CCI's Blazer Aluminum 115-grain FMJ is loaded to 1,145 fps and 335 ft-lbs, a power factor of 132 that clears the 125 minor floor with 7 points to spare. From a 25-yard zero the bullet drops 1.3 inches at 50 yards and 10.1 inches at 100, still moving about 1,047 fps at 50. Estimated recoil in a 1.9-pound compact pistol is 4.0 ft-lbs. The case is aluminum, so it is not reloadable.

Remington UMC is rated at the same 1,145 fps and 335 ft-lbs with the same estimated recoil, the same load on paper. Wolf Performance is 5 fps faster with about 1 percent more recoil energy, a gap within the noise. The other three are quicker: Federal American Eagle by 35 fps, Winchester's brass-cased 115 by 45 fps, and Speer Lawman 115-grain TMJ by 55 fps at 1,200 fps, at about 5, 7 and 9 percent more estimated recoil energy in the same pistol. Drop at 50 yards is 1.2 to 1.3 inches across all six, so none of them needs a different hold at pistol distances. The cases split them: the Blazer's aluminum cannot be reloaded, and the Wolf's steel cannot be reloaded either, is magnetic, and is refused by some ranges.

This is a volume practice load for shooters who do not reload and want a light-recoiling 115 that ranges with a steel rule will still accept. Anyone who saves brass should pass, since the aluminum case gets one firing; Remington UMC gives the same 1,145 fps in brass. If your pistol has a stiff recoil spring, Speer Lawman 115 or Winchester's 115 add 45 to 55 fps of velocity for cycling margin. For a suppressor, Speer Lawman 147-grain runs a subsonic 985 fps and carries about 27 percent more estimated recoil energy than the Blazer.