Hornady's LEVERevolution 140-grain lists the highest muzzle energy in this .357 Magnum set, 645 ft-lbs at 1,440 fps. The bullet is an FTX, a hollow point with a soft polymer tip, and this one is designed for tube-magazine lever guns. Power factor is 202, about 37 points over the 165 major floor. From a 25-yard zero the computed drop is 0.7 inch at 50 yards, with 510 ft-lbs remaining, and 6.2 inches at 100, with 414 ft-lbs. The case is nickel-plated brass. The recoil estimate is the highest of the six loads here.

Hornady's own 125 and 135 are the cleanest comparisons, since the three share a test method. Hornady Critical Defense 125 FTX lists 21 ft-lbs less at the muzzle, about 14 percent less recoil energy in the same revolver, and is computed a little flatter at 100 yards while arriving with 38 ft-lbs less. Hornady Critical Duty 135 FlexLock is 165 fps and 158 ft-lbs behind, with about 25 percent less recoil energy, 1.9 inches more drop at 100 yards and 78 ft-lbs less energy there. Among the other makers, Remington HTP 125-grain lists 1,450 fps and 584 ft-lbs, Winchester Silvertip 145-grain 1,290 fps and 536 ft-lbs, and Barnes VOR-TX 140-grain XPB 1,265 fps and 498 ft-lbs. Hornady rates its loads under different test conditions than those three, so the 61 to 147 ft-lbs energy lead is a published gap, and one revolver would show less of it.

Buy this for a lever-action .357, or for a revolver shooter who wants the most muzzle energy in the set and accepts the highest recoil estimate to get it. If the recoil is the problem, Critical Duty 135 FlexLock is the mild Hornady option at 487 ft-lbs. For practice, Fiocchi's 142-grain FMJ-TC is the closest match on this page: 1,420 fps, 636 ft-lbs, a power factor of 202 and a recoil estimate within 1 percent of this load's, so it is the ball load to shoot when you are not shooting the FTX.