Best Defensive Ammo for .38 Snubby and Pocket .380

Well, it appears the OP's entire activity consists of 3 posts in this thread, the last of which appeared in Oct of last year, so perhaps the OP arrived at an 'answer' and disappeared from the forum.
 
FMJ doesn't need anything special to it. Because of drag and friction, I have read not once that a +P or hardcast on a defensive round has proven anything a weak FMJ can't do.

Federal Deep 380 is probably the best performing 380 today.
Federal HST 38 is probably the best performing 38 today.

Both consistently open and go better than a lot.
 
First choice would be Speer 135 gr. +P short barrel as many PD's use it successfully. If you're familiar with Massad Ayoob, it's one of his favorites based on actual shootings. If you can't find that, traditional 148 gr. wadcutters are great as they do cut full .38 caliber holes and are easy to shoot and practice with (low recoil). They're also not crazy expensive.
 
Gold Dot 38 is kinda an older standard in 38 special. Doesn't work poorly, but for the same price there is a new better?

If you haven't checked into it, HST 38 is essentially 100% open at the mouth and goes deeper with greater expansion than Gold Dot.

Both Gold Dot (Speer) and HST (Federal) are owned by Vista Outdoors.

I think HST bests Gold Dot here for both qualities you want.



THAT said, HST performs poorly in 380, just like Gold Dot does. In 380, the same owned company Federal Deep 380 is probably the best 380 round ever made.
 
How about Glaser Safety Slugs?

Anatomy-Glaser.jpg
 
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