A brief comparison of premium .38 special carry ammo for the S&W 642/442
Featuring:
Left: Corbon DPX 110gr + P, All copper Barnes X-bullet
Right: Speer Gold Dot 135gr + P (short barrel), Copper plated and lead JHP
HKS 36-A speedloaders
Ballistics and notes:
Corbon DPX
Velocity (ft/s): 1050 out of a 442
Energy (in foot pounds): 269
Mike @corbon sent me a pdf file including a documented chronograph screen showing 1055 ft/s out of a 442. Reportedly, it penetrated 15" through 4 layers of denim and 10% ballistic gel. Recovered diameter was .66". This load differs from previous Corbon DPX .38 special offerings in standard pressure. Corbon increased the pressure to +P pressure, reportedly due to keyholing/angling in the standard pressure version. All data in this report refer exclusively to the +P version. The group at stopping power tested this load out of a 642 which triangulates well with Mike's data. The round penetrated 15.5" through 4 layers of denim and gel and expanded to .520 cal. High velocity of 1143, low of 1091, average of 1110. Stopping powers test also noted that this round was the only .38 round tested to successfully penetrate a truck door. This load also tested favorably @ brass fetcher among other premium .38 special loads.These come in Brass cases.
Speer Gold Dot (short barrel .38 + P)
Velocity (ft/s): 860
Energy (in foot pounds):222
Speer has a fine reputation amongst law enforcement. This round is specifically engineered to expand at the lower end of velocities for +p offerings in this caliber. Reports on the net have indicated successful expansion through gelatin, however brass fetcher's testing with bone plate simulations indicated the round did not expand at all. This round tested favorably on tnoutdoors9 youtube review, although it was noted that velocity out of a s&w 438 with 2" barrel was averaging 835 ft/s. In the same test, the round penetrated a little over 12" in tnoutdoors "simtest media". Other reviews have chronographed them @ 921 ft/s out of a 642. The stopping power net guys shot this out of a s&w 649 and averaged about 895 ft/s with impressive expansion. This data refers exclusively to the 135 gold dot and not the 125 gr gold dot. These come in nickel-plated cases.
Decision
Well, this is no surprise to most of you since I posted it up farther on the same page, but I have carried the gold dot but have now switched to the Corbon load. Part of it is I just don't like carrying lead - lead poisoning is common among shooters and I don't want to track it home to my wife and kids or get it all over the firearm and in the barrel when shooting. For this reason, all my carry guns are loaded with all copper bullets. I have met Mike from Corbon because he flew down to my house when I had concerns about a box of ammo - I know they stand behind their product.
Speer is a premium manufacturer of ammo and I have only good things to say about the gold dot line of ammunition, other than the presence of lead. I'm not sure which is better for defense as the gold dot is 20 grains heavier than the DPX load, yet the DPX load is approximately 200 ft/s faster than the gold dot. Both should perform adequately, although DPX may be a better penetrator, the final word is out on that as test results vary. I still have boxes of gold dot in multiple calibers in storage and will probably keep them there for some time. Corbons offerings tend to be slightly more expensive than Speers, especially since the gold dots can be bought in LE marked boxes with a 50 roundcount.
For me, the product justified the expense, and you'll find me carrying DPX loads now in .38 special + P, .357 magnum, and .44 special
The intent of this post is not to claim that one round is superior to the other, but rather to give context to my choice and provide data from a number of sources for others looking to compare the two rounds.
-Triple T
