Federal 158 p+ nyclad HP

[Serpico]

While visiting NYC, my dad gave me a box of this NYPD duty ammo....supposedly this is a very good load for the snubbie and hard to find....do they still make it? I also heard that the NYPD which carries 124 +P gold dots in their 9mms is going to a gold dot round in 38...not sure what grain but I would imagine the 125 grain...I wonder if speer cut them a good deal since I can't see changing from the 158 if it's such a good round.......

 

[treeprof]

You can still get it:

http://www.ammobank.com/cgi-bin/cshop/store/detail.tam?xax=400636&item.ctx=:P38G#

It's was still made but as "LEO Only" as of a couple of yrs ago. Might be discont. altogether now, for what I know.

It shoots well from my 642 and I have a ton, but the Win stuff is easier to find, cheaper, shoots as well and may expand a bit better (I hear Jim March's keyboard even as I type ...)

NYPD may be going to the new 135 gr GD; s'posed to be optimized for snubbies.

 

[Jim March]

The Fed 158 Nyclad +P actually has a poor reputation. Both the Winchester and Remington plain lead versions of the same thing are significantly faster, expand more reliably out of a 2" and are still in production.

The new Speer 38+P Gold Dot that NYPD is going to for their remaining 38s is a new 135grain load, thoroughly discussed in other threads . Go do searches...

 

[treeprof]

Jim - Do you have a link to any velocity #'s? I've seen pics and at least some anecdotal evidence that expansion in the Nyclad HP's can be spotty, but never any hard chrono data. I have also heard conflicting anecdotes that Fed either softened or hardened the bullet as time went on. Any confirmation one way or the other?

 

[cheygriz]

The 158GR LSWCHP +P was the standard issue FBI load as long as they carried .38s. Because it works! (Not the nyclad)

As far as I know, it's still available from Remington, Winchester and Fedral

 

[Serpico]

I also got a box of the winchester 158 +p non hollowpoint and some federal nyclad 158 non hollows...so the winchester actually is a better round and expands better than the nycla hollowpoint? If this is the case I'll shoot up the nyclads and carry the winchester...

 

[Hal]

If this is the case I'll shoot up the nyclads

Rather than just shoot em up, you might want to consider selling them outright.
If you follow through on the above link, youll note the price is a whopping $31.74 after shipping charges.

The Nyclad round has an awful lot of fans. Honestly, if you were local, I'd give you a couple-maybe 3, boxes of shoot-em-up stuff for them.

 

[Serpico]

Thanks, but I guess I'll just hold onto them...maybe put em in my 442 instead of my speer 125 gold dots....I also got a box of 158 grain +p non hollowpoint nyclads....

 

[WT]

From a recent issue of COMBAT HANDGUNS

.38 Special Federal Nyclad 158 gr SWC HP+P
2" bbl = 821 fps
4" bbl = 855 fps
6" bbl = 874 fps

.38 Special Winchester 158 gr SWC HP+P
2" bbl = 808 fps
4" bbl = 833 fps
6" bbl = 890 fps

 

[treeprof]

WT - Thanks for the data.

 

[Jim March]

WT: that's interesting. Not a slur on you OR the magazine, but most test data I've seen has clocked the Winchesters faster. Nyclad 158+P are more commonly at the low 800s, sometimes high 700s so that's within normal bounds (talking about 2" barrels only). It's the Winchester numbers that are unusually low compared to other tests.

Could have been an off batch, could have been a gun that just didn't like that round. It happens. In fact, take another look at the numbers; the same Winchester load is faster in the 6" barrel, which suggests it just wasn't compatible with whatever gun they used with a shorter tube.

(Picture how the magazine tests: they've got three guns, one of each tube length, each one shoots both types of rounds. Good so far. But one gun is incompatible with one type of round, another one doesn't like another. Hence numbers like what we're seeing.)

Remington's version consistently clocks the highest, often up around 875ish from a 2", not less than 850 of the various reports I've seen. (Well, "highest" until that Bufallo Bore load finally ships!)