Underwood's +P is the hottest hollow point in this .380 set: Hornady's 90-grain XTP hollow point at 1,200 fps for 288 ft-lbs and a power factor of 108, the highest here, still under the 125 minor floor. +P means pressure above the cartridge standard; check that your pistol is rated for it. Downrange it holds 1,037 fps and 215 ft-lbs at 50 yards with 1.3 inches of drop from a 25-yard zero, then 176 ft-lbs and 10.1 inches low at 100. It is still a close-range pistol.

Hornady American Gunner loads the same XTP bullet at standard pressure, 1,000 fps and 200 ft-lbs, as does Hornady Critical Defense with its FTX. The gap holds downrange: 125 fps and 49 ft-lbs ahead at 50 yards, and more energy at 100 yards than either has at 50, for about 36 percent more recoil energy in the same pistol. Speer Gold Dot is the nearest standard-pressure load at 1,040 fps and 216 ft-lbs; the Underwood is 160 fps and 72 ft-lbs ahead with about 27 percent more recoil. Remington HTP 88-grain and Federal Train + Protect 85-grain, at 990 and 1,000 fps, are the soft end; the +P has about 45 and 52 percent more recoil energy than those two.

Buy this if your .380 is rated for +P and you want the most energy in this set, recoil included. Without a +P rating, the Gold Dot's 216 ft-lbs is the top of the standard-pressure loads. For recoil control, Black Hills HoneyBadger 60-grain at 1,150 fps has about 58 percent less recoil energy than this load. No practice ball load gets close: PMC Bronze 90-grain FMJ at 961 fps is the same weight with about 31 percent less recoil energy in the same pistol.