Blazer 38 Spl P+ TMJ ammo

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dekibg

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Does anyone have experience with these?
Got them relatively cheap at the gun show
Very snappy with advertised muzzle velocity of 850 FPS even from 357 6” revolver. Pretty accurate at 40-50 yards. Very unpleasant from 38 SPL 4” revolver. As you can see it is aluminum case and bullet is seated deeper than regular 38 Spl round ( Win. pictured here). In HD scenario, using a 357 revolver , would you rather use these, or hard cast semi-wadcutter reloads? I got semi- wadcutters at gun show too but on the range they seem to create a lot of smoke and they are not that accurate as Blazers TMJ ( stands for Total Metal Jacket) 27A5D97D-FC4B-4AEA-9BFC-56DF98172B61.jpeg 015B1D51-D70D-4519-823E-638BF17BC9E6.jpeg
 
38 Spl+P should not be unpleasant in a 4 inch revolver.
Aside from looking like they are seated deep, another thing to consider is why they are being sold by a surplus ammo seller.
Could have been surplused because of improper storage or something that could have caused the powder to degrade and cause higher pressure.
If I was going to shoot them I would use a 357 to keep a bit of a cushion for pressure.
ETA I would not use them for SD if there are other options. The SWCs you mentioned would be better, but not best.
 
Plated bullets, in my opinion, are primarily for indoor practice. They give off much less smoke than do lead bullets, and they are much less expensive than jacketed.

I personally would not use that particular load for defense unless I had nothing else. I would prefer any sort of hollow point (cast, plated, or jacketed) both for terminal effectiveness and the safety of my neighbors.
 
Those specific Blazer rounds are defective or damaged. They shouldn't be set that deep.

I inclined to agree. I have several boxes of the Blazer 158g +P FMJ, and the bullet protrudes considerably further out of the case. Yes, I realize the 158g is longer than the 125g but the difference in what the OP posted and what I see in the rounds I have is quite noticable.

Dave
 
I inclined to agree. I have several boxes of the Blazer 158g +P FMJ, and the bullet protrudes considerably further out of the case. Yes, I realize the 158g is longer than the 125g but the difference in what the OP posted and what I see in the rounds I have is quite noticable.

Dave

I have had a few dozen of the 158gr+P TMJ marked as Speer “Lawman” for overs a decade. They are seated to the proper crimp groove and not seemingly squished down like the OPs 125gr rounds. I like having them on hand as a stand in for a heavy cast LSWC. The hard TMJ bullet, flat nose, and hot(ter) loading make it decent for a .38spl round with maximum penetration.

I would say any round that has a nice flat wide meplat as these do is a better choice than a regular round nose bullet, although if you’re going to go with a 125gr bullet like these you might as well get a hollowpoint which may even expand if you get lucky.
 
Maybe that's how they get the +P rating- Just increase the depth of seating with the same powder charge. Harking back to the Air Force's Caliber .38 Special, Ball, PGU-12/B High Velocity cartridge.

I know they had a low pressure 130 grain ball for the aluminum cylinder M12’s. Also the standard ball. I never knew they had a high velocity ball. I had a bunch of TZZ Israeli ball back in the day that seemed hot but it was seated regularly. Interesting. I actually had that thought myself but did not know anyone had done this before commercially.
 
I don't think of a 125gr bullet traveling at 850 fps as either snappy nor +P. They are definitely set too deep. If you have access to a chrono you might find they have a higher velocity than listed. Those are better than a big stick for SD use, but they're intended to be target loads.

I've used Blazer a lot over the last 30+ years with good success. I used to load my old model Taurus 6-shot M66 357 Magnum with Blazer 38 spl 125gr +P JHP. 945 fps from a 4" barrel and I wouldn't describe them as too snappy. They weren't even too bad fired from my wife's Taurus M85 5-shot 38 spl/w 3" barrel. I can recommend the JHPs for SD, but if I were you I'd use the TMJs for target practice only.
 
Does anyone have experience with these?
Got them relatively cheap at the gun show
Very snappy with advertised muzzle velocity of 850 FPS even from 357 6” revolver. Pretty accurate at 40-50 yards. Very unpleasant from 38 SPL 4” revolver. As you can see it is aluminum case and bullet is seated deeper than regular 38 Spl round ( Win. pictured here). In HD scenario, using a 357 revolver , would you rather use these, or hard cast semi-wadcutter reloads? I got semi- wadcutters at gun show too but on the range they seem to create a lot of smoke and they are not that accurate as Blazers TMJ ( stands for Total Metal Jacket)View attachment 1028283 View attachment 1028282
Those rounds look messed up. I know Blazer’s bad, but not that bad.

Plus those (relatively) big heavy revolvers shouldn’t recoil that much
 
Agree that 125 gr/850 fps/6" bbl and 'snap' shouldn't be in the same sentence. Though that is advertised fps. Look closely at your second photo (frontal shot). Is there a trick of the light or does the bullet sit askew just a wee bit? In addition to looking too deep. Perhaps someone who loads the plated 125 gr FN can chime-in with their COL as reference.
 
Those do look stubby.
In breaking out the old Dillon dial caliper and digging into an ammo can of mixed .38 Spl. Reloads I found out:
Both of my Extreme 125 gr plated TC measure exactly 1.360”.
The nickel cased load uses a different bullet profile, I believe it’s a Berrys. This measures 1.390”

095E8E54-DF49-4C5C-A3C9-78A0BE233929.jpeg

The red coated Eggleston 148 gr RN measures a long 1.475”. (The nose profile of this bullet means I can’t use them in K-frame .357 Mags in .357 cases.)
The white Eggleston 158 gr SWC measures 1.415”

2AC52B60-C881-476E-AB92-F751645B6C89.jpeg

I bet the OP’s loads are at or under 1.250”.

I used to have some Remington 101 gr frangible rounds that looked like my 125 gr loads, not stubby like the OP’s rounds are. I think there’s some issue with those Blazers being pushed in a bit, too.

Stay safe.
 
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