Which .38 Spl ammo

F

Flaman

New member
I was surfing the net and I found that Buffullo Bore offers a 158 gr. L.S.W.C.H.P.--G.C. @ (1,000fps/M.E. 351 ft.lbs.). They say that they measure it's performance out of a 2" snubby. This thing sounds like a beast !!!! Would a 637 airweight be able to handle this load?
How does this stack up to Corbon and Speer for personal defence. Speer advertises that thier gold dots are perfectly matched with a S&W J-frame, but at only 900+fps, it seems more than a bit lame. Corbon sells a 125 grain that moves at 1000fps, which in my book is pretty respectable. What would be your choice?
 
I opt for Speer’s 135 gain .38 Special +Ps, the load you suggest is “more than a bit lame”. Buffalo Bore and CorBon are excellent rounds; however, you may want to consider two important facts:
a) The Speer Gold Dot projectile is DESIGNED for great expansion from J Frame/SP-101 snubbies, which is likely to offset any muzzle energy/velocity lethality advantages provided by faster rounds.
b) IMHO, 900 FPS is plenty fast, and – significantly – slow enough that follow-up shots can be quickly and ACCURATELY executed.
 
Well said RWK. The majority of the manufacturers have spent a ton of time and money in the on-going chase to design the perfect bullet. If Speer said their Gold Dot was designed with the Mod 36 in mind- then go with that one. What I generally do when I get a new firearm is to, at some point, buy several different brands of similar and competetive ammo and see for myself which one shoots the best (accuracy). You can be fairly confident that if it's a self defense load from Speer, Federal, Remington- they're going to be pretty good. I subscribe to a monthly gun test circular and they always test fire a weapon with several different brands of ammo- as does every other gun test group in every other magazine. On a note, very seldom have I seen CCI's or Corbons come anywhere close to the top of the heap in accuracy.
 
One nice thing about the Speer load is that the muzzle blast and flash are greatly reduced versus other +P loads.
 
The Speer ammo was designed for the NYC police using the FBI protocol that requires a minimal penetration with good expansion. Did the Buffalo Bore guys do the same research and development, do they provide the ballistic data that Speer doeson its web site. What kind of pressures are they generating?
 
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