Winchester's PDX1 Defender carries the heaviest bullet in this .380 comparison, a 95-grain jacketed hollow point sold for personal defense, at 1,000 fps for 211 ft-lbs. Power factor is 95, the highest of the standard-pressure loads here but nowhere near the 125 minor floor. From a 25-yard zero it prints 1.9 inches low at 50 yards and 13.8 inches low at 100; a .380 is a close-range pistol. The nickel-plated brass case is reloadable.

Hornady Critical Defense and Hornady American Gunner run the same 1,000 fps with 5 grains less bullet, so the Winchester carries 11 ft-lbs more and produces about 11 percent more recoil energy in the same pistol. Speer Gold Dot is 40 fps faster at 1,040 fps and edges the PDX1 by 5 ft-lbs with about 4 percent less recoil. Remington HTP 88-grain is 10 fps slower and 20 ft-lbs down, and the Winchester has about 19 percent more recoil than it. Underwood +P 90-grain is 200 fps faster and 77 ft-lbs ahead at 288 ft-lbs, with about 22 percent more recoil energy than the PDX1.

Buy the PDX1 Defender if you want the heaviest standard-pressure hollow point compared here and your pistol is not rated for +P, or you would rather skip the Underwood's 22 percent recoil step. For less recoil from a defensive bullet, Underwood Xtreme Defender 68-grain at 1,300 fps and 255 ft-lbs has about 20 percent less recoil energy than the Winchester while making 44 ft-lbs more at the muzzle. For practice, Tula 95-grain FMJ at 1,017 fps is the same bullet weight with about 3 percent more recoil energy in the same pistol; its steel case is magnetic and some ranges refuse it, so check first.