Any one shooting 200 gr, .38 Specials

S

skinnygun

New member
Any one shooting 200 gr, .38 Specials?I have a lite weight Taurus .38 Special revolver.
Will a .38 sp. 200 gr, weight offer more penetration on 4 legged critters if needed..? Thanks
 
Can you post a video of you shooting the 200 grain bullet from the "light weight" .38? That has potential to be very entertaining!:D
I can also judge from it if I want to try it!:o
A 158 gr packed a pretty good punch with mine. I would imagine a pretty heavy load would be needed to get even a modest 600 or 700 fps.
I could do it, but I wouldn't do it many times from my ultra lite snub nose!
It might be a nice load from a model 60 .357 or something bigger.

"JJ"
 
yep

I cast Lyman's 358430 LRN which drops from the mold at 195 grains +/-.
I shoot them from a model 10 and from a light weight snub nose. The powder charge is 3.5 grains of Unique or, a bit stiffer, 5.0 grains of Blue Dot.
I intend to try 2400 but have not loaded that yet.
Pete
 
I also shoot the Lyman 358430 in various .38 Special revolvers. 4.3 grains of Trail Boss gets me about 645 fps from my 1 7/8" Airweight and its not anymore unpleasant than 158 grain loads from the same gun.
 
The heaviest I have used is the Lyman 172 gr.358429 cast bullet and I have not loaded any of those for the snubbies that I have now.If I get another S&W M14 or 15 with 6in barrel I will cleanup the old mold and make some.They shot great and the price was right.
 
One thing to consider - the long .38/200 slug is notorious for tumbling end-over-end after it strikes flesh - this will reduce penetration.

How big are your "4 legged critters"?
 
I'm not ragging you, I'm just curious,,,

Why do you want to use a 200 grain bullet?

Like I said, I'm not ragging on you,,,
I'm just curious as to what advantage you might get from them.
 
I've been looking around for gelatin test data on .38 spl 200 grain loads.... can't find any.

Evan Marshall's book "Street Stoppers" includes data for various .38 loads, from 49 grains up to 158 grains. The Federal 158-gr RNL at 755 fps had the best penetration of the bunch - 28 inches in gelatin.

If a 200-grainer did not tumble on impact, it might penetrate that far, maybe even a little farther.
However, if it tumbled (as they're prone to do) the penetration may only be half that distance.

If penetration is your main concern, it might be wise to stick with the 158-gr RNL.... 28 inches is impressive, the ammo is readily available, and recoil would be reduced.
 
I have some factory 200 grainers but have never tested them. Years ago I read an article about police officers having failure to penatrate car doors using snub nosed revolvers and 200 grain bullets. They used to joke about shouting a warning to offenders "halt or Ill scratch your paint". This article was written up by some major gun writers at the time. It would be interesting research if hard cast 200 grainers were tested in different mediums.
 
The British adopted the 200 Grain bullet in their No. 2 MkI revolver because they found it to be a fairly good manstopper in a somewhat more compact and manageable revolver. Later they had to reduce it to a 173 grain jacketed bullet of course. In my copy of Chick Gaylord's book he advocates the 200 grain bullet in a 38 snub.
 
I know back in the 60s some guys in LE used a 200gr .38. I have a couple of boxes of Winchester (6 pictured below the "Police Bulldog") 200gr. Don't see much advantage of these over the old 158gr RNL and harder to find. There are much better SD rounds available for the .38.

Charterarms38s.jpg
 
200

Chesster: Nice brace of pistols. Those 200 grainers look like the Lyman bullet (358430). They drop from the mold at .360 and so are a fair fit for the Webley .38/200 revolvers.
Pete
 
Any one shooting 200 gr, .38 Specials?I have a lite weight Taurus .38 Special revolver.
Will a .38 sp. 200 gr, weight offer more penetration on 4 legged critters if needed..?
Click to expand...

Ouch! Even 158 grain bullets make my hand ache with my ultra-lite. I actually prefer 110 grain hollow points. Less kick, faster and more accurate follow-up shots, no pain. :rolleyes:
 
The 200gr. bullet was also loaded in the .38S&W. do a search on the TFL there is a man in LA that has been testing the 200 gr. bullet, in the .38 S&W cartridge and has been obtaining some pretty impressive results.
 
200

The British found that the 200 grain bullet fired from the .38/200/.38S&W was as effective as the heavier 265 grain bullet of the .455 Webley.
That bullet, though, has very different profile than the Lyman - much longer nose and shorter shank.
P
 
I have been doing test with some 200 grain .38 special loads and have been very satisfied with the results from a four-inch gun. The Lyman 358430 bullet over 2.8 grains of IMR 700X produces a load with surprising accuracy and very little muzzle blast from my four-inch Model 10. I have been very impressed with this load's penetration. When fired into water jugs, these heavy bullets tumbled quickly, but kept going in a straight line through four jugs. I have also tested this loading on available heavy cow bones. The bullets did not veer upon impact, regardless of the angle from which they were fired.

However, I have had difficulty creating an accurate 200 grain snub nosed loading. The Lyman 358430 bullet over 4.3 grains of IMR 800X powder frequently tumbles from my S&W 638 at ten yards, and probably would not be useful for what the opening poster wanted. I believe as an outdoor loading, the 200 grain bullets may be best from longer barrels.
 
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hey guys, I am re-hashing this old thread because I was googleing around trying to find data on super-heavy .38 loads. the heaviest I have found was a guy claiming to run a 255gr out of a snubbie .38 on top f 2400. just wondering how many of you guys have gone up to 200, was it a dcent load? recoil? rom what I read the recoil isn't too bad nd it hits pretty hard and always tumbles.

please note, this is just for fun. I am not endorsing that these would be better than modern 125-158gr loads. I just like to see what I can stuff in a straight walled case w/o blowing my hand off.

so it's been a couple years ince this thread wa discussed, an I was just wondering if there was anymore chatter about 35 cal bllets in 38spl., or anyone using them. thanks, sorry for rehashing a thread,but I would love to hear firsthand reports

https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/rebirth-200-grain-38-special-super-police-cartridge/
 
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