HORNADY AMERICAN GUNNER 9MM 124+P: BASELINE CONCEALED CARRY AMMUNITION
In this article, I am going to provide a detailed review of the American Gunner 124 grain +P ammunition. This specific loading has become my preferred choice for all of my personal defense pistols because of its consistently reliable and universally good performance across various barrel lengths. This is also a loading that I have tested in multiple different formats from water jugs, meat targets, and ballistics gel.
AMERICAN GUNNER SERIES
Hornady American Gunner is a relatively new premium ammunition manufactured to meet the needs of civilian shooters for hunting or personal defense. This ammunition line is designed to offer the everyday shooter a more affordable option without sacrificing quality. The American Gunner uses the proven XTP bullet, but in a package that is priced lower than some of their more premium offerings like the Critical Defense or Critical Duty.
HISTORY OF THE XTP BULLET
Hornady introduced the XTP (Extreme Terminal Performance) bullet in the late 1980s, with evidence suggesting its introduction occurred around 1990. The bullet was recognized for its performance, winning the industry's Product Award of Merit in 1990 from the National Association of Federal Licensed Dealers. It was developed to meet the new FBI protocol following the 1986 Miami FBI shootout, indicating its design was influenced by the need for reliable expansion and penetration in law enforcement applications. I remember carrying their TAP (Tactical Application Pistol) ammunition for my 1911 back in 2012-2015.
HORNADY INNOVATION
Hornady has been an ammunition innovator for decades. First, the XTP bullet was specifically designed to solve the terminal performance issues that emerged from the Miami FBI shootout of 1986. In 2011, Hornady released the Critical Defense, which features a polymer tip in the hollow point to help prevent clogging and to ensure controlled expansion. This is a premium ammunition that was designed specifically for concealed carry with small barrels. The Critical Defense was not designed to perform at all through barriers.
The Hornady Critical Duty line hit the selves in 2012. It was Hornady’s attempt to provide the ultimate duty ammunition solution to Law Enforcement. The idea of the design was to create a “barrier-blind” bullet that could give XTP-like performance, even after passing through barriers. The test they were looking to ace was the stringent FBI barrier protocol, which many manufactures did also, but their bullets had short-comings in certain barriers. In an attempt to be competitive, Hornady designed their bullet specifically to perform well in all stages of the FBI test. This bullet is not bonded, but is rather built with a specific ratio of lead and tin, while also clogging the hollow point with a polymer plug, just like the Critical Defense.
Many manufacturers were influenced by this innovation and followed suit. Speer released their G2 line, and Winchester released their Ranger ONE line, which is pretty much just their attempt to adapt their previous bonded ammunition and put a plug in it. Hornady has been awarded a Fixed Price Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) agreement with the Federal Bureau of Investigation for its 9mm+P Luger 135 gr. Critical Duty ammunition. The first contract was awarded in 2018, and again in 2022, further reinforcing the fact that Hornady is a premium ammunition manufacturer.
WHY THE AMERICAN GUNNER?
American gunner is a budget ammunition for the layman, but it still offers elite performance. It is not going to perform as a “barrier-blind” ammunition like the Critical duty, or with perfect performance in a short barrel like the Critical Defense, but it is going to penetrate deep and will still have that same XTP punch it has had since the time it was created decades ago. It lacks the Nickel-plated brass of the more premium options, which may tarnish over time.
The cost of the American Gunner ammunition is typically going to come in for less than a dollar per round. It is not going to be as inexpensive as the Winchester White Box (WWB) or Remington JHP, but it has a reputation for being used in Law Enforcement in the TAP series, which I used to use back in the early to mid-2010’s. I personally trust the XTP to perform, as long as the bullet weight and velocity is matched properly to my carry gun. The 124+P is darn near universal for me. It will perform out of my Shield Plus (3.1”), all the way to my Beretta 92FS (4.9”).
PERFORMANCE
The Hornady American Gunner loads have a reputation for coming in slightly below the advertised muzzle velocity, but it does not seem to hinder the performance of the round in testing. Since this is an XTP bullet, the round reliably opens up only to about 1.5X its original size, and it penetrates deep. After all, the idea was to have a round that answered the FBI need for deep penetration over massive expansion.
Below I have a video from back in 2018 when I tested this specific load under various conditions. The video quality was a bit choppy, but you can clearly see that the bullet performed well regardless of the barrel length it was used in. I am quite sure this bullet performed effectively because of the extra pressure generated from being a +P load, but that extra pressure seems to be precisely what this ammunition requires to ensure consistent and reliable terminal performance. Keep in mind that I am shooting into clear Ballistics gel, which shows an exaggeration of roughly 3-5” of penetration for pretty much every round shot past a certain velocity.
WRAPUP
Though Hornady sells and markets the American Gunner line as a budget option, I tend to think of the American Gunner line as a premium line, on par with their older Custom line of ammunition, which also featured plain brass instead of nickel-plated brass. This ammunition is not going to be good for shooting through barriers, or optimized for short barrels, but I do think this 124+P loading could be a universally acceptable and trustworthy loading in your 9mm pistols.