Two Hornady 125-grain loads on this .357 Magnum page share the same published numbers, and Critical Defense is the polymer-tipped one. The FTX is a hollow point with a polymer insert in the cavity, designed to start the bullet opening on impact. Hornady lists 1,500 fps and 624 ft-lbs, a power factor of 188 that clears the 165 major floor by about 22 points. From a 25-yard zero it is 0.6 inch low at 50 yards with 478 ft-lbs remaining and 5.8 inches low at 100 with 376 ft-lbs. The case is nickel-plated brass, which reloads like plain brass. The recoil estimate is the highest in this set, shared with American Gunner.

Hornady American Gunner 125 XTP is the same load on paper, 1,500 fps, 624 ft-lbs and the same recoil estimate, with the XTP hollow point and a brass case in place of the FTX and nickel; the computed 100-yard figures differ by 2 fps. Remington UMC 125 JSP lists 1,450 fps and 584 ft-lbs; at 100 yards it is computed at 1,090 fps and 330 ft-lbs against 1,163 fps and 376 ft-lbs here, with 0.8 inch more drop. Hornady Critical Duty 135-grain FlexLock is 225 fps slower with about 12 percent less recoil energy in the same revolver. Remington HTP 125-grain lists 1,450 fps and 584 ft-lbs and Winchester PDX1 Defender 125 lists 1,325 fps and 487 ft-lbs; Hornady rates its loads under different test conditions than Remington and Winchester, so the 50 and 175 fps gaps are published figures and the spread from one revolver is smaller. The recoil estimate runs about 6 percent over the HTP on those same figures.

This is the 125-grain Hornady load for a shooter who wants the polymer-tipped FTX in a nickel-plated case and accepts the highest recoil estimate on the page to get 624 ft-lbs. If the recoil is the problem, Hornady Critical Duty 135 FlexLock is the mildest Hornady load here and still makes major at 172. For practice, Fiocchi's 142-grain FMJ-TC at 1,420 fps and 636 ft-lbs runs about 17 percent more recoil energy in the same revolver, so it is a heavier-recoiling stand-in rather than a match.