Federal's Power-Shok 180-grain jacketed hollow point is the softest-shooting load in its set, at 1,460 fps and 852 ft-lbs. Power factor is 263, 98 points over the USPSA major floor of 165; every .44 Magnum load here makes major by a wide margin. From a 25-yard zero the bullet sits 0.7 inches low at 50 yards and 6.6 inches low at 100, where it is still doing 1,091 fps with 476 ft-lbs. The jacketed hollow point is meant to expand on impact.

Every load it is compared with carries more energy and kicks harder. PMC Bronze 180 is the extreme case: 373 ft-lbs more at the muzzle and about 38 percent more recoil energy in the same revolver. Fiocchi 200 produces about 26 percent more recoil, and Hornady LEVERevolution 225 about 47 percent more. What the Power-Shok gives up is energy, not handling: it is the same bullet weight as the PMC and Remington UMC 180, and the one to pick when recoil matters more than energy.

Buy this if you want a full-size .44 Magnum hunting bullet you can shoot all afternoon; nothing else in the set comes close on recoil. If you were looking at Federal HST 230 for its low recoil, note that the two are within 2 percent of each other in the same revolver and the Power-Shok carries 251 ft-lbs more, so the HST only makes sense if you want the heavier defensive bullet. If you want energy rather than comfort, Hornady Backcountry Defense 240-grain hard cast delivers 1,398 ft-lbs, 546 more, at more than double the recoil energy, about 114 percent more.