I've actually had a rough time *finding* any 125gr 38+P Gold Dots. Esp. now that Speer has dried up the supplies they were selling to smaller ammo houses like Black Hills, Doubletap, Buffbore, etc.
Plus...I'm...not really interested in the breed. I think the 135 is a genuine advancement as 38+P goes and has merit as a light-duty 357.
Hmmm.
OK. One reason people have run hollowpoints in some forms of competition shooting for years is to get as much barrel/bullet contact in a given weight as possible. It's also why target wadcutters are popular in some sports. A big hollowpoint cavity lets you put more contact patch out.
This is also why the all-copper Barnes/Cor-Bon loads make sense - they're big for a given weight (due to copper being less dense than lead).
If you look at bullet weights and shapes within a given caliber you start to notice this trend.
The Speer 135's big, BIG cavity and a bit of extra weight over the 125 class slugs are both going to have a good influence on accuracy. The only 38/357 125gr-and-under projectiles that it didn't make obsolete are those that can handle speeds above it's range (above *approximately* 1,200fps, not certain exactly) or those that are built along similar lines like the Cor-Bon DPX 110/125 and the Winchester 130gr Supreme 38+P.
I really believe the Winnie 130 influenced the Speer 135 as it pre-dates it by about two years or so and sure as hell looks similar.
The Speer "high speed" 125gr Gold Dot as used by Doubletap, Buffalo Bore and others has a tiny "dimple" of a hollowpoint. Hell, it barely qualifies for the term. It's meant to fly up past 1,400ish and I would guess as far past it as practical in a handgun. The other well known 125 full house slug by Remington also has a teensy little hollowpoint barely worthy of the term. These loads are not known for accuracy and the Doubletap 125s I tried sure as hell showed it. I wasn't shooting off-hand, I was shooting from a borrowed bench rest thing the range had, so I don't think the steep recoil of that round threw my accuracy off.
If I was handloading, which I hope to soon, I would be very very interested in the Barnes 140gr all-copper hollowpoint they sell as a reloading component. It should work great at around 1,300ish FPS and if anything be more accurate than Cor-Bon's 125gr flavor. The Barnes 140 should give a contact patch somewhere close to a conventional 158gr JHP.
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Mas Ayoob was along saying similar things
. The only point on which I might differ with Mas is in the 158gr all-lead +P hollowpoints, esp. the Remington and Buffbore. As long as your gun is heavy enough (15oz or more, and you're definately OK by 17oz) to resist bullet yanking, the Remmie 158+P LSWC-HP is, I believe, every bit as good as the Gold Dot 135+P (yet the Remmie is cheaper) and the BuffBore version trounces it soundly (at a high price!).
Once you're dealing with a 10.5oz or 12.5oz S&W ultralight, the Gold Dot 135+P is the undisputed best load you can stick in that gun, period, end of discussion, use Winnie 130+P or Cor-Bon 110+P DPX only as a fallbacks if the 135s ain't around.
Finally, in a classic design fixed-sight 38, the Remmie 158 will be a tad less stressful on the gun and more likely to print to point of aim than the GD 135+P. The Winchester 158+P will be the same, and expand properly in a 4" or longer barrel (slightly harder lead than Remmie 158s).