PMC Bronze loads a 90-grain full metal jacket bullet at 961 fps, which works out to 185 ft-lbs at the muzzle. The full metal jacket keeps the lead core enclosed, and that is all this load is meant to do: make holes in paper. From a 25-yard zero the bullet is 2.1 inches low at 50 yards and 14.8 inches low at 100. Those drops look large next to 9mm figures, but a .380 is a 7 to 15 yard pistol, and inside that distance the trajectory is flat enough to ignore. The 90-grain bullet is the lightest in its comparison set, and it produces the least recoil energy of the six loads compared here.

Against the 95-grain loads it is quick but soft. Federal Range and Target 95-grain and Federal American Eagle 95-grain both leave the muzzle 19 fps faster, and each produces about 15 percent more recoil energy than the PMC in the same pistol. CCI Blazer Brass 95-grain is 16 fps slower yet still kicks about 9 percent harder, and PPU 94-grain is 10 fps slower with about 8 percent more recoil. Ammo Inc Signature 100-grain TMC is the slow one at 890 fps, 71 fps behind the PMC, and its heavier bullet still means about 9 percent more recoil energy. Drop differences between these loads do not exist at 7 to 15 yards.

Buy this if you want the softest-shooting ball in the set for pocket-pistol practice, or if you are teaching a new shooter on a small .380 and want the lightest recoil you can get without changing calibers. It is also a fair stand-in for a 90-grain carry load: Speer Gold Dot 90-grain JHP produces about 14 percent more recoil energy in the same pistol, close enough that the practice carries over. If your carry ammo is a 95-grain hollow point and you want practice that matches it, Federal American Eagle 95-grain at 980 fps is the closer match, and it is the one to pick.