Lead Round Nose bullets for S.D.?

Gee, you guys don't understand the important issues. If folks used lead round nose bullets, the gunzines would have nothing to write about. Think of all those "mushroom" pictures we wouldn't have. Think of all those pages of flower-petal expanded bullets. Think of all those writers and photographers and editors in the unemployment lines.

Jim
 
The +P 158 grain .38 Special LSWCHP is alive and well. The old "FBI/Metro" load has been getting the job done from 2" and 4" revolvers for many years. I've carried it in my EDC for twelve years plus, and my head-of-the-bed Model 10 is loaded with it. Vastly preferable to LRN standard-pressure rounds.

Buffalo Bore sells one they bill as standard pressure and safe for all .38 Special guns that they claim exits a 2" barrel at over 1000 fps with minimal flash. I'll have to try that to believe it, but I may just do that.
 
g.willikers said:
Which is more effective?
A LRN that hits the heart or brain?
Or something "better" that hits a leg or arm?
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If you can put a LRN in the heart or brain you can put a better bullet there too. ;)

James K said:
Think of all those writers and photographers and editors in the unemployment lines.
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We certainly don't need any more folk on welfare. Another great reason for better and better bullets!
 
Sure, the LRN can stop an attacker....with a little luck and some very precise shot placement.

But these days it's still just about the worse self defense ammo one could choose.
 
The round nosed lead bullet is just not reliable. It will penetrate deeply some times, not penetrate at all other times.

Years ago, when Memphis Police carried the Model 10 S&W loaded with .38 Special with the 158 gr. RN bullet, a Memphis police officer was shot with his own revolver. The entrance wound was just below his nipple on the left side, the exit wound in the middle of his back near the left shoulder blade. Penetration?

None. The bullet struck between two ribs, skidded along in the groove between the ribs and exited in his back. A flesh wound.

Bob Wright
 
Mr. Wright makes a good point that I hadn't remembered. Not only do the LRN bullets tend to make subcaliber holes (they push the tissue aside rather than tearing or cutting through it) they are also more likely to be deflected from their aimed course if they hit a relatively sturdy structure in the body. Semi-wadcutter/wadcutter bullets are less likely to be deflected and tend to cut full caliber holes through the target medium. Lead Hollowpoints make larger than caliber holes and are also less likely to be deflected than LRN bullets.
 
For SD I either use a LSWCHP 158 +P round such as Remington or Buffalo Bore. A second choice would be Buffalo Bores 150 gr hard cast wadcutters. I like these better than the newer hollow points for a 38 special revolver.
Howard
 
well as error prone as they may be in real life scenarios. you have to admit they are what the guns were designed for sightwise.

butyes,lrn can create an inferior wound on an aggressive opponent. BUT its better then mace, pepper spray, tear gas, stun guns and tasers are.
 
you have to admit they are what the guns were designed for sightwise.
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In a pistol, bullet design has little to do with the point of impact at typical handgun distances. That's determined by velocity and bullet weight. Regardless of bullet profile, all bullets of a given weight and fired at roughly the same velocity should have very similar points of impact from a given pistol.
BUT its better then mace, pepper spray, tear gas, stun guns and tasers are.
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A firearm will generally have more deterrent effect than non-lethal/less-lethal means, but that's neither here nor there as far as this discussion goes. There's really very little reason to choose LRN in a revolver for self-defense. Other bullet profiles are widely available--probably even easier to find for that matter.
 
if you can find ammunition that is. if you load your own your slightly better off, but some of us have to use whats on the shef. if all the shelf has is round nose, its what you have to use. dont forget enough people have been killed with lrn to prove its better then a fist fight
 
If it's all you can get then by all means use it.

But just about anything else you could get would be better. That's all we're saying.

dont forget enough people have been killed with lrn to prove its better then a fist fight
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Whether or not it kills is not an issue here. What is much more important is how fast it stops an aggressor. By comparison to other bullet shapes, LRN does not do well in that category.
 
well ive seen the online police reports of guys hopped up on meth or crack needing multiple hits from shotgun slugs to drop
 
well ive seen the online police reports of guys hopped up on meth or crack needing multiple hits from shotgun slugs to drop
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If you take that to mean it really doesn't matter, then nothing we say will sway you. Load up with whatever you want and we'll do the same.
 
well ive seen the online police reports of guys hopped up on meth or crack needing multiple hits from shotgun slugs to drop
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That's true. You can have failures to stop with virtually any handheld weapon.

However, I have to say that the possibility of failure shouldn't encourage people to use projectiles that are known to be inferior for self-defense when other options are available.

If LRN is all you can get, then use it. If you can get anything else, practically anything else will perform better.
 
if you load your own your slightly better off, but some of us have to use whats on the shef. if all the shelf has is round nose, its what you have to use. dont forget enough people have been killed with lrn to prove its better then a fist fight
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I disagree, if you load your own you are vastly better off whether there is ammo on the shelf or not and if you cast your own even more so. This winter I cast and loaded 1,000 rds of .45acp at a cost of, I dunno, maybe $60.00. Handloaders are able to load up a few rounds of a bullet @ .43, 431, etc. with various powders and charges to find the most accurate load for whatever shooter he is testing.

The advantages are great, but it helps if you don't have a life.
 
Do not confuse lethality with incapacitation. Many more people that were shot died from the ensuing infection than the effects of the bullet. Penicillin was not truly discovered until 1928 and not mass produced until 1945.

I don't know about you, but if I must shoot in self defense I do not look forward to the infection being a determining cause of incapacitation.

This subject has been discussed before ad-nausium.
 
Newton, not so bad in my area. Popular ammo is tougher, ,22lr, 9mm, 223 show up but don't last more than an hour or two. I try to stay stocked up, so I have lotsa powder and primers, 40lbs+ mayber 17,000 primers, 100s of lbs of wheel weights ...brass, bullets etc. When things settle down I'll replace what I'm using up now.

Having a stock of components has saved me a lot of headaches this time and 4 years ago too.
 
The 38 LRN is not the best choice for self defense. That being said, I sure would not want to be shot with one (or with a 22 for that matter) A 12 gauge shot gun is a great defense weapon.
 
The use of recreational drugs has been the main reason why the RNL is out of favor though I was told over 40 years ago-by a police chief-that if the first two don't stop the threat you keep pulling the trigger-"We're not carrying derringers!".
 
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