Federal lists its 55-grain Power-Shok as a small-game load. The bullet is a jacketed soft point, a lead-core bullet in a copper jacket with lead exposed at the nose. It has a G1 BC of .208 and leaves the muzzle at 3,650 fps. It is a plain, traditional load, and its closest rivals are the other 55-grain soft points and the lighter copper Barnes.

Compared with Remington's 55-grain High Performance Rifle PSP, the Federal starts 30 fps slower but carries a higher G1 BC of .208 to the Remington's .197, so the two end up even downrange. Zeroed at 100 yards, both drop about 23 inches at 400 yards. At that distance, a steady 10 mph wind blowing across the range pushes the Federal about 23 inches sideways and the Remington about 24. They kick the same in the same rifle. Compared with Barnes's 50-grain VOR-TX TSX, the Federal starts 180 fps slower and kicks about 14 percent harder. The lighter Barnes bullet drops about 21 inches at 400 yards and drifts about the same as the Federal in that wind.

Buy the Federal if you want a conventional 55-grain soft point for small game, with a touch less drift than the Remington. Remington's High Performance Rifle PSP is the same load in practice, so either will do. Pick the Barnes if you want a copper bullet with no lead core and lighter recoil. If you shoot mostly varmints and predators, Federal's own Varmint & Predator 55-grain V-Max is a polymer-tipped bullet of the same weight that Federal markets for both, and the same wind pushes it about 18 inches at 400 yards.