Winchester's Range 165-grain FMJ and its plain white box 165 are the same load under two labels: 1,060 fps at the muzzle, 412 ft-lbs of energy, and a power factor of 175 that clears the 165 USPSA major floor by 10 points. From a 25-yard zero the bullet sits 1.6 inches low at 50 yards and 11.5 inches low at 100. It is a round-nose FMJ; Winchester's USA Ready 165 FMJFN puts a flat-nose bullet over the same numbers.

The set runs from PMC Bronze at 989 fps to American Eagle 155 at 1,160 fps, and the Winchester sits in the lower half of it. It leaves 71 fps ahead of the PMC and 40 fps behind Blazer's TMJ, with 54 ft-lbs more energy than the PMC and 31 ft-lbs less than the Blazer. In the same pistol it produces about 12 percent more recoil energy than the PMC, about 6 percent less than the Blazer, and about 3 percent less than the American Eagle 155, which leaves 100 fps faster with a bullet 10 grains lighter. The PMC is also the only load here that misses major, at a power factor of 163.

Buy it for range work in a pistol you carry with a 165-grain hollow point. PMC Bronze 165 JHP leaves 20 fps slower than this load, and no other ball round in the set sits closer to that hollow point in recoil. If you want the softest 165 for a long session or a new shooter, PMC Bronze 165 FMJ at 989 fps is the choice. If you want the most energy from a 165 without changing bullet weight, Blazer 165 TMJ carries 443 ft-lbs at the muzzle, though its aluminum case cannot be reloaded.