38 TARGET LOADS AND STEEL PLATES

[Bulldozer]

I went to the outdoor range today and burned through about 350-400 rounds of assorted NON +P 38 special rounds. I was using my 3" Model 66-2 and a 2" Model 10 in my daily carry rig.

I was shooting at steel silhouette targets (5) spread across a 60 degree arc within the berm from 7 feet to 25 yards away. I had the worst time getting the steels to fall at much past 15 yards, despite solid hits from the 130 FMJ and 158 LRN.

I was putting cylinder after cylinder full on the targets at 15 yards and 25 yards with consistent clangs and the darned things would just not fall over. Has anyone lese found this to be the case with these anemic target loads?

When I swapped up to +P LSWC-HP I did not have any trouble at 15 yards, but the 25 yard target took 2-3 rapid-fire hits to drop over.
Suggestions welcome.

 

[dakotasin]

factory 38 special loads run around 100 ft/lbs of energy at the muzzle. that ain't much.

when you consider how fast the bullet scrubs velocity (and therefore energy) as it gets downrange, it really isn't any wonder why you'd have troubles.

+p loads will nearly double the energy payload - which is why you had better success, but still, not a lot of energy to begin w/, and the bullet still scrubs velocity as it goes.

i don't have any suggestions for you, except to stick w/ +p loads for 15 yards and further.

 

[RON in PA]

dakotasin check a ballistics table, standard pressure 158 grain 38 specials have about 200 foot pounds of energy out of a 4" barrel while +P adds approx. another 50.

Knocking over steel plates is a matter of momentum, wt x velocity, and the 38 special isn't up there. That's why for knocking over steel plates 45s are much better.

Let the knowledgeable physicists chime in.

 

[Steve C]

The reactive targets generally have an adjustment that can make them easier or harder to tip over. At our club the silhouettes and larger plates are never meant to fall down and scored if they are rung. The guys that shoot revolver at the regular shoots generally use pretty light .38 loads and in their words they just "lay the plate over" rather than knocking it down like the guys with the .45's do. Different set ups, different games.

 

[dakotasin]

dakotasin check a ballistics table,

i took my data from my chrony w/ the loads i fired yesterday... what ammo companies claim is rarely accurate, and certainly not accurate for 2" barrels. 38 special in a 2" barrel loses ~200 f/s to a 4-6" barrel (which is what most companies use to gather their data). lots of variables.