Favorite .38Spl Snub Loads?

[gun_with_a_view]

The FBI load has been previously acknowledged to do about the same thing as 45 hardball, and the Speer 135 grain short barrel round to fairly well duplicate the performance of the FBI load. So far, there are no statements I'm aware of that equate any modern 110 grain 38 Special rounds with either of the above. I venture that it would be a close contest.

 

[Terminatorret]

The 135gr +p Speers have rightfully earned a great reputation.
However, for me the 158gr standard pressure LSWC will give me all the penetration I ever need, even through multiple clothing layers and winter coats. I'm not concerned with expansion of the wound canal, only with dependability, adequate penetration and accuracy. I feel it is important to practice with what you carry...I can afford to put many LSWC's down range without breaking the bank.

 

[Crayfish]

A good point that some here have made with a fixed sight snubby (or any gun really) is POA with your chosen load. Mine shoots point of aim (siting on the front sight) with 158. Very low with 135 or less to the point I have to cover the target with the front sight. One can always adapt your aim to various loads as long as we practice what we carry. Have fun out there.

 

[Crowman]

My S&W model 60-14 and M&P 340 shoot dead on with 158 grain bullets. I generally carry 158 grain JHP or JSP 38 specials, both standard pressure and +P, (depending on what is available) in town in both revolvers. But when walking about my back woods, I load the model 60-14 (approx 23 oz) with a Speer snake shot followed with 180 grain hard cast RNFP full house magnums; whereas, in the M&P 340, I carry Buffalo Bore 158 gn cast SWC 38 special Outdoorsman load as my woods load because of the light weight revolver (13 oz.)

 

[2ndamd]

135 grn Speer GDHP +p
125 grn Remington Golden Sabre +p
158 grn Buffalo Bore LHPGC +p
158 grn Buffalo Bore LHPGC standard pressure

 

[Hanshi]

The standard 158 grn HP SWC "FBI load". In my Colt Diamondback and S&W M60.

 

[gun_with_a_view]

In the final analysis, going even one step beyond .45 ACP hardball round nose ammo for self defense could be a mistake. As in animal breeding, the refinement of a certain desirable characteristic often results in the rise of an undesirable trait as well. The quest for the higher production was accompanied by a lower butterfat content in the milk of Holstein dairy cattle. In the case of the .45 ACP, the initial move to hollow point ammo is said to have resulted in frequent jamming. While the situation must be much improved today, manufacturers have presumably had to do a lot of refinement to get where they are today.

Somewhere out in one of the Western states, the owner of a gun training school once defended the use of .45 ACP hardball over hollow points. I can't recall the name of the individual, but perhaps someone reading this will.

 

[Vodoun da Vinci]

My favorite snubbie load is primarily for our Ruger LCR and consists of hot hand loaded 110 gr. wadcutters.

VooDoo

 

[redbullitt]

My 3 inch barrel SP101 gets buffalo bore FBI load 158s. The LCR gets speer 135 +P short barrel gold dot loads.

The 158s shoot to poa in the SP101, and are easy to control in that pistol. I am very happy with them.

The 135s shoot a couple inches high at 10 yards out of the LCR, but the 158s shoot like 8 inches high at the same distance. I would be curious to see what those 110 grainers do out of the LCR.

 

[MICHAEL T]

I use the +p 158gr LSWCHP I still have in a plastic case 5 148gr Hollow base wad cutters loaded backwards . I don't know what loaded with. But had a kick . Only really good for across room. I knew LEO's that used these when kicking doors on raids In 70's So they been around a while. .

 

[TomADC]

I used to use the old Federal Hydra-Shok that looked like a HBWC loaded backwards the ones with the post in the middle, but was running out few years back now use the replacement Federal Hydra-Shok JHP with the post.
The old Hyrda-Shok ammo when shot into a clay block of duct seal opened up to .50 cent piece dia.

 

[SeanSw]

Has anyone chrono'd standard pressure Hornady xtp .38 special from a snub? We like how they shoot in the LCR. Not all reviews of the Speer 135gr +p are great so we have not relied on them yet.

 

[RustyShackelford]

Post #57....

Gun press writer & tactics trainer; Chuck Taylor, claimed to be a US military veteran, sworn LE(SWAT) and "mercenary" overseas(Africa/Central America). He espoused the 1911a1 SAO & the standard factory milspec/GI 230gr FMJ as the armed citizen/LE sidearm combo for many years.

Taylor later had high praise for the Glock 17 9x19mm but never really changed his stance on the .45acp 230gr FMJ.

 

[CZ9shooter]

Has anyone chrono'd standard pressure Hornady xtp .38 special from a snub? We like how they shoot in the LCR. Not all reviews of the Speer 135gr +p are great so we have not relied on them yet.

I tested some 110gr standard pressure loads from Hornady in my Jframe. It was a couple years ago. They were some XTP variant load, "Critical Defense" I think. Anyhow, they were awefully weak. 820fps average IIRC. They were nice shooting loads, but I like either more velocity, or more weight than that for a carry load.

 

[chezdog]

I like the Buffalo Bore "standard pressure" 158gr LSWHC. It has more muzzle energy than most other manufacturers +p 38 special out of a 2" barrel. Corbon +p 110gr is a little more powerful, but you get a lot of flash and bang and a little sharper recoil with the Corbon. I'm going with the BB in my 642. I'm not a ballistics expert but I believe the heavier round will have more stopping power.

 

[SeanSw]

Thanks mboe794. If the 158gr were in the 800fps territory I'd be satisfied but 110gr at that speed is .380 territory.

 

[gun_with_a_view]

Don't be fooled by Critical Defense lower velocities. The bullet does not have to expend any energy to flush acquired baggage like cloth, skin and bone out of the hollowpoint before it can expand. I have no idea how much energy is saved in this way by the flextip, but I'll wager Hornady has it pegged to the max. At 800 FPS, a Critical Defense round may be bumping a Gold Dot in the derriere once inside a body. Both the Critical Defense 38 Special and the +P version are fairly soft shooting rounds by design. While they may not quite pass the FBI test, I believe either is quite adequate for most one-on-one frontal confrontations. If I need to take out a windshield or penetrate a car body, I'll just skip out on that appointment, thank you.

 

[MartinS]

"I'll just skip out on that appointment, thank you.'

That might not be your decision to make.

 

[marb4]

I carry the Gold Dot 135 grain +p short barrel in my LCR and find it very manageable. There is something appealing to me though about the standard 148 grain full wadcutter. Easy for me to make fast accurate hits and even the light target loads seem to get very deep penetration.

 

[gamestalker]

I reload, but even so, if I were going to buy a factory round I would fo with the Gold Dot for my first choice.

In the Gold Dot .357" line, Speer offers the 110 gr., 125 gr., 135 gr. (short barrel), and 158 gr. Deep Curl.

I've had nothing but excellent performance with the Gold Dot, though I've not used any factory offerings, as far as bullet design and construction is concerned, it's a top performer, as far as self defense bullets are concerned.

Now I heard something about a new Gold Dot called the G2 that's supposed to expand more reliably, not that I ever noticed a problem with expansion with the Gold Dot. So far, I think the G2 is a 9mm 147 gr. projectile, but if it goes well I'm sure Speer will be making it for the other calibers also.

GS

 

[Diamondback]

I'm partial to both the Speer 135gr Gold Dot HP Short Barrel .38 Special +P and the Nyclad 125gr.

 

[km101]

Speer Gold Dot 135gr. HP in my Model 60. Shoots POA @ 15 ft. and about 4-5" low @ 30 ft.

 

[Panzerschwein]

OP, I don't think you'll find a more consistently effective self-defense round for a .38 snub nose. It's a great load.

 

[ZVP]

A buddy worked up some light loads for my Cobra Derringer. Low noise, recoil high fun quotent!

 

[Phaedrus/69]

Over the years I've had a half dozen 2" snubs. The first five were Taurus 85s. Despite the poor reputation of Taurus all of those guns worked great. Problem was they were pretty heavy for five shots of low velocity ammo. I liked the guns but they never stuck around long because of the poor weight-to-firepower ratio, for lack of a better term.

My next snub was one of the original Ruger LCRs in .38 Special, no hammer. I loved that gun! Very light and easy to carry with a much better trigger than my Tauruses (Tauri?). The LCR was the first snub that I actually used frequently for CCW. I'm hardly an expert when it comes to snubs in general or the .38 Special in particular. In the 9mm, .40 cal and .45 ACP I favor Federal HST and Gold Dot when I can't get the HST. But I reasoned that a JHP probably wouldn't work well at the kind of velocities associated with 1.87" revolvers. So I settled on the Remington 158gr +P LSWC round. It has a good track record seems to perform pretty well from short barrels. Or at least I should say the bullet still seems to expand.

I did finally sell my LCR when I read that a 3" version was coming. So now I have an LCRx 3". As luck would have it I got my new holster for it today, too. Right now all I have on hand is the 158gr +P LSWC that I carried in the 2" version. It should work just fine. But I expect that I'm going to get another 125-150 fps out of the longer barrel vs the older 1.87-incher. This might be enough of a bump to make some of the JHP rounds viable (eg Gold Dot, Golden Saber, etc).

So to make a long post a little bit longer, I'm running the old LSWC for now but I have some +P 125gr Remington Golden Saber BJHP on the way from SGAmmo. I'll also pick up some GD if I can ever find it.