antimony lead, they hold their shape and penetrate rather than expanding, which complements the slug instead of duplicating it.

Put together, the three projectile stack is an honest attempt to make the platform earn its keep. One opens, two penetrate, and all three arrive in the same place at the distance the gun is likely to be used.

As 2 1/2 inch 410 defensive ammunition goes, the Triple Defense slug and ball load is the most considered thing on the shelf for the platform.

Specifications

Guns That Take This 410 Revolver Home Defense Shell

This load is made for 410 revolvers: the Taurus Judge in its various barrel and frame lengths and the Smith & Wesson Governor. Both chamber 2 1/2 inch 410 shells, and both have rifled barrels that the 41 caliber slug is sized to engage.

It will also fire in a 410 shotgun chambered for 2 1/2 inch shells, though a smooth bore will not stabilise the slug and the grouping claim does not apply. If your gun is a shotgun, a purpose made 410 slug or buckshot load makes more sense.

Check your chamber length before ordering. Many 410 shotguns and some revolvers are cut for 3 inch shells, which will also accept 2 1/2 inch, but never the reverse.

If you have been keeping birdshot in a Judge for home defence, this is a considerable step up. A Triple Defense slug and ball load reaches depth that birdshot simply cannot.

2 1/2 Inch 410 Defensive Ammunition Availability

This Hornady Critical Defense 410 FTX Slug is in stock and ships from our Collegeville, Pennsylvania shop. MAG5 Firearms is a family owned FFL dealer, and orders of this 2 1/2 inch 410 defensive ammunition normally leave within one business day.

For a full size shotgun see the Hornady Critical Defense 12 Gauge 00 Buck. If your revolver also chambers 45 Colt, the Hornady Critical Duty 357 Mag FlexLock shows what the same thinking looks like in a conventional cartridge, and for a small carry gun the Hornady Critical Defense 38 Special Lite. Full specifications are published by Hornady.