MaxxTech's 115-grain FMJ is rated at 1,150 fps, good for a power factor of 132 and 7 points of margin over the 125 minor floor. With a 25-yard zero the bullet is 1.3 inches low at 50 yards, where it is still carrying about 1,042 fps and 277 ft-lbs, and 10.2 inches low at 100. Estimated recoil in a 1.9-pound compact pistol is 4.0 ft-lbs.

Four of the five comparison loads sit within 25 fps of it. Wolf Performance is rated at the same 1,150 fps with identical recoil and drop figures. CCI Blazer Brass is 5 fps slower and Magtech Steel 15 fps slower, with about 1 and 2 percent less recoil energy in the same pistol. Federal Champion is the soft one at 1,125 fps, 25 fps behind, with about 3 percent less recoil energy and a power factor of 129 that leaves only 4 points over the floor. Winchester WIN9S is the outlier at 1,190 fps, 40 fps ahead of the MaxxTech with about 6 percent more recoil energy. Drop at 100 yards spans 9.5 inches for the Winchester to 10.6 for the Champion, which does not change a hold at pistol distances.

This is a practice load for any full-size or compact 9mm. Its 1,150 fps and 4.0 ft-lbs of recoil put it in the middle of the standard-pressure 115-grain group. Wolf Performance is the same load on paper, but its steel case is magnetic and some ranges refuse it. Buy Federal Champion instead if you want the least recoil of the group and are not chronographing for a match, where its 4-point margin is thinner than the MaxxTech's 7. Shooters who want a subsonic load for a suppressor should look at Speer Lawman 147-grain at 985 fps, with about 26 percent more estimated recoil energy.