Underwood's Xtreme Defender is the fastest load in this .380 comparison: a 68-grain fluted solid-copper bullet at 1,300 fps for 255 ft-lbs. There is no hollow-point cavity; the flutes are cut into the copper, and Underwood sells it as a defensive load. Power factor is 88, far under the 125 floor for USPSA minor, as every .380 here is. From a 25-yard zero it prints 1.1 inches low at 50 yards and 9.2 inches low at 100; a .380 is a close-range pistol. The nickel-plated brass case is reloadable.

Federal Train + Protect 85-grain is the conventional hollow point here. It leaves at 1,000 fps with 189 ft-lbs, so the Underwood is 300 fps faster with 66 ft-lbs more, yet the two produce recoil energy within 1 percent of each other in the same pistol, because the Underwood gives up 17 grains of bullet weight for its speed. Black Hills HoneyBadger 60-grain is the other fluted copper bullet: 8 grains lighter, 150 fps slower at 1,150 fps, and 79 ft-lbs down at the muzzle, with about 36 percent less recoil energy than the Underwood.

Buy the Xtreme Defender if you want the most muzzle energy from a solid-copper bullet at the recoil of an 85-grain hollow point. If recoil is the problem, the HoneyBadger's 1,150 fps and 176 ft-lbs come with the lightest recoil estimate of the loads compared here. If you want a jacketed hollow point instead, Remington HTP 88-grain runs 990 fps for 191 ft-lbs with about 6 percent more recoil energy than the Underwood. For practice, SinterFire 75-grain lead-free frangible at 1,025 fps is the nearest match, with about 18 percent less recoil energy than the Xtreme Defender in the same pistol.