Critical Defense ammo.... It would not be my choice in an auto pistol as there are much better proven loads out there.
I no longer use .45 as a carry gun,just 9mm.I prefer the proven loads mainly the HST( excellant performance all around,and holds the jacket well for a non bonded bullet.)
Winchester RA9T( This 147 grainer has a proven track record in a lot of police shootings AND a large number of civilian defensive shootings as well.)
If these two were not available I'd go to the same brands in the 124+P,or the 124+P in the Gold Dot(another street proven load) or the Golden Sabre in 124+P or 147 gr standard.
HOWEVER.....I carry a J frame often as a BUG.It's an airweight. It's a back against the wall,up close and personal weapon to extricate myself from a really close,bad situation.
I carry wadcutters. WHAT? PUNY WADCUTTERS?. Well...let's put this into prospective regarding the primary use of this particular weapon.
Wadcutters offer good penetration,period,especialy at contact or near contact distances,and cut a full caliber size wound track in the process. Expansion has been a problem in 2 inch barrels,even with the old FBI semi wadcutter load. If I need this gun in these circumstances,I need it to work right now. Fast rounds of wadcutters from an airweight is easy. But,then we have the problem of a reload if needed. I hope and pray it never is.
Wadcutters,due to their shape,are difficult to reload with any speed by hand,or with a speed strip,or even with a jet loader,which is what I use.
The "reload" needs to have a normal bullet profile for ease of reloading,if necessary. The best rouind for me is standard pressure DPX.The DPX rounds work well,period.They are IMO ridiculously expensive,so I don't do a lot of shooting with them.
I believe that the Critical Defense FTX bullet works well in soft targets,giving adequate penetration,esp at extreme close range,and decent expansion,more so than most .38 rounds from a 1 7/8" barrel,with the exception of the DPX,or any of the other brands loaded with the Barnes copper X bullet.
I would,and probably eventually will,get some of these to carry in the jetloaders. 110 gr standard pressure is easily controllable at speed in an airweight gun.
They can be considered for this use,but as stated would not be my first pick at all for a main carry pistol.