Same muzzle numbers as Hornady Critical Defense 60, different bullet: Hornady Custom loads a 60-grain XTP, Hornady's conventional jacketed hollow point, to 1,000 fps and 133 ft-lbs. From a 25-yard zero it drops 1.9 inches at 50 yards and 13.8 inches at 100, a close-range pistol load like every .32 ACP. In the same pistol it produces about 6 percent more recoil energy than Silvertip 60.

Against the standard-pressure 60-grain hollow points the XTP shares the top muzzle figures with the Critical Defense, 30 fps ahead of the Silvertip and 40 fps ahead of Speer Gold Dot 60. PMC Bronze 60-grain JHP sits closest, 20 fps behind. Because the XTP and the Critical Defense match at the muzzle and in recoil, the choice between them is the bullet: a conventional hollow point here, a polymer-tipped one in the Critical Defense. Buffalo Bore's +P Barnes TAC-XP is the outlier at 1,150 fps, 150 fps faster, with about 26 percent more recoil energy in the same pistol. It is loaded above standard pressure, so check that your pistol is rated for +P before you use it.

This is the pick for a shooter who wants Hornady's 1,000 fps .32 load in a conventional jacketed hollow point. Anyone who wants less recoil in a light pistol should look at Speer Gold Dot 60, which produces about 7 percent less recoil energy in the same pistol. For practice, PMC Bronze 71-grain FMJ at 900 fps kicks about 16 percent harder than this load in the same pistol.