38 SPC+P defense load

oscarflytyer

oscarflytyer

Well-Known Member
I have the Taurus 856UL alloy Snub in 38 SPC. 2" bbl. Not a Taurus fan (had a lot of bad apples), but so far I like this one with limited use. Big pluses are light/hammerless/alloy/rubber grip (got it to be a 38 snake shot kayak/water companion for cottonmouths), and 6 shot (vs 5). So far I really like it, especially when I want something very light to carry on the hip (vs LCP 380 in back pocket). It is a dream in a little pancake holster. And I find myself carrying it more often because of that, and like it better than the 380.

All that said, I am looking for a +P load (its rated). I have four options/pics below. 110 grn HP/125 HP/158 Copper HP Hunt round and 158 HP. Of these options (or something much better if you have experience), what bullet in +P would you choose?

110.jpg125.jpg158 Hunt.jpg158 JHP.jpg
 
R

Rushcreek

Well-Known Member
I carry my 5 shot steel frame Rossi/Taurus with either 125 gr jhp or 158 gr Speer swchp swaged lead bullets loaded to +P level.
Of your choices I’d pick the Speer 125 jhp.
 
Missionary

Missionary

Well-Known Member
Sell all that store bought and get yourself a 160-165 wad cutter mold. NOE makes a nice 4 hole that when cast of range scrap (free) but the hurt on whatever you need to hurt. Push it to 800-850.
You can shoot every round for less than what one of that store stuff cost.
These will always expand !
 
P

Petrol & Powder

Well-Known Member
There are countless SD cartridges in 38 Special +P but for the short barreled revolvers, there are two loads with long track records.

  • Some version of the FBI Load (158 gr, lead semi wadcutter hollowpoint driven at +P pressures) The currently available iteration of that form is Remington’s HTP (High Terminal Performance) but it’s really just the old R38S12 loading in a new package.
  • The Speer 135 gr Gold Dot HP, Short Barrel load. Catalog number 53921.

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Remington 158 Gr HTP on left, Speer 135 gr GDHP on right.

There are lots of new comers to this arena but those two cartridges have a LONG and PROVEN track record. The “FBI Load” has been with us since at least the early 1970’s. It was widely distributed and well accepted. Although originally designed for 4” barreled duty revolvers, it also performed extremely well from short barreled guns. The soft lead hollow point doesn’t require a lot of velocity to expand and even when it fails to expand, it still works well. It’s low tech but there’s nothing wrong with low tech that works.

The Speer 135 GDHP +P hasn’t been around quite as long but has a couple of decades on its competitors. The Speer loading was specifically designed for short barreled revolvers. For a time, the loading was issued by NYPD when they still had revolvers in the field.

I’m a bit of a curmudgeon and openly admit that I’m a bit reluctant to embrace things that are marketed as “new & improved”. More often than not, those things are just “new”. I like long track records and these two 38 Special loadings have long track records.
 
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CZ93X62

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
I have no experience with that Speer load (135 grain Gold Dot). It sounds intriguing to me.

The FBI-touted 158 grain swaged-lead SWC load does all right in gelatin blocks when fired from 2" barrels. 'All right' = 'Some expansion and 8"-10" of penetration'. My shop tried this out c. 2014, and one of the guys helping out I have known for 45 years. He is a VERY critical assessor of firearm and bullet performance.

These same tests showed that our 1994-approved 357 load (Win Super-X 158 grain JHP) failed to expand reliably in gelatin when fired from 2" barrels, while the FBI's 125 grain screamers did. Most of the 357s carried by our deputies are J-frame S&Ws, so our ammo got switched to the Federal 125 grain JHP in 2015. AFAIK, the Rem 125 grain JHP +P is still the approved 38 Special carry load at my old shop. We were obliged to change some years back when our old Win 110 grain JHP +P went out-of-print.
 
KeithB

KeithB

Resident Half Fast Machinist
Me too. And they do expand in a water filled milk jug from my M642 and my M36. I know milk jugs ain't people but...
 
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