The fastest 125-grain load in this group is Remington's Golden Saber +P, a brass-jacketed hollow point at 975 fps and 264 ft-lbs; Remington uses a brass jacket in place of the usual copper. Power factor is 122, above the 105 IDPA stock-revolver floor and the only 125-grain +P here that clears the 120 USPSA revolver-minor floor. It is a +P load: check that your revolver is rated for it. From a 25-yard zero it drops 1.9 inches at 50 yards and 13.7 at 100. Recoil energy in the same revolver is about 5 percent more than the Remington UMC +P and Speer Gold Dot +P, and about 22 percent more than the Gold Dot standard-pressure load.

Every comparison trails it at the muzzle. The UMC +P and Gold Dot +P, both at 945 fps, are 30 fps behind; Magtech +P at 938 fps is 37 fps behind, with about 6 percent less recoil energy. The standard-pressure loads sit further back: the Hornady American Gunner 125-grain at 900 fps gives up 75 fps, and the Gold Dot standard at 865 fps gives up 110. Its 264 ft-lbs at the muzzle also leads; the next-highest figure here is the 248 shared by the UMC +P and Gold Dot +P. None of the five has a power factor above 118.

This is the load for a +P-rated .38 Special revolver when the buyer wants the most velocity and energy from a 125-grain bullet and accepts the most recoil in the set to get it. If the revolver is not rated for +P, the American Gunner 125-grain at 900 fps and 225 ft-lbs is the standard-pressure route. For practice, the Speer Lawman 125-grain TMJ at 863 fps produces about 18 percent less recoil energy in the same revolver, a gap you will feel when you switch back to the carry load. A shooter who wants a heavier bullet should look at Hornady's 158-grain XTP: 800 fps and 225 ft-lbs, a power factor of 126, and about 16 percent more recoil energy than even this load.