Wanna poke a hole? (Ammo question)

[critter]

While cleaning out my FIL's house, I found some ammo. It is factory Remington from much earlier. It is .38 special lead round nose but with a 200 grain bullet. Isn't that quite heavy for the .38? Did it have any specific purpose either then or now? Thx.

 

[Panzerschwein]

That is the old "super police" load.

The long, heavy bullet tumbles when it hits flesh, creating a larger wound. It's good stuff but has poor performance against things like car doors and glass.

 

[CajunBass]

I believe the Brits and other Commonwealth forces used the 200 grain bullet, but in the shorter 38 S&W cartridge.

Not much help with your specific question, but goes to the 200 grain bullet being fairly common in a "38" size cartridge back in the day.

 

[stiab]

Don't have my numbers handy, but actual tests have showed this stuff is very slow, a lot slower than it was advertised at years ago. Like much of the old ammo from that era, the velocity numbers were significantly inflated in advertisements and print material.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

If it were me I would save most of them in memory of your FIL. They really aren't all that good for SD compared to current SD ammo but I'm sure you will want to shoot least 6 of them. I know I would lol...

Just as a note, I load up the above mentioned 38/200 ammo and shoot them in an Enfield revolver. I recently loaded a dozen .38 Special rounds with the same bullet. In reality I didn't see any difference when shooting them except for the bigger thump when they hit the backboard.

 

[Blacksmoke]

That is the old "super police" load.

The long, heavy bullet tumbles when it hits flesh, creating a larger wound. It's good stuff but has poor performance against things like car doors and glass.

That is the load I recall from many years back when I worked for a company of retired LEOs. They preferred it to the SJHPs which were all the rage in the gun media.

 

[critter]

Thanks for the interesting info.

 

[Sunray]

"...the Brits and other Commonwealth forces used the 200 grain bullet..." Yep. The idea of the .38/200(aka .38 S&W Super Police) was to increase the power of the somewhat wimpy .38 S&W as a cost saving measure. Using a 200 in a .38 Special has very likely the same purpose.
Any cast bullet makes a big ugly wound. They literally expand to flat upon impact with hard stuff like bones.

 

[Malamute]

Any cast bullet makes a big ugly wound. They literally expand to flat upon impact with hard stuff like bones.

Citation please?

Not at all what Ive come to understand. Would like more information.

Have seen some discussion of the old 200 gr 38 spl load, they were meh at best. Maybe better than the miserable 158 gr round nose that used to be common. If they were seriously of much real utility, theyd still be used to some extent, as is, they faded away over time, as the reality didn't match the myth. We have much better bullet designs.