38 spl defense loads

.38spl defense loads....

In .38spl, I'd look at the Corbon DPX, the Ranger T/T Series, the Magsafe +P, the Golden Saber, or the popular Speer Gold Dot +P 135gr JHP.

My friend just got a new 20rd box of DPX for his Ruger LCR.
 
I still go with the old school FBI load. Still have a partial box of Corbon 158gr +P+ LSWCHP and a box of the equivalent Remington +P loading. I think it offers plenty of punch even from a short barrel.
 
In .38spl, I'd look at the Corbon DPX, the Ranger T/T Series, the Magsafe +P, the Golden Saber, or the popular Speer Gold Dot +P 135gr JHP.
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If you're going to use frangibles, I'd stick with Glasers due to Magsafe's spotty reputation for QC.
 
LSP972 said:
Buffalo Bore standard pressure 158gr has same velocity/etc. as the FBI +P load "without the blast and recoil"???

How, exactly, does that work???
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Beats me, but works fine in both of my Taurus® Mdl 85SS2UL revolvers. Very accurate w/minimal recoil. Buffalo Bore® designed this load for Airweight® (S&W), Ultra-Lite® (Taurus®), Agent™ (Colt®), & Undercover™Charter® revolvers.
 
Not to hijack this thread but I have a box of cartridges with a flat nose lead bullet and the only mark on them is Winchester .38 spl. They were given to me in an unmarked box. Anybody know exactly what they might be? I would post a pic but have never figured out how to put one on this forum.
 
Re the Buffalo Bore ammunition... I'm sure it works fine. However, you cannot change physics.

So pardon my skepticism...;)

.
 
I have several carry revolvers. I currently have my 2" 60 & 64 stoked with gold dots and my 3" 65 stoked with 158 lswchp. As soon as component become available I will probably just load 158 and carry them all the way around due to POA/POI.
 
Doug Ridley: There are several possibilities, Wadcutter, Semi-Wadcutter, and Lead Flatnose. Each of those bullet types come in a variety of weights and each may be loaded in a differently named cartridge.

The wadcutter is column shaped. The semi-wadcutter has a step above the shell rim and is a truncated cone. The flatnose is a cut off sphere or a truncated cone.

Posting a picture is a good idea.

Once you have the bullet type and weight then just google.
 
Well I guess I'm going to try whichever load I find first. Went to my LGS and Cabelas and nothing. I knew 9mm and 45 were hard to find but I figured there would be 38 spl around.
 
Yeah, with the current availability, I guess we get what we can get.

I see a lot of folks in this string recommending 158g slugs - mostly lead semi-wadcutters. Without doubt, they would put a good hurt on a bad guy. But I subscribe to the notion that a short barreled 38 would struggle getting that big fat slug lumbering down the barrel. I believe that it's better to go with something in the 125g range with a 38 snubbie. It's just physics. At least, that's how it works in my head. I'm certainly not saying anybody is wrong.

In fact, I don't choose a 158 for defense until I've worked all the way up to my .357 Smith 686 w/ an 8 3/8" barrel. (Federal Hydra-shock 158JHP)
 
The reason I prefer 158 is poi. Of course I understand there bring little difference at "self defense" distance and both are plenty for "combat accuracy" which is great until it isn't.
 
For a ".38 Special night stand gun", I do emply I.Q. Metals 158-grain standard load standard-no-hollowpoint semiwadcutters, or 148-grain Georgia Arms wadcutters, in a nice Centennial-inspired snubnose.

I don't feel the need to part with the money necessary to buy a-dollar-or-more-a-nuclear-tipped-warp-engined-bullet, that's only gonna need to reach thirty five feet, maximum. I know that wadcutters penetrate. I know that semi-wadcutters penetrate. I can afford more of them on a 'fixed income'. I've been down to the Club Fed in the region, on a clerical job, a few years back, and witnessed the Refrigerator Perry-ites pumping iron. I know I have the right combination.
 
The Model 38 Bodyguard Airweight in my pocket right now is loaded with 158gn Remington +P SWCHP.
I have other ammo I could load it with, including some of the latest light weight JHP's.
I just like the way my chosen load shoots in my revolver, and it's long record of successful use by law enforcement.
 
Any of the factory made HD/SD loads will be fine.

Fabrication your own that beat those these days is a waste, the factory loads have gotten very good .

Back in the day we could make better ones (and I did) but now, for the carry rounds in any of my guns I use factory and the reloads are for practice.

If the gun likes one better than another for accuracy go for it but for the most part it won't make enough difference to want to test any.

I am partial to Remington GS stuff as it is accurate in the guns I have tested it in but that is too small sampling to say outright its the best. All of them will do what is needed and have been tested through far more extensive range of conditions than we can do.
 
I know that some experts recommend against it and there is an argument that they can make but I carry my own loads. In my state law abiding citizens who shoot criminals generally are not persecuted so I feel somewhat secure in this decision. If I lived in a blue state unfriendly towards gun owners I would not do this.

My load came from a published manual and is a 125 JHP at a clocked 1250 FPS from a 4" barrel. Makes around 1175 from a 2" gun. Functions well in every gun I've used it in and I feel much more comfortable with this load than I would with the weak and puny mainstream +P which is the same 125 JHP at 925.

The lead 158 SWC HP ("FBI load") is often recommended. I have a box around here but no experience with it. I like a little more velocity than this load delivers.
 
The short barrel stuff clocks some sissy speed as noted above, but they are low flash and not too loud and opens up to a half inch. When I feel like carrying hotter, I put my SP101 on my hip and not the airweight 38 or in addition to it. It doesn't bother me that 9mm usually well outperforms my 38, I have several I could carry and sometimes do, but that airweight is always on me. For whatever reason I just love the wheels.

I certainly understand wanting to maximize your carry cartridge of choice, especially if you only carry one gun.
 
Earlier this year I got a chance to chronograph the Remington version of the much touted "FBI Load". l was under-whelmed.

From a 4" barreled 38 Special it averaged 804 fps, not the often quoted 900+ fps. I don't own a 2" 38 Special and neither does the guy I was shooting with so I don't know what it does out of a J-frame, except it's got to be way under 800 fps.

The very best 38 Special defensive load in my experience and opinion is the Buffalo Bore +P 38 Special 158g SWCHP-GC. When I choreographed that one from the same gun it averaged 1153 fps. That's almost an exact duplicate of your great grandpa's 38/44 load. (smile)

Dave
 
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