jfh said:
This includes...the Georgia Arms version factory ammo, and various handloads.... ... Both the Georgia Arms (which I believe uses the Hornady 158LSWC-HP) and the Rem 38S12 will barely break 800 fps now, and maybe run at about 790 fps.
Hmmm...Georgia Arms advertises 900 fps, but I guess that's from a standard concrete-encased 15-inch test barrel! In such a load, I worry about leading in my own guns. With heavy bullets like the 158gr, one doesn't have the gas cutting issues of the 95-110gr bullets that Treasury also has used in the past. The lighter bullet loads could destroy a small-frame revolver quicker than the heavier loads, though frame stretching might be a problem if the pressure was pushed.
All my .38 Spc defense loads have been 110 JHP +P, just because I grew up thinking heavy bullets just didn't work well in the human body. Getting anywhere near 800 fps with lead bullets also guaranteed me a night or two home alone with my gun and a stainless steel brush.
Cosmoline said:
I have no faith in the 125 grainers out of either a .38 or a .357 Mag. Guys have gotten a lot bigger all around in the past few decades.
Can you supply more info? I'm frankly aghast, as the .357 125gr JHP has been a proven performer for several decades. Unless that chubby fellow's name was Ben, I can't help but think it was a freak shot. What was the load, exactly?
I had a friend who shot a Moro in the chest in World War II and he cursed the .45 ACP the rest of his life. Logically, he knew that sometimes freakish things happen with handguns, especially those fat 230gr FMJ -- but because that one gun and one round failed him that one time, he wrote off the entire caliber.
I know of many incidents where people (some of them huge) have gone down like a brick with the 125gr JHP. The CHP went from the 158gr JHP to the 125gr JHP because the heavier bullets tended to penetrate too well and recoil too much. The 158gr JHP .357 just hasn't had a decent track record with people. With bears and deer, yes, but I don't think people are getting so big that we need to go to that loading!
The 125gr JHP .357 penetrates exceptionally well in wood, plastic, car bodies, tires and so forth, yet breaks bones and mushrooms nicely when it hits human flesh. It's possible that the load that failed had a defective bullet or it had been altered. I wouldn't throw it to the wolves just yet, at least not without seeing more.
The 158gr LSWCHP isn't going to overpenetrate, probably because the velocity won't give it the energy. It may yet expand because there's no jacket holding it together. So we know it works in people. How does it work against cars and other materials from a 2-inch barrel? Will it flatten a tire?
One Final Note: A poster known as sacamp tested the Georgia Arms 158 LSWCHP and found it to be wanting. Let the buyer beware.
