Hornady Custom pushes a 155-grain XTP at 1,180 fps for 479 ft-lbs, second only to Remington HTP 155 for speed. XTP is Hornady's jacketed hollow point; Custom is the standard-pressure line that carries it. Power factor 183, 18 over the 165 major floor. From a 25-yard zero it drops 1.3 inches at 50 yards and 9.7 at 100, flatter at 100 than any 165 here, still doing 1,060 fps at 50 and 978 at 100. In the same compact pistol it produces about 5 percent less recoil energy than Federal HST 165 and 8 percent less than Speer Gold Dot 165.

At the muzzle it sits with the 165s: 11 ft-lbs ahead of Federal HST 165 and 5 behind Speer Gold Dot 165 and Remington Golden Saber 165, which share 1,150 fps and 484 ft-lbs. The lighter bullet sheds energy faster, though. By 50 yards HST is 9 ft-lbs ahead, and by 100 the gap to Gold Dot and Golden Saber is 22 ft-lbs, 330 against 352, though it arrives within 2 fps of them. Against Hornady Critical Defense 165 it is 135 fps and 79 ft-lbs ahead at the muzzle, 41 ft-lbs ahead at 50 and 2.3 inches flatter at 100, for about 9 percent more recoil energy. Remington HTP 155 beats it at the muzzle by 25 fps and 21 ft-lbs, with about 4 percent more recoil.

Buy the Custom 155 if you want 165-class muzzle energy with less recoil than any premium 165 here and a flatter trajectory to 100 yards. If energy at distance matters more, Speer Gold Dot 165 arrives at 100 yards with 352 ft-lbs. For practice, Federal American Eagle 155-grain FMJ runs 1,160 fps, only 20 fps slower, with about 3 percent less recoil energy, a close stand-in.