HSM loads a 200-grain round nose flat point, a plain lead bullet loaded mild for cowboy action matches, at 850 fps with 321 ft-lbs. Power factor is 170, which clears the 165 major floor. From a 25-yard zero it drops 2.6 inches at 50 yards and 18.0 inches at 100, where it has slowed to 778 fps.

Against the other two cowboy loads, the HSM is the fastest by a wide margin. Fiocchi Cowboy Action 210 starts 100 fps slower with 59 ft-lbs less, and Magtech's 240-grain cowboy load starts 125 fps slower with a heavier bullet. In the same revolver the HSM sits almost exactly between them in recoil: about 11 percent more recoil energy than the Fiocchi and about 11 percent less than the Magtech. The bigger split is power factor. The HSM and the Magtech both make major, at 170 and 174, while the Fiocchi comes in at 157.5 and scores minor. For a cowboy match that does not score power factor, the extra speed changes little and the Fiocchi's lighter recoil may be the better trade over a long day. For a shooter who also enters games that score major, the HSM and the Magtech are the two that qualify.

Buy it for cowboy action or casual steel in a .44 Special revolver when you want one load that also makes major. Shooters who want softer recoil for a long match day should pick the Fiocchi Cowboy Action 210 instead. A plain lead cowboy bullet is not built for self-defense; for that job, Fiocchi 200-grain SJHP is a hollow point at 900 fps with about 10 percent more recoil energy than the HSM in the same revolver.