Hornady American Gunner Ammo review

[Carl in Ct]

I picked up four boxes of Hornady American Gunner ammo a few weeks ago. Went shooting with it Saturday. I bought two boxes of 9mm+p 124 grain XTPs and two boxes of .45 Auto 185 grain XTPs.

I am not impressed. Out of 20 rounds of .45 I had 2 failure to fires in my Ruger SR45. The only other ammo I ever had FTFs with in that gun is cheap crap Herters and that was 2 or 3 out of 100 so a 2-3% failure rate for the cheapest ammo out there just for plinking. The American gunner was 2 out of 20, a 10% failure rate, not good, especially for defense ammo that you may be betting your life on.

I then tried the 9mm American Gunner ammo in my Kahr CW9. Again, out of one box (25 this time) I got 2 failure to fires, that's a 8% failure rate, totally unacceptable. I have never had any failure to fires out of that gun with any kind of ammo.

So while this Hornady American Gunner ammo looks just like the more expensive Hornady Critical Defense it seems like they skimped on something (primers maybe). I won't buy it again even though it's a little cheaper. I just don't trust it as self defense ammo and it's still too expensive for plinking.

 

[NavelOfficer]

Personally, I prefer to shoot what I reload, that way I know what's inside it.
I am not going to argue whether factory ammo should be used in PD due to liability issues and such, but if I do my part my ammo usually works every time.
I suppose ammo is like any other man-made product, it can fail (10% is a bit risky). I don't know how to 100% guarantee that every round will always fire and do its intended function every time absolutely. Perhaps stick with whatever brands have functioned reliably in the past; that's about as much assurance as you'll find.

 

[Carl in Ct]

Personally, I prefer to shoot what I reload, that way I know what's inside it.
I am not going to argue whether factory ammo should be used in PD due to liability issues and such, but if I do my part my ammo usually works every time.
I suppose ammo is like any other man-made product, it can fail (10% is a bit risky). I don't know how to 100% guarantee that every round will always fire and do its intended function every time absolutely. Perhaps stick with whatever brands have functioned reliably in the past; that's about as much assurance as you'll find.

Agreed. If I had the time, place and money for the upfront expense to reload I would do it. Since I don't have any of those requirements I have to rely on factory loads. While I don't expect perfection, 8-10% failure rate is too high even for plinking, forget about for defensive ammo. I still have 20 rounds of .45 left and 25 9mm. Even if those all function properly American Gunner ammo is still at 4-5% failure, too high. Perhaps down the line they will get better but I'll pass on buying any more for now.

BTW, I didn't mention before that all of them were struck by the firing pin the same as the rounds that did go bang. Good solid dimple in the primers which was a little unnerving but I followed safety protocol and kept the firearms pointed safely downrange for 30 seconds before clearing them. Still, I don't like having rounds like that in my hands.

 

[Rugerfan]

Send a note to Hornady with lot numbers from the bad batches and see what they say. Might be worth some new ammo.

 

[Carl in Ct]

Finally got around to shooting the rest of this ammo, just another box of each. Well, no problems this time. Ammo came from the same batches, same guns, same mags, heck I hadn't even cleaned them yet ( loser1 ). So I dunno, I still find the failure rate too high and I won't buy it again but it's better. I found a place that has Federal HST 50 round boxes for under $30 each so no need to bother with American Gunner again. With tax and shipping I am getting 100 rounds of 9mm HST and .45 HST (50 rds each) for $68. That's a damn good price for some of the best self defense ammo on the market.

 

[NavelOfficer]

I don't know where you are in CT, but if near North Stonington, come on over with some HSTs (there is at least one place with pullked 124grs in stock) and we can reload and shoot. .45 ACP is doable too. Same place has 230gr GDHPs in stock.
The pulled HSTs (124g/147g 9mm and 135g .40 don't last when they offer them).
I'll PM the source...

 

[moranstan]

I had bad luck with Hornady American Gunner.38 special ammo. I fired 3 rounds and opened the cylinder of my S&W Bodyguard and found a slug that was in the barrel. Apparently they forgot to put any powder in that round and the primer just pushed the lead into the barrel.
It could have been catastrophic. If I had fired one more round I might not have any fingers or a hand. I will never use Hornady American Gunner ammo again.