Hornady Critical Defense 185-grain FTX is the softest-shooting hollow point in this group. The FTX is a hollow point with a soft polymer tip, designed for personal defense. It leaves at 900 fps with 333 ft-lbs, the least muzzle energy of the six. Its power factor of 166.5 clears the 165 USPSA major floor by only 1.5 points; it needs 892 fps to make major, so a barrel that loses 9 fps puts it under. From a 25-yard zero it drops 2.3 inches at 50 yards and 16.1 at 100, and it is still moving 853 fps at 50.

Recoil is where it wins. In the same pistol it produces about 34 percent less recoil energy than Federal HST 230, about 23 percent less than Speer Gold Dot 185, about 14 percent less than Hornady Custom 200 XTP and about 37 percent less than Speer Gold Dot Carry Gun +P 200. Energy is what it gives up. The HST is 10 fps slower but carries 71 ft-lbs more, the Custom XTP matches its 900 fps with 27 ft-lbs more, and the Gold Dot 185 is 150 fps faster with 120 ft-lbs more. Hornady Critical Duty +P 220 has 131 ft-lbs more at the muzzle. Drop is within 0.1 inch of the HST and the Custom XTP at 50 yards, so all three share a hold.

Buy it for a compact .45 when recoil holds your shooting back, or for a shooter new to the caliber. Skip it for USPSA major, where its margin is too thin; Hornady Custom 200 XTP shoots nearly as soft and makes major comfortably. For paper at the same bullet weight, Federal Gold Medal 185 FMJ-SWC produces about 22 percent less recoil energy still, but it is a target load.