Low recoil 38?

[Redfisher60]

Hello all! I just bought my wife a Taurus 85 steel 38 for her personal SD firearm. I am ordering Pink Hogue grips for it per her request, lol!
I found a used one in pristine condition for $214.00 OTD!

Is the SWC ammo the best for a low recoil SD ammo? If not what is?

Also, can a smith do some work on the DA pull of the trigger to make it easier to DA?


Thanks

 

[gotboostvr]

Is the SWC ammo the best for a low recoil SD ammo? If not what is?

Also, can a smith do some work on the DA pull of the trigger to make it easier to DA

"Best" is very subjective. A LSWCHP driven to the right velocity for it's hardness is a vey effective choice. A standard LSWC is a good choice if woodland creatures are a concern.

There's plenty of excellent JHP loads for snubbies.

I'm not sure who specializes in Tauri, but you may be able to find someone local that knows what they're doing that can deburr it and slick it up with some lighter springs.

 

[kBob]

OK I will start the fight.......

If you can find it the non plus P 110 grain Silver tip ammo is not bad.

Now folks will leap on me with pictures and charts of gel being shot to support their over mine.

Honestly I am happy using my warm handloaded 158-160 grain Lead Semi Wadcutters.....but you asked for low recoil self defense, the 158 LSWC driven fast enough to be a decent SD round is not low recoil.

-kBob

 

[stu1ritter]

For low recoil SD rounds, might I suggest target wadcutters. Low recoil usually means whatever you are using will not expand, so why not just use a full meplat hole puncher. Gunsmith's can usually do some good to most triggers out there. I don't know anything about Taurus but would imagine it can't be much different than any other revolver in that some polishing and spring tuning will lighten things up.

Stu

 

[SteadyD]

The Hornady Critical Defense Lite might be a good option. It's a 90 grain standard pressure hollow point, and the hollow point is plugged with a pink polymer tip, which would match her grips nicely!

 

[GRIZ22]

I am happy using factory target wadcutters in my J frame size guns. I do carry SWCs for a reload.

You can swap out springs to lighten trigger pull. Be warned this can result in unreliable ignition. Not what you want in a SD gun.

Smooth is more important than light in a DA revolver.

 

[MedWheeler]

Bottom of the recoil chain: Cowboy Action Loads

Next up: Target wadcutters, the kind with the bullet flush with the case tip.

For defense ammo, pretty much anything lighter than 130-or-so grains. When I first started in law enforcement (back in sixgun days), our duty ammo was Winchester +P 95-grain Silvertips. I think my .22 revolver recoiled about as much as those did. The lighter the bullet weight, the lower the perceived recoil and muzzle flip will likely be.

In my all-steel five-shooters, I keep Winchester 140-grain "Defend" JHP load (non-+P) loaded. These aren't bad at all. Anything 158-grain gets rude after a few handfuls go downrange.

That thick grip on her 85 will help. The stocks on my five-shooters (the three that are 2" snubs) are the older and thinner wood ones.

 

[Monac]

The lowest recoil 38 Special rounds that are generally available for target practice are the standard velocity 130 grain FMJ load and the low velocity ("mid-range") 148 grain wadcutter. The latter has gotten hard to find in my area (upper Midwest). Plain 158 grain semi-wadcutter is neither very low-recoil nor well regarded as a self-defense round, AFAIK.

PS - I never thought of Cowboy Action loads! Probably a great idea for practice.