Armscor's 240-grain jacketed hollow point is the mildest .44 Magnum load in this comparison, at 1,097 fps and 641 ft-lbs. The jacketed hollow point is a general-purpose bullet for defensive and field use. Its power factor of 263 is still well over the 165 USPSA major floor, and every load in the group clears that floor by a wide margin. From a 25-yard zero it prints 1.4 inches low at 50 yards and 10.8 inches low at 100.

Federal Power-Shok 240 is the next step up, 133 fps faster with 165 ft-lbs more, and it produces about 22 percent more recoil energy in the same revolver. Black Hills 240 adds 163 fps and about 27 percent more recoil energy. Hornady Custom 240 XTP is 253 fps faster with 330 ft-lbs more. At the full-power end, Atomic Bonded Match 240 carries 558 ft-lbs more with about 72 percent more recoil energy, and Magtech's 240 SJSP, with a power factor of 388, produces nearly twice the recoil energy of the Armscor.

Buy the Armscor if you want hollow points in a .44 Magnum but prefer recoil well below full-power hunting loads, or if you are working up to full-power ammunition. Hunters who want more energy without a big jump in recoil should look at Black Hills 240 or Federal Power-Shok 240. At the other extreme, Hornady Backcountry Defense 240 is a hard-cast load rated at 1,398 ft-lbs, more than twice the Armscor's energy.