The 147 was a jacketed load. That basically means it needs to go fairly fast to expand - it wouldn't be my first choice out of a snub. The FBI shot it years ago from 4" barrels and it did OK there.
There have been a BUNCH of 158+P plain lead hollowpoints, and the very similar Federal "Nyclad" (basically same thing dipped in plastic) load.
* Federal 158gr +P plain lead hollowpoint: AVOID at all cost. You sometimes see these cheap at ammoman.com - they are just plain loaded too wimpy.
* Nyclad version of same: harder to find, according to some reports may be a tad hotter than the plain lead variant. I wouldn't bother looking for 'em.
* Winchester: better than Federal, good velocity but the lead alloy is just a wee bit hard. From a 4" barrel they're great, they'll probably expand from a 3", from a 2"...kinda iffy. Current production.
* Remington: now we're talking. Usually does at least 825fps from a snub, often better if it's a Ruger or recent-model S&W. Very soft lead, good reliable expansion, GREAT load. More scarce than Winchester's version but still current production. Midway usually has 'em in stock. VERY cheap as defensive ammo goes.
* Cor-Bon: they used to make a 158 lead hollowpoint 38+P, and made enough that you still see some on dealer's shelves now and again. It was HOT, often pulling 1,000fps or close to it from a snubby. Tended to lead up barrels something fierce, but as a defensive carry load was a monster. I would use these only in tougher 38spl guns, or small 357s.
* Buffalo Bore: BuffBore took the Cor-Bon load and duplicated it except with a "gas check" - they slapped a copper baseplate onto the otherwise all lead bullet, covering just the back. This prevents hot gasses burning the tail off the bullet and plating the barrel with lead. These are consistently hitting 1,000fps from snubbies and are THE performance champions in 38Spl, bar none, end of discussion. At 350ft/lbs energy they're deep into 9mm
from a 4" barrel territory and are as hot as a few mild 357 loads. They're also expensive, and I wouldn't shoot them in my neat old late-70s production 17oz Charter Arms Undercover, as one example.
If anyone knows of other 158+P lead hollowpoints I'd love to know about them, esp. if it's even possible they might turn up at a gun show or whatever.
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The other path to snubbie performance involves lighter jacketed rounds with big hollowpoints. Winchester pioneered this with their 130gr "Supreme" +P and then Speer did them one better with the 135 Gold Dot. Speer used to sell a deep-hollowpoint 125gr Gold Dot slug to other ammo houses such as Black Hills, Proload (RIP), Georgia Arms, Buffalo Bore and others. Such rounds are fine so long as they ARE Gold Dot slugs - these smaller ammo loaders will have to switch to something else and I don't know that they'll be as good. Speer still loads the 125s themselves in 38+P but admits they're not as good in snubs as the exceptional 135.
If you're not going to deal with the recoil (or cost) of the BuffBore 158s, AND your gun weighs 15oz or more, the Remington 158+P is a great solution.
If your gun is some sort of "ultralight", the Speer 135s are a better choice as they will resist "bullet yanking" under recoil much better than the slick lead slugs will. Once you get down into the 10.5oz S&W featherweight, I would strongly recommend the Speer 135.
The Speer 135gr slug is also sold in 357 cases as a "lighter magnum for snubby 357s" - damn fine load too but don't try and use it in 38spl guns by mistake, m'kay? I've tested this mild 357 load in my New Vaquero and found it to be very accurate.
Other loads: if your gun is fairly tough, the Cor-Bon 110gr and 125gr +P jacketed loads are very, very potent and widely available. They're stronger than I'd want to run in my old Charter. Cor-Bon also has a 110gr all-copper hollowpoint DPX running at pretty high speeds - I haven't seen test data on these from snubbies but given how well the DPX has been working in other calibers they're probably respectable.
I checked: Doubletap ammo sells no 38spl ammo whatsoever. G-grunt mixed them up with BuffBore. No biggie
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Don't buy BuffBore's 125gr JHP 38+P unless you find out what slug they're using. If it's still Gold Dot stock, fine, otherwise...I'd say avoid. It might be the Hornady XTP which needs a lot of speed to expand...*maybe* BuffBore is punching them out fast enough from snubs but I would be skeptical. Hornady claims it will expand at any speed from 800fps on up...I would call that seriously optimistic from the test photos I've seen.
Winchester's 130+P Supreme is a good load too. Not as good as Speer's 135 but if it's all you can find on short notice, it doesn't suck.
That is basically IT as far as what I'd trust my butt to from a 38Spl snubbie. Not a long list, is it? Snubbie performance is real marginal, it's one of those situations where you have to be picky about your ammo.
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Fixed-sight 38spl guns are often set up for bullet weights in the 148 - 158gr class. You'll need to check of course but very often you'll be driven in this direction for point of impact reasons.
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I'll throw one other comment in here: if your gun is marginal in the strength department, the Remington or Winchester 158+P lead loads are probably going to stress the gun the least of all these loads. If I was pressing something like a 40-year-old S&W M&P into defensive service because that's all I had, those would be my first choice and since the velocity is similar, wear and tear on the gun should be a wash between these two. The shorter the barrel, the more you should lean to Remington, once you get past 4" or so consider Winchester.
