.38 lrn

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KJS

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Why does .38 LRN exist? I know the historical reason as to why semi-auto bullets were round -- earlier auto-loader designs feed hard ball ammo best. Not so much of an issue with modern pistols that are made to handle hollow points just fine.

What would be the historical reason for the traditional .38 Special LRN and its continued existence to this day? Revolvers don't have feeding issues, and don't care about bullet shape, making me wonder if there is any rhyme or reason to round nose revolver ammo.

Not really an important issue, but I'm just curious.
 
Not all of us shoot our guns solely for defensive use or for practice aimed towards defensive use. The SPORT side of shooting opens up a lot of other options where LRN rounds are ideal or at least an option.

For example cowboy action shooting requires cast lead. No jacketed allowed.

I've noticed that all the revolvers I have which have been shot back to back with lead vs jacketed tend to produce tighter groupings with lead than jacketed. The same holds for my semi autos. So when shooting outdoors my preference is for lead rounds. Indoors the usual ventilation flows can't keep up with the sudden "lead cloud" produced when the rounds fire and once I understood that the sweet taste at the back of my throat was lead I went with shooting mostly jacketed for indoor use.

Round nose? For use in lever action carbines they work the best. Also if you're in a match where speed is an issue round nose loads quicker and more surely than other shapes either in single rounds or with the aid of a speed loader.

And finally if you find the right supplier cast lead bullets or ammo SHOULD be a little cheaper.
 
Older revolvers with fixed sights were "regulated" to shoot to point-of-aim with this load, which is also easier to drop into the chambers when loading or reloading, especially with speed-loaders.

It is not the world's best man stopper, but it will still do the job if the bullet hits where it's supposed to. With any ammunition the key is bullet placement, not bullet design.
 
Easier reloading under pressure.

They can be very accurate in certain revolvers that don't like SWC too.
Probably due to better alignment or "funneling" into the chamber throats.

They are also easier for the manfacture to make as they can be cast or swaged easier then sharp shoulder SWC bullets, so can probably be sold cheaper.

Here is a page from a 1931 Colt catalog.
It's always been that way.

OldColtammo.jpg

rc
 
Old Fuff said:
It is not the world's best man stopper, but it will still do the job if the bullet hits where it's supposed to. With any ammunition the key is bullet placement, not bullet design.
Click to expand...

I suppose most who've ever died of gun shot wounds were killed by ammo that wasn't even close to the high tech uber-expensive defensive rounds carried for SD today.

Just look at how many died in wars where hard ball is demanded by military convention. Seem a proper gentleman kills another gentleman by blasting holes right through him, as that's how things are done in the polite game of war.

The point about how round slips into chambers fastest & most easily was something I never would have thought of. Though with the cost of ammo I've never set about to see how fast I could go through it, though it seems to be consumed plenty fast even without me having to try.
 
It's a good, cheap round for punching paper or other tasks that aren't so performance related.

Probably does nicely out of a .357 rifle for small game hunting, too.



This is more from the non-reloader's point of view...
 
Well I didn't have any 130 ball when I took the picture...still don't.

Still got the other stuff in the picture though. :neener:

That is my now deceased father-in-laws issued gear. Except for the ammo of course. :rolleyes:
 
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