Black Hills loads the HoneyBadger with a 60-grain fluted solid-copper bullet, the lightest bullet in this comparison set, at 1,150 fps for 176 ft-lbs at the muzzle. There is no hollow-point cavity; the flutes are cut into the copper itself, and Black Hills sells it as a defensive load. Power factor is 69. From a 25-yard zero the bullet sits 1.5 inches low at 50 yards and 11.4 inches low at 100, which says plainly that a .380 is a close-range pistol. The brass case is reloadable.

The one close comparison is Underwood's 68-grain Xtreme Defender, the other fluted solid-copper bullet in .380. The Underwood leaves the muzzle 150 fps faster at 1,300 fps and carries 79 ft-lbs more energy, 255 against 176. It also produces about 57 percent more recoil energy in the same pistol. That is the whole trade between the two: the Black Hills gives up 31 percent of the Underwood's muzzle energy and gets the softest recoil estimate of the two in return.

Buy the HoneyBadger if you carry a very light .380, want a solid-copper bullet rather than a hollow point, and put recoil control ahead of muzzle energy. If you want more energy from the same style of bullet, the Underwood Xtreme Defender's 255 ft-lbs is the answer. If you prefer a conventional jacketed hollow point, Federal Train + Protect 85-grain runs 1,000 fps and 189 ft-lbs, 13 ft-lbs more than the HoneyBadger, with about 58 percent more recoil energy. For practice, SinterFire 75-grain lead-free frangible ball at 1,025 fps is the nearest practice match, though it still has about 28 percent more recoil energy than the HoneyBadger in the same pistol.