Hornady's Custom 240-grain XTP runs just above the middle of the .44 Magnum range, at 1,350 fps and 971 ft-lbs. The XTP is Hornady's jacketed hollow point for hunting. Its power factor of 324 is nearly double the 165 USPSA major floor, and every load in this group clears that floor by a wide margin. From a 25-yard zero it is 0.8 inch low at 50 yards and 6.9 inches low at 100, where it still carries 684 ft-lbs.

Against the mid-power 240s it gains both speed and reach. It is 90 fps faster than Black Hills 240 and 120 fps faster than Federal Power-Shok 240, and it prints 1.3 and 1.7 inches higher at 100 yards, for about 13 and 17 percent more recoil energy in the same revolver. CCI Blazer 240 trails by 150 fps and 2.2 inches at 100 yards. Above it, PMC Bronze 240 is 147 fps faster and 1.4 inches flatter at 100 yards with about 20 percent more recoil energy, and Ammo Inc Signature 240 JHP is 239 fps faster with about 33 percent more recoil energy than the XTP.

Buy the XTP if you want one 240-grain hunting load that shoots flatter than the mid-power group without jumping to full-power recoil. Shooters who mostly practice should look at CCI Blazer 240, which produces about 18 percent less recoil energy. For range practice at a similar level, Ammo Inc Signature 240-grain TMC is a non-expanding load 80 fps faster, with about 11 percent more recoil energy in the same revolver.