PMC Bronze 165-grain is the mildest load in this comparison: a jacketed hollow point at 1,040 fps and 396 ft-lbs, with less recoil energy than any other load here. It is a conventional jacketed hollow point in a brass case, PMC's standard line. Power factor 172, about 7 over the 165 major floor. From a 25-yard zero it drops 1.7 inches at 50 yards and 12.0 at 100. In the same compact pistol it produces about 16 percent less recoil energy than Speer Gold Dot 165 or Remington Golden Saber 165.

These loads split into a fast group and a slow group, and the PMC sits in the slow one with the two Hornady loads. Hornady Critical Defense 165 runs 1,045 fps and 400 ft-lbs, 4 ft-lbs ahead, with recoil within 1 percent. Hornady Critical Duty 175 matches its 396 ft-lbs from a heavier, slower bullet, with about 7 percent more recoil energy. The fast group is well clear: Federal HST 165 has 72 ft-lbs on the PMC at the muzzle, and Gold Dot 165 and Golden Saber 165, at 1,150 fps and 484 ft-lbs, have 88.

This is a hollow point for a shooter who wants the least recoil in the caliber's 165-grain class, or who trains with the same hollow point they carry. Its numbers track Critical Defense 165 closely, so those two are the pair to choose between. If you want the top of the range, Golden Saber 165 gives 88 ft-lbs more at the muzzle for about 18 percent more recoil. For ball practice, Winchester 165-grain FMJ Range runs 1,060 fps and 412 ft-lbs, 20 fps and 16 ft-lbs more than the PMC with about 3 percent more recoil energy in the same pistol, the closest feel match here.