38 Special +P Carry Ammo: Where Did All Of It Go?

Don’t overthink it. Try Buffalo Bore….they have good stuff in stock.

I have been carrying Persision One 125 grain XTP in my 38 special. Not seeing any defense ammo in the gun shops near me from the major manufacturers.

I wouldn't lose sleep over choosing a specific .38 Special defensive loading.

I can’t find any type of 38 ammo in local stores.

For defensive carry I like the expo 125 gr +p+.
Its the best for 38s made in Brasil.

A warmly loaded 148 DEWC works supremely well.

Just looked at the Lucky Gunner site.

Seems like plus P hollow points
are available; you just
have to pay for it and it may not
be exactly the specific type you want.

And remember, the latest and most
hyped ammo out there isn't always
that much better than what was
around some years before.

And besides, ammo holds up very
well even under the most severe
and extensive field conditions. The
stuff doesn't have a "use by " date.

I bought a new S&W M10-14 Classic. I wanted to fire some of my defense ammo to check for function and placement. I had 10 rounds of the Federal 130 gr HST left. I fired a 4 shot group. It did well, and shot to point of aim, but I am down to one cylinder full for defense use. I wanted some reloads for my speed strips. Loaded 12 rounds 125 gr XTP, over a plus P charge of Universal. I don't usually use reloaded ammo for defense, but not much choice now. The local gun stores are out of all 38 Special defense ammo, but they did have 135 gr Speer SB Magnum. Maybe there is hope, as the Magnum shelf was also empty until now. They used to carry Buffalo Bore, but no longer.

73,
Rick

guyfromohio said:

Don’t overthink it. Try Buffalo Bore….they have good stuff in stock.

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If I could find any of those Gold Dots I'd stock up.

Otherwise BB is good. Buy via mail order and pay postage, so it's pricey. I'm sure it would work, though...

9mm is in such demand now that ammo makers have zero interest in producing anything else in quantities enough to meet demand. Basically anything that uses a small pistol primer is not being made unless it's 9mm. That means .32, .38, .380, .357, .40, etc. are not being made and if they are it's very little.

Your only hope to get some .38+P is from a boutique ammo maker like Buffalo Bore, Underwood, Lehigh, etc.

Speer gold dot 38 +p 135 gr short barrel is proven in j frames, that's what I would choose from your list.

Great video!

The 130gr HST +P loading is also my chosen carry ammo for my Model 642, and fortunately I still have a good stash of them so it will remain that way.

Of those two other choices, I would probably go with the Gold Dots... The Punch 120gr is getting a bit too light for my preference in 38spl.... I would just carry that until I could find more of the HST.

Mr.Revolverguy said:

TTV2 I do not thing that is all the way the case. My local shop was totally out of 38 at one time and now they have a boat load of it.

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US ammo or foreign ammo?

I use Speer GDHP ammo for my carry round. I can still practice because you're ago I created a really good replica load. They velocity, POI and importantly the feel of the recoil is extremely close to the original.

Mr.Revolverguy said:

Where is all of the 38 Special +P ammo.

What's King in Self Defense Penetration or Expansion?

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1. Lucky Gunner dot com has had .38 Special Gold Dots, off and on, throughout the panic-demic. Expensive, but more-or-less available. These Gold Dots are a close cousin ot the 9mm Gold Dots that I carried on duty, while policin’ Houston’s mean streets. It’ll do, if you can do. Midway USA has had some of the “boutique” loads, from time to time. REALLY expensive, but, occasionally available. Try the e-mail notification feature, pay attention to your in-box, and then ACT FAST if notified.

2. Adequate penetration is necessary. Expansion is optional. Shot placement is “King.”

Rexster said:

Adequate penetration is necessary. Expansion is optional. Shot placement is “King.”

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And that, ladies and gentlemen, pretty
much describes the old round nose
.38s and .45s of times gone by. Or
their bullet design cousins the SWCs.

I use both the Short Barrel Speers in .38 as well as the 9mm version. Why, it’s what I carried for many years and have a stockpile of sorts. I keep my ammo in cans with desiccant and do not worry about it’s age. But my reasoning for using this ammo is for more than just it’s performance. It is proven both by research and by my personal observation having witnessed and investigated shootings. I attend the school of carry what the Police do in your defensive gun, not completely necessary but one less variable. I think just because they type of people we are we overthink some things, ammo being one of them. We always want the newest and best when it comes to ammo. I carry a snubby and don’t expect any ammo to reliably expand under every situation, I just assume it won’t. Truth be told in a stubby I would just as easy carry a Speer Swagged 158 Grain SWC HP loaded by me if factory ammo was not available. My thinking on that if it expands wonderful if not I have a sharp shouldered SWC capable of doing more tissue damage than an unopened hollow point of most designs.

I reload my own. Have several thousand bullets that are used for both .38 and .357. Lots of powder and enough primers to last a coupla years yet. Same load I've been running for years. Accuracy is consistent enough that I don't need to practice that often to stay accurate.They don't have a fancy name or come in a colorful box with awesome graphics....but they work and they work well.

Mr.Revolverguy said:

Yes the rotation of my ammo is less about making sure the ammo would work and more about me training with the ammo, that I can perform with the ammo. My reloads for 38 are usually in the way of target ammo for range use maybe I need to change that practice and save my factory carry ammo

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At the beginning of my reply before I should have said thank you for your research and testing, I enjoy your videos. I also know that does not come without expense.

To the reload topic, like I said earlier I carry only factory ammo and mostly load for target or hunting. I have over the years developed loads that perform well when tested and would work just fine in a defensive role. In .38 I load the Speer 158 Swagged SWC (soft) using 4.7 grains of Unique which is the top end of standard pressure based on published data. I load a box or two every batch using 5.0 Grains of Unique which is in +P range. These best I can tell are pretty darn close to the Winchester Train and Defend ammo of the same bullet weight. If a situation would arise that I could not find defensive ammo I would not have any problem pressing the later load into service. I also load a Rim Rock 158 SWC GC (Buffalo Bores Bullet) using 5.3 Grains of Unique duplicating the old FBI load (actually a bit faster) but this is for my K frames. A bit stout for an airweight but I would carry this load any day if needed. I like SWC bullets for the reason mentioned earlier, if they don’t expand for whatever reason you still have a bullet with an aggressive profile that is proven to do more damage than round nose projectiles and is sure to penetrate. We live in strange times, ammo is coming back on shelves, it is good to have alternatives however!