Dfariswheel
New member
Back in the 1960's things got tougher in law enforcement due to drugged-up criminals and the old .38 Special 158 grain, round nose lead bullet got the reputation of being a "widow maker" for the numbers of failure to stop incidents.
After police agencies and cities got their socks sued off by widows they finally got the cartridge companies to develop modern higher pressure ammo, designated as .38 Special Plus Pressure or .38 Special +P.
The original types were similar in performance to the old hot .38-44 cartridge.
Loaded with a 158 grain, lead, semi-wadcutter, hollow point bullet this finally ended the failures to stop cases.
It was so effective the street cops called it the ".38 SPLAT" for the sound it supposedly made when it hit.
It was more commonly known as the FBI, Chicago, St Louis, LAPD, New Orleans, etc load, depending on where you lived.
Over the years cartridge companies have been downloading it to the point where it's not much more powerful then the standard .38 Special was back then.
One .38 Special +P load that is NOT downloaded is the HOT Buffalo Bore Bullet Company version.
This one uses a softer lead bullet with a gas check that allows pushing the soft bullet at near Magnum velocities without excessive leading.
It uses a low-flash powder and is pushing .357 Magnum velocities.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/17...mi-wadcutter-hollow-point-gas-check-box-of-20
This gives near Magnum performance in a lead .38 Special with very effective results due to the expansion of the soft lead hollow point.
If you want the most effective .38 Special without the extreme blast and recoil of a .357 Magnum, this may be the best way to go.
In this case, the .38 SPLAT lives.
After police agencies and cities got their socks sued off by widows they finally got the cartridge companies to develop modern higher pressure ammo, designated as .38 Special Plus Pressure or .38 Special +P.
The original types were similar in performance to the old hot .38-44 cartridge.
Loaded with a 158 grain, lead, semi-wadcutter, hollow point bullet this finally ended the failures to stop cases.
It was so effective the street cops called it the ".38 SPLAT" for the sound it supposedly made when it hit.
It was more commonly known as the FBI, Chicago, St Louis, LAPD, New Orleans, etc load, depending on where you lived.
Over the years cartridge companies have been downloading it to the point where it's not much more powerful then the standard .38 Special was back then.
One .38 Special +P load that is NOT downloaded is the HOT Buffalo Bore Bullet Company version.
This one uses a softer lead bullet with a gas check that allows pushing the soft bullet at near Magnum velocities without excessive leading.
It uses a low-flash powder and is pushing .357 Magnum velocities.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/17...mi-wadcutter-hollow-point-gas-check-box-of-20
This gives near Magnum performance in a lead .38 Special with very effective results due to the expansion of the soft lead hollow point.
If you want the most effective .38 Special without the extreme blast and recoil of a .357 Magnum, this may be the best way to go.
In this case, the .38 SPLAT lives.