Corbon .38 Sp +P+ with 9mm bullet?

[edrice]

Occasionally I review my older ammo stocks to compare it with the latest, most up-to-date technologies.

I have a couple boxes (50) of the Corbon .38 Sp +P+ loaded with 115 gr 9mm bullet. It rates at 1250 fps out of a 4-inch barrel.

Apparently this is an old load because Corbon does not seems to carry it anymore. Usually when a line is discontinued, it's generally because it does not sell well and I'm wondering why. Corbon seems to have only +P and no more +P+ at all.

Anyone know why they dropped that product?

Ed

 

[Majic]

I'm quite sure they didn't use a .355 inch bullet for a .357 inch bore.

 

[edrice]

Actually, that's exactly what they did. Back in the days when the popularity of the 9mm was still taking off, Corbon was trying to duplicate 9mm ballistics in a .38, so they took a 115gr 9mm bullet and bumped it up to .357 diameter and put +P+ power behind it in a .38 casing.

I'm just curious why they discontinued it. I know it had a heck of flash coming out of the barrel.

Ed

 

[308sc]

Well then it would be a 115 grain .357/.38 bullet loaded to +P+...not a 9mm bullet

im not trying to come across as mean or anything...but they just loaded it with a 115 grain .38/.357 bullet. You see?

Most likely they stopped producing them because....115 grain bullet is kinda small for a .38/.357....and they realized why make a .38 duplicate a 9mm when you could take advangtage of the .38 capabilities of shooting heavier bullets.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

I chronied some of that from my 940 with 2" bbl and got 1247 fps. I would imagine from a 4" it would add about 100 fps or so. It was much too hot for a j frame.
I'm pretty sure it was a 9mm bullet.

 

[edrice]

Well then it would be a 115 grain .357/.38 bullet loaded to +P+...not a 9mm bullet

im not trying to come across as mean or anything...but they just loaded it with a 115 grain .38/.357 bullet. You see?

At first glance, it might seem that way. But back then Corbon did not make any of their own bullets (I don't know if they do now) so they bought another manufacturer's 9mm bullet and bumped them to a diameter of .357. I forget whose 9mm bullet it was, but it was one of the majors, like Sierra or Winchester or...

Here are two of the boxes, one dated 1991 and the other 1994 -

Ed

 

[edrice]

I chronied some of that from my 940 with 2" bbl and got 1247 fps. I would imagine from a 4" it would add about 100 fps or so. It was much too hot for a j frame.
I'm pretty sure it was a 9mm bullet.

Yeah, they recommended it for use in only the stoutest of revolvers.

Ed

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Just because both are loaded using a 115gr bullet to the same velocities doesn't make them both 9mm rounds.

Bullets weighing between 90gr up to 200gr have been loaded in the .38 Special over the past 100 plus years. I understand the 115gr bullet is popular in a 9mm but that doesn't make all 115gr bullets 9mm bullet. Trying to call a .38 Special loaded with a 115gr bullet a 9mm just because of the bullet weight is like trying to call a .38 Special loaded with a 130gr bullet a .38 Super because a 130gr bullet is used in a .38 Super round.

What makes a 9mm bullet a 9mm bullet is in part the bullet diameter. If it's at .355" or .356" it's a 9mm or .38 Super bullet. If it's at .357" or .358" it's a .38 Special or .357 Magnum bullet.

 

[edrice]

Just because both are loaded using a 115gr bullet to the same velocities doesn't make them both 9mm rounds.

HA! it was a Sierra 9mm 115gr Power Jacket Hollow Point. Here's the data -

http://www.snubnose.info/docs/m64-3.htm

to wit -

*Corbon 115-gr. JHP +P+:
Average Velocity: 1349 ft/sec
Extreme Spread: 111 ft/sec
Std. Deviation: 39 ft/sec

*This ammunition is no longer produced by Corbon. It uses a Sierra 9mm 115-gr. Power Jacket Hollow Point. This load hits nearly 1200 ft/sec from my Model 642 and I personally consider it too hot for alloy J-frame use. Concerned for cracked forcing cones, I do not shoot it in J-frames at all.

Here's another -

http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/9mm vs 38 Special.htm

Without question, the speed demon of this bunch was the discontinued super-hot +P+ Corbon 115-gr. JHP. This load used 9mm 115-gr. Sierra Power Jacket Hollow Points loaded in .38 Special cases. This stuff is hot. Though ejection was fine in each revolver I tried it in, I personally do not use it in my J-frame .38 Specials. I think it's just too much and will either have excessive flame cutting, frame stretching, or crack the forcing cone. Felt recoil is sharp and memorable from the little aluminum frame snubs, but it is not bad from the K-frame revolvers.

I think for a time they might have also used a different 9mm bullet.

Ed

 

[edrice]

Here's a July, 1996 Handguns magazine article -

http://members.cox.net/ubehebe/9mm.jpg

(once in your browser, you may need to click the image to enlarge to read it and weep)

...Cor-bon 115-grain JHP +P+. This load uses the same Sierra bullet as the dominating 9mm 115-grain JHP +P. It is simply bumped up to .357 caliber by rolling in a cannelure.

Crow, anyone?

Ed

 

[ArchAngelCD]

(once in your browser, you may need to click the image to enlarge to read it and weep)

Crow, anyone?

Ed

Isn't that a little childish anyone??

IMO what makes this forum great is the exchange of knowledge and ideas. Personally, I'm happy when I learn something new even when it's a one time thing that's not the rule but the exception. (if you read the whole page from the first link you posted you will see at times that round was a dismal failure)

Also IMO there's no place for posts like yours.
Have a nice day....

 

[edrice]

Isn't that a little childish anyone??

Actually, no, it wasn't, and I'm sorry you took it that way. If I'd known you were going to be too sensitive for a little kidding, I'd have done it differently.

Sorry,

Ed