CCI's brass-cased Blazer 230-grain FMJ runs at the mild end of .45 ball, 830 fps and 352 ft-lbs. That works out to a power factor of 191, which clears the 165 USPSA major floor by 26 points. From a 25-yard zero it is 2.8 inches low at 50 yards and 18.9 inches low at 100, where it still carries 296 ft-lbs. In the same pistol it shares the lowest recoil energy in this set with PMC Bronze 230.

PMC Bronze 230 is identical at the muzzle, 830 fps and 352 ft-lbs, and the two sit 5 fps apart at 50 yards. Magtech 230 is 7 fps faster and 14 fps ahead at 50 yards. Fiocchi Training Dynamics 230 at 860 fps adds 30 fps, 26 ft-lbs and about 6 percent more recoil energy in the same pistol. American Eagle 230 is a different load in the hand: 60 fps faster at 890 fps, 52 ft-lbs more, and about 12 percent more recoil energy. It also shoots flatter, with 2.8 inches less drop at 100 yards, though at 50 yards the gap is 0.4 inch, too small to change a hold.

Buy Blazer for high-volume practice and for new shooters, where the softest recoil in this group is the point. It will not rehearse a full-power carry load. Federal HST 230 JHP leaves at 890 fps with 404 ft-lbs, and American Eagle 230 matches both figures, so a shooter who carries HST should practice with the American Eagle and keep Blazer for the high-count days.