Barnes markets its 50-grain VOR-TX load for medium game and varmints. It is built on the Barnes TSX, a copper hollow point with no lead core. The bullet has a G1 BC of .197 and leaves the muzzle at 3,830 fps. Because it is lighter than a 55-grain soft point, it starts faster and kicks less.

Compared with Remington's 55-grain High Performance Rifle PSP, the Barnes shares the same G1 BC but starts 150 fps faster, so it shoots a little flatter. Zeroed at 100 yards, the Barnes drops about 21 inches at 400 yards and the Remington about 23. At 400 yards, a steady 10 mph wind blowing across the range pushes the Barnes about 23 inches sideways and the Remington about 24. The Remington also kicks about 15 percent harder in the same rifle. Compared with Federal's 55-grain Power-Shok JSP, the Barnes starts 180 fps faster and kicks about 12 percent less, but the two end up close: at 400 yards the Federal drifts the same 23 inches in that wind and drops a little more.

Buy the Barnes if you want a copper bullet with no lead core for medium game and varmints, and lighter recoil than a 55-grain soft point. Pick Federal's Power-Shok or Remington's High Performance Rifle PSP if you would rather shoot a conventional lead-core soft point and don't mind a little more kick; of those two, the Federal stays closer to the Barnes downrange. If wind worries you more than recoil, Winchester's Super-X 64-grain Power-Point drifts about 19 inches at 400 yards in the same wind, though it kicks noticeably harder. For varmints and predators only, Federal's American Eagle 50-grain JHP is a lead-core hollow point of the same weight that Federal markets for both.