What is more powerful? .38 or 9mm?

All above are true and well thought out. For a SD Pocket gun.... How many rounds can you get off whit it in your pocket??? I can get all 5 out of my Ruger LCR and my partner can empty his J Frame. Just something to think about.

Will the Boberg 9mm be enough of an advantage on first shot % to make it clearly better in the pocket than the J-Frame .38?

^^^That's exactly the case.

I've never heard of an incident where a person would have survived if they had a 9mm instead of a .38, or again vice versa.

Now if you want to argue capacity benefits of their respective platforms, well, that's another discussion.

From the rear-end not only are the top and bottom cartridges hidden from view, you also can't tell without flipping the gun around (rather unsafely) whether or not you're carrying loaded ammo or a cylinder full of spent brass.

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If someone has a revolver for concealed carry or sitting in the night stand for things that go bump in the night aren't they going to know if they keep it loaded?

Isn't the bottom cartridge still hidden from view even if you point a revolver (rather unsafely) at your face? And that assumes sufficient lighting, which may not exist as bad guys often work the night shift. If one had the time & light to check like that, wouldn't they just open the cylinder and see how many primers have been hit?

That makes me think of how Charter Arms actually provides the hint of painting the tip of bullets white such as to make them as visible as possible to bad guys. I'd never heard such advice anywhere else. I wouldn't imagine many bad guys want to get close enough to visually confirm a gun is ready to kill them: "Hey, dude, how'd you get shot?" "Uh, I broke into this house and this lady pulled a gun on me. I looked real close but her dark lead bullets looked like empty casings in the low light, so I decided to go ahead and try to rape her. Turned out to be a bad idea."

A pistol with a loaded chamber indicator would tell you if you have more ammo, though not a lot of detail there as it could be just the one round in the chamber and an empty mag.

I only read the first page, so I'm not sure if this has been mentioned or not. It has been alluded to. 38 Special has a lot more capability than 9mm. It's just that there are some 38 Special handguns that are over 100 years old, and cannot handle the higher pressures that modern guns can. That's why 38+P is so popular. It moves 38 Special from "minimum for defense" to "quite acceptable for defense."

I guess there are also some 9mm pistols that are over 100 years old too, but they were designed from the start to handle high pressures.

It is a good point, that 38 Special is also a lot more flexible when it comes to bullet shapes and weights than 9mm. This is true in a lot of revolver vs. auto cartridge comparisons.

I'll take a S&W M10 .38 SPL such as my 10-14 over a 9mm any day of the week and twice on sunday. Not because of power but due to vesatility. The 9mm just can't match the versatility of the .38 SPL. Here is some great reading on just how versatile the .38 SPL can be. Granted I'm not sure that I'd want to use the heavier loads in my M10 talked about on the last page. But it is nice to know that my M10 could handle them were I so inclined. I do however use 5.4gr of Unique under a 158gr SWC as per Lyman's data. 110gr all the way to 200gr in one of the best handgun platforms ever conceived that is versatility.
http://smith-wessonforum.com/ammo/144598-some-38-special-chronograph-tests.html

If you were on the receiving end of a .38 spl or 9mm, I doubt you could tell the difference.

9mm,,,, Period

Want to throw down with a mag,,, say hello to 9 Dillon.

The 9mm wins the hands down blanket Betty bo bo.

Want to throw down with a mag,,, say hello to 9 Dillon.

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If and when I need true magnum performance then I'll reach for my .41 magnum which walks all over the 9x25. If the .41 mag won't do then I'll reach for a long gun nuff said.

Sorry,,, your 41 old school mag was born a whimp. It is a answer to a question never asked by a shooter IMHO. Given over all use. A G20 over all is the weapon... and if you want to compare basic stuff look up the wildcat round. The 9x25 is nothing to scoff off.....

I'm well aware of what the 9x25 is about. Othere than use for gaming, where it is all but dead there too it will never be a legitimized cartridge unlike the .41 Mag. If the 9x25 is the greatest thing since sliced bread why aren't companies selling em' like hot cakes? Oh wait because thy know it will be a flop. and where is all the ammo it? I suppose it just sp popular it can't stay on the shelves right There was good reason for the .41 coming on the scene. However it was hampered severly by bad marketing and not having a smaller special cartridge to go with it.

Still curious which has better expansion, 9 or 38

And who makes 9x25 guns?

Many options vs limited options

Have you ever fired a 9MM from inside a pocket or mitten?
Not counting the hot brass hitting your hand or the pocket catching fire there are other reasons to go the way of the wheel GUN.

Reliability in a revolver even in the pocket is 100% The only other gun I have seen or fired wich matches the reliability is the OU High Standard derringer. Hammerless also.

The wheel gun can be loaded with bird shot to the +p+ in any order you prefer.
Well so can a magazine in a 9 but will it function 100% ?

I like the heavy 158 grain lead HP load. It expands from a 1 7/8 barrel enough and penetrates just fine. The FBI used it for many years.

Another plus is after daily carry some of us unload and somne do not. Rechambering repeatedly will push the projectile back into the brass in an auto.
Yes the 9mm can be more powerful and has been rated high on the scale in one shot stops. Up near the .357 and 45 ACP.
Each has its merits. But oporator experience tells me think back 35 years. 9mm P38 115 grain ball ammo and someone sneakingabout the base. Yes there were some 9mm HP rounds available. Supervel was one. But I had ball in the pipe and an unauthorized gun. I did not feel very comfortable peeking about with the 9mm i would have prefered a .45 really. My point being is you may not have access to the best rounds at any given time so know your limitations and how your round will preform.

Well this thread is only 7 months old so when it rises from the grave only a few worms to shake off.

tipoc

Try 18.

I find it hard to believe that no one has mentioned the .38/44 loadings of the .38 Special.

Not in production currently, but lots of handload data to duplicate it.

Some might consider it cheating, but it clearly beats the 9mm.

Hands down it's the 9mm, by a lot, especially when +P or +P+ is used. 9mm runs at 35000 to 41000 in pressure. The 38 special is 17000 to 21000 if your lucky.

sniknah said:

This probably a dumb question, but always been curious. thanks

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The .38spl has more potential. When loaded to max it becomes .357. The magnum casing was made longer so the cartridge would not fit into older .38Spl. revolvers. The same holds true for 45LC vs .45ACP. Georgia Arms had .45LC with 320 or 330gr hard cast lead loaded to about 1300fps and marked for Super Blackhawk and TC guns only. The .45ACP can't hope to match that.

Hmm, another Ginger or MaryAnn question.

Yeah you're right 18 months. More than a few worms.

tipoc

Not sure but I can launch 173gr 9mm out of my CZ75b at 1000fps not sure how that compares to a .38 tho I've never owned one.

From a 2" revolver with the same bullet weight 9mm has approximately a 250 fps advantage over 38

From the same snubbys 357 (real 357 loads) will have about a 100fps advantage over 9x19mm. So called midrange 357 loads are pretty much 9mm long rimmed.

So yes 9mm is quite a bit more powerful than 38 and is much closer to 357 mag than 38 is to 9mm




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The problem I see is that most guns that can handle the high performance .38 Special ammo are built on frames that can now handle, or are built as, .357's. Why carry a heavy Ruger or lightweight S&W revolver and not get it in .357, and carry the .357 ammo when you need higher performance? That is what all this recent metalurgy and design have given us: revolvers of .38 size that are built to handle .357's. I love the old .38's, love to shoot them, but if I wanted to pack a true defensive, small revolver, I'd look for a .357. Maybe a S&W 640 or 340PD? Until you step up to the .357, a .38 Special revolver (of similar size) is bested by the 9mm.

You might get a 124 gr. Bullet going 1150 from your 9mm but it's easily possible to get a 125 going the same speed from a .38
Push them both close to 1200 and the 38 still wins.
Or a 168gr Keith semi wad cutter going over 1000
In a .38 you can get full power and performance from a home cast bullet.
And better reliability.

But my revolvers are .357
Beats 9mm hands down.