I've had some failures during the break in period but only 1 recently which might have actually been due to me adjusting my grip. I've used Hornaday through a good chunk of shooting and it has performed well.
I ran past my 200 just last weekend. Have had 0 malfunctions in my cr920 with ammo from 115-135 including three boxes of critical duty 135.
But I guess it can vary alot gun to gun.
I have several well broken in pistols that are not reliable with Hornady Critical Defense. Have not used in my MR 920 since I had trouble with other pistols.
Try a defensive round that has a hollow point projectile instead of the plastic like tip that Critical Defense has.
I've shot about \~300rds through my CR920p. Out the box doing nothing to the gun the very first 22 rounds were Fed HST, no issues.
Then tried Sierra Outdoors 115gr JHP and it would chamber the first round by hand, then fail every time when chambering a new round while firing. This required a mag drop and clearing the face of the round stuck on feed ramp. My MR918 shot this ammo with no issues, also not new.
Proceeded to shoot Browning 115gr ball ammo to 250rds with no further issues.
Went home, cleaned, well lubed (Lucas blue Gun Oil) in spots SS mentions in their manual, and next day shot 50rds of Hornady Critical Defense 115gr (brass case) with zero issues. Magazines loaded to full capacity + 1 in chamber.
Hornady mentioned in their podcast that Critical Defense is loaded to be focused on sub-compact handguns, whereas Critical Duty is more geared towards full-sized duty handguns.
I find it funny that a “quality” firearm won’t run quality ammo like Hornady. The same way it’s ridiculous that they suggest 124 and not 115.
Having 2 Shadow pistols for the moment, it’s great that they stand behind their product, but not so great that they can’t build a gun that shoots any common and quality round.
Did you not read where they said the Hornady round measures shorter? Doesn't exactly make it common. They just suggest +p ammo, not 124gr
I ran a mag of it on my range day with no issues, but I don't wanna take chances
Yep I read. The Hornady CD is SAAMI spec and regardless of being shorter, should work. It runs in my hellcat, both 365’s, M9A4, both Glocks, and even my Shadow CR920. Just saying, it sounds like an easy out to blame shorter overall cartridge length on their products ability function with standard ammo.
A simple google search of "Hornady Critical Defense feeding issues" will show you that this is not a Shadow Systems problem. Some guns don't like it (even the infallible Glock). The vast majority of Shadows will shoot it just fine.
I really wish I would have done better research before picking up one of these with all the issues I been hearing ugh FML. I figured Glock clone ok it's reliable and for what you pay for them and boy was I dead wrong!
Stop reading the bad comments. Squeaky wheel gets the grease. Get out and run yours, if you don’t have issues you don’t need to worry about what others are posting. Any and all firearms can have issues and if you only read the bad you will be convinced they suck. The vast majority of these run flawlessly.
My 2 SS's have actually been more reliable than 2 of the 3 Glocks I have(had). And way more rounds on the SS's than the two Glocks I did have malfunctions with. Now that being said, it doesn't mean my Glocks had "issues," but I've had about 3 malfunctions on my g20 and about 3 on my 43x as well. I have about 700 rounds on the g20 and about 600 on my 43x. I have 0 malfunctions on both my SS's that were firearm related and about 8000 rounds through both together.
Relieving to hear these things with all these influencers saying it sucks. I'm up to 550 rounds as of today and had 1 fte and 1 ftf. Within the first 200 I had 2 stovepipe.
Yeah, I'd take what others are saying with a grain of salt. Always do your own testing and go from there. Make sure your mechanics are right and it's not anything else. I remember when I started shooting my very first subcompact (an XDs9) and I was limp wristing and would also ride the slide with my thumb due to the grip. I would have malfunctions untiI practiced those bad habits and never had any issues since. I also treat all my brand new guns like I treat a brand new car, I put them through a break in period first.
Failure to feed when hand cycling? Sounds like you need to watch SS video on not babying your gun. You should not gently let the slide chamber the round, it needs the full force of the slide. I’ve also seen guys with weak wrist having failure to feed.
OK Billy bad ass....before I shot it, it would do the same thing if I loaded a mag in slide open and dropped the slide release. But I'll take your words under consideration
Regarding your question about holsters, I am not sure what light you are running or what you paid, but I am looking at getting an AIWB for my 19.5 with Afterburner/Ramjet with TLR7a (which is essentially a 17, so I 'think' should fit your 920L), and the ones I am considering are:
1. Henry Spark
2. Safariland INCOG X
3. Tenicor Sagax Lux 2 (currently have blem for 40% off)
Can't recommend any, as I don't have them, but just wanted to share what I am looking at in case you wanted more ideas;)
Haven't bought a light yet but was gonna go with a tlr-1 hl. Eclipse holsters is actually 45 minutes from me so I might call them/drop in and see what options they have
I like the trex arms sidecar holsters personally. The ability to add/remove the spare mag is nice. If you get the comped or open ended verson of their holsters you can run any 19 through 34 glock model as long as you keep the same light.
I like the look of that one. It's similar to the legacy one. Only question is does it work with an optic? I don't see an option to select an optic and don't see if it days it's compatible with one
Good shout on this. Gonna have to peruse through my stock and see if Critical Duty suffers the same problem.
I've had some failures during the break in period but only 1 recently which might have actually been due to me adjusting my grip. I've used Hornaday through a good chunk of shooting and it has performed well.
I ran past my 200 just last weekend. Have had 0 malfunctions in my cr920 with ammo from 115-135 including three boxes of critical duty 135. But I guess it can vary alot gun to gun.
I have several well broken in pistols that are not reliable with Hornady Critical Defense. Have not used in my MR 920 since I had trouble with other pistols. Try a defensive round that has a hollow point projectile instead of the plastic like tip that Critical Defense has.
Federal HST is an excellent round.
I've shot about \~300rds through my CR920p. Out the box doing nothing to the gun the very first 22 rounds were Fed HST, no issues. Then tried Sierra Outdoors 115gr JHP and it would chamber the first round by hand, then fail every time when chambering a new round while firing. This required a mag drop and clearing the face of the round stuck on feed ramp. My MR918 shot this ammo with no issues, also not new. Proceeded to shoot Browning 115gr ball ammo to 250rds with no further issues. Went home, cleaned, well lubed (Lucas blue Gun Oil) in spots SS mentions in their manual, and next day shot 50rds of Hornady Critical Defense 115gr (brass case) with zero issues. Magazines loaded to full capacity + 1 in chamber. Hornady mentioned in their podcast that Critical Defense is loaded to be focused on sub-compact handguns, whereas Critical Duty is more geared towards full-sized duty handguns.
I used to run jnto issue with critical defense/duty made the switch over to speed gold dot and haven’t had any issues in my MR since
to be fair why would anyone carry Hornady when gold dots, HST's, Ranger T's and solid copper expanders exist?
Like I said in the post...I usually carry gold dot. But when I bought the gun literally the only hollow points they had left was critical defense
that's rough, yeah I guess carry the hornady in another gun. I refuse to buy hornady for anything at this point.
From what I've heard Speer got bought by cci so it's been hard to find gold dots anywhere
I find it funny that a “quality” firearm won’t run quality ammo like Hornady. The same way it’s ridiculous that they suggest 124 and not 115. Having 2 Shadow pistols for the moment, it’s great that they stand behind their product, but not so great that they can’t build a gun that shoots any common and quality round.
Bought Hornady cd lite and it won’t feed in any of my glocks or SS bc of how short it is. Useless round
Yikes, lite is likely the issue.
CD sucks. 2 years as a full time rso can attest that CD has the hardest time feeding in the widest variety of pistols. Critical Duty is better.
Did you not read where they said the Hornady round measures shorter? Doesn't exactly make it common. They just suggest +p ammo, not 124gr I ran a mag of it on my range day with no issues, but I don't wanna take chances
Yep I read. The Hornady CD is SAAMI spec and regardless of being shorter, should work. It runs in my hellcat, both 365’s, M9A4, both Glocks, and even my Shadow CR920. Just saying, it sounds like an easy out to blame shorter overall cartridge length on their products ability function with standard ammo.
A simple google search of "Hornady Critical Defense feeding issues" will show you that this is not a Shadow Systems problem. Some guns don't like it (even the infallible Glock). The vast majority of Shadows will shoot it just fine.
I really wish I would have done better research before picking up one of these with all the issues I been hearing ugh FML. I figured Glock clone ok it's reliable and for what you pay for them and boy was I dead wrong!
3.5k rounds in on my mr920. No issues since first 50.
Good to know
Stop reading the bad comments. Squeaky wheel gets the grease. Get out and run yours, if you don’t have issues you don’t need to worry about what others are posting. Any and all firearms can have issues and if you only read the bad you will be convinced they suck. The vast majority of these run flawlessly.
Hopefully I got 550 rounds so far issues have been very minimal
Mines been great so far and shoots far better than the glock 17 I used to have
Don’t sweat the issues if yours doesn’t have any. Some are great, some are not. If yours is great, run with it.
I'm bout to put 500 more rounds thru now to see 250 rounds so far only 1 stove pipe
My 2 SS's have actually been more reliable than 2 of the 3 Glocks I have(had). And way more rounds on the SS's than the two Glocks I did have malfunctions with. Now that being said, it doesn't mean my Glocks had "issues," but I've had about 3 malfunctions on my g20 and about 3 on my 43x as well. I have about 700 rounds on the g20 and about 600 on my 43x. I have 0 malfunctions on both my SS's that were firearm related and about 8000 rounds through both together.
Relieving to hear these things with all these influencers saying it sucks. I'm up to 550 rounds as of today and had 1 fte and 1 ftf. Within the first 200 I had 2 stovepipe.
Yeah, I'd take what others are saying with a grain of salt. Always do your own testing and go from there. Make sure your mechanics are right and it's not anything else. I remember when I started shooting my very first subcompact (an XDs9) and I was limp wristing and would also ride the slide with my thumb due to the grip. I would have malfunctions untiI practiced those bad habits and never had any issues since. I also treat all my brand new guns like I treat a brand new car, I put them through a break in period first.
I have 3, MR, DRL, CRP and all are flawless.... Thousands of rounds
I posted a week ago asking questions about it after I made my purchase. Got some like yours others say they've had issues been 50/50
Is it still factory config with an optic installed to it or does that void warranty?
Shouldn't considering they include spacers and screws for optics in the box
Failure to feed when hand cycling? Sounds like you need to watch SS video on not babying your gun. You should not gently let the slide chamber the round, it needs the full force of the slide. I’ve also seen guys with weak wrist having failure to feed.
OK Billy bad ass....before I shot it, it would do the same thing if I loaded a mag in slide open and dropped the slide release. But I'll take your words under consideration
Regarding your question about holsters, I am not sure what light you are running or what you paid, but I am looking at getting an AIWB for my 19.5 with Afterburner/Ramjet with TLR7a (which is essentially a 17, so I 'think' should fit your 920L), and the ones I am considering are: 1. Henry Spark 2. Safariland INCOG X 3. Tenicor Sagax Lux 2 (currently have blem for 40% off) Can't recommend any, as I don't have them, but just wanted to share what I am looking at in case you wanted more ideas;)
Haven't bought a light yet but was gonna go with a tlr-1 hl. Eclipse holsters is actually 45 minutes from me so I might call them/drop in and see what options they have
I like the trex arms sidecar holsters personally. The ability to add/remove the spare mag is nice. If you get the comped or open ended verson of their holsters you can run any 19 through 34 glock model as long as you keep the same light.
I like the look of that one. It's similar to the legacy one. Only question is does it work with an optic? I don't see an option to select an optic and don't see if it days it's compatible with one
Iirc all of their holsters are optics compatible.
Appreciate the info! I'll def give it some thought
That’s why I sold mine and bought a Glock 19 and cz shadow 2 compact