Hornady 125 gr xtp

I am guessing you’re talking about .38 Special?

This is a very educational site. It’s an ammo test done by Lucky Gunner. It sure was an eye opener for me.
The Hornady American Gunner 125 grain load was my favorite round from my .38s. Most accurate. Their test showed that expansion wasn’t good from 2” & 4” guns.

https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/revolver-ballistics-test/

Underwood makes a 38spl +P load using the XTP bullet .. I have shot quite a few through my LCR357 .. accurate and stout

What do you plan to shoot with them that would make expansion an issue? They make a pretty good splash mark on steel targets, punch a round hole on paper. For a meat target, out to 25 yards, placed in the proper location the expansion, or lack thereof, shouldn't matter a great deal.

158 SWHP I do not expect it to expand much if at all. I prefer heavy bullets over speedy ones.

According to Hornady, their .38 cal., 125gr XTP-HP is designed for best terminal performance from 800-1600FPS. Seems to be a little tough for .38 special, if the intended purpose is SD. I prefer the 140s in both .38 and .357 for SD.

buck460XVR said:

According to Hornady, their .38 cal., 125gr XTP-HP is designed for best terminal performance from 800-1600FPS

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I agree, I load my S&W 36 with a 1 7/8" barrel with 158 gr LSWC or 148 gr LWC

Kwaynem said:

Guess I’ll use these for target loads then lol

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Thing is, do you "need" the expansion? At .357 velocities, for SD, probably yes, to limit penetration. At .38 special velocities, expansion may dump too much energy and you get too little penetration. The Hornady .38 cal., 125 gr XTP is made for both .38 special and .357 velocities. Kinda a "do all" 125 gr bullet. Works well for small game and varmints from .357 carbines too. Problem with "do all" bullets is, they generally do not do everything well.

buck460XVR said:

According to Hornady, their .38 cal., 125gr XTP-HP is designed for best terminal performance from 800-1600FPS. Seems to be a little tough for .38 special, if the intended purpose is SD. I prefer the 140s in both .38 and .357 for SD.

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And still at 892 FPS out of a four inch barrel 38 didn't expand at all. Pretty pricey for target ammo and don't seem to be a great choice for SD in 38spl. Remington golden sabre 125 grain & Federal HST 130gr Micro look to perform best in 38spl. I wonder at what velocity the XTP expand consistantly?

Not that I'm advocating it. But Just disseminating info. However, more than one member of the local club has noted that loading a 148 HBWC backwards into a 38 case expands quite well, and is rather effective from the petite barreled revolvers.

I've not tried it myself as I haven't seen a 148 on the shelves in years.

anothernewb said:

However, more than one member of the local club has noted that loading a 148 HBWC backwards into a 38 case expands quite well, and is rather effective from the petite barreled revolvers.

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While at one time, when there were few other options available, this may have been a feasible choice, in today's world with all of the new technology bullets out there for SD, more accurate, and more consistent options are abundant. Accuracy is still paramount when it comes to SD. A bullet that expands little or not at all, that hits consistently to POA is still better than the so called "flying ashtrays" that pattern like a cylinder bored 410.

stonebuster said:

And still at 892 FPS out of a four inch barrel 38 didn't expand at all. Pretty pricey for target ammo and don't seem to be a great choice for SD in 38spl.

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I agree, a .38 spl with a 158gr bullet will have a velocity of about 750 fps from a 1 7/8" barrel and maybe 800 with a 125gr bullet, at these velocities I would pass on the HP and trust the solid point.

In my testing back about 12 years ago out of a 2” .38spl snub the only round that would generally expand consistently was the Winchester “PDX1” 130gr JHP +P. I would have no concern firing those rounds out of any .38Spl made after about 1950 since they didn’t manage to blow up even my old pot metal RG40, and they both expand and penetrate reasonably well.
There’s just no good way to beat the physical limitations of the .38 Special cartridge out of a short barrel. It can expand a hollow point consistently, and it can meet the standards for penetration set for service weapons, but it can’t really do both at the same time.

Seems to penetrate very well but not expand. Hornady critical defense line seems better, in informal tests. Lucky gunner gel tests seemed to confirm, penetration of about 14 inches expansion to .40+. From a snub that's pretty good, and replaced the wadcutterrs for low/no recoil carry ammo. Very accurate, fast follow up shots.

I watched a Hornady demo with both Critical Defense and Critical Duty ammo in a variety of calibers. The LE distributor hosted it to show their on and off duty wares at a so cal PD a few years ago.

I walked away impressed with both options, they really did seem to expand and penetrate as advertised. As a result of my first hand observations the 110 gr +P .38 Spl Critical Defense load is staged in a couple of my snub revolvers with no second thoughts.

Stay safe.