Hornady's Custom 200-grain XTP sits second from the bottom of this group in both muzzle energy and recoil. The XTP is Hornady's jacketed hollow point, loaded here at standard pressure for general defensive use. It leaves the muzzle at 900 fps with 360 ft-lbs, a power factor of 180 that clears the 165 USPSA major floor by 15 points. At 50 yards it is still moving 856 fps with 325 ft-lbs, and from a 25-yard zero it drops 2.3 inches there and 16.0 inches at 100.

Its nearest neighbor is Hornady Critical Defense 185, which leaves at the same 900 fps; the heavier XTP carries 27 ft-lbs more and produces about 17 percent more recoil energy in the same pistol. Federal HST 230 is 10 fps slower but has 44 ft-lbs more, and the XTP produces about 23 percent less recoil energy than the HST. Speer Gold Dot 185 is 150 fps faster with 93 ft-lbs more, for about 11 percent more recoil energy than the XTP. The +P loads are a bigger step up in energy: Speer Gold Dot Carry Gun +P 200 has 158 ft-lbs more and Hornady Critical Duty +P 220 has 104 more. Drop stays within 0.1 inch of the HST and the Critical Defense at both 50 and 100 yards, so all three share a hold.

Buy it for a standard-pressure .45 when you want less recoil than a 230-grain load and a power factor that makes major without strain. If you want the most energy a standard-pressure pistol allows, Speer Gold Dot 185 is the step up at 453 ft-lbs. If recoil matters more than energy, Critical Defense is the softer choice.