Practice Ammo for Revolvers

Given the information being passed along in this thread about how certain powders tend to burn hotter or not completely burn thus leaving powder flakes in annoying places, I wanted to inquire if any of you have any commercial ammunition that you'd recommend not using for practice. They usually don't list the powder.

For instance, on SGAmmo.com you can buy a case of Tula steel case .38 FMJ for about half the price of brass case competitors, which is an incredible price savings.....but do they use a powder that will likely cause our revolvers to bind up with fouling/unburned flakes, or does it burn excessively hot like Titegroup powder? I have only shot a box of Tula at a time, so I don't know. That's something that could influence our decision on what to buy. Personally, I go to the range to shoot....not to mess with downed guns.

So, if you've shot substantial amounts of various commercial wheelgun ammo, share your findings if you noted any of this.

I'm no expert, but my understanding is that steel cased ammo does not expand like brass does, allowing carbon and unburned powder to escape back into the chamber/cylinder and beyond. With diligent cleaning I don't think this is a particular problem, especially considering the cost of the ammo.

On another note, however, I purchased a half case of 38spc Speer Lawman CleanFire and after 50 or so rounds I would notice plaque-like flakes collecting around the firing pin and in the slot that rachets the cylinder (I forget what it's called). I'm almost certain the flakes are coming from the primers. More than once it caused the cylinder to lock up until I cleaned that ratchet slot.

I will say this, it is the cleanest ammo I've ever used.


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I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

Right now I'm using Freedom Munitions when running New or Re-manufactured ammo. The gun got kind of toasty last saturday when I was in a hurry and loaded all my speed loaders (about a box and a half worth) and hammored away until I needed to load more. I'm talking doing El Pres at a pace that at 20 yards keeping all the rounds in the black of a B-8 replacement, back to back to back.

The only real factory ammo I will not ever buy again is Pruzi. Bought several cases for the company training fodder at the very beginning of the ammo drought right before moving to the commercial reloader. They were extremely cheap and it showed. They used extremely soft lead and especially dirty powder.

In the distant past we used American Eagle 158 grain lead as our training round with good success. Shot a case of that through the gun during a week long course and didn't need to clean the gun to keep it up and running. Don't remember the gun being particularly hot after firing 6 consecutive speed loaders through the gun during a rolling thunder (function check) exercise.

Tagging for interest.

I'm about halfway through a case of perfecta 158 grain fmj. Cost about .23cpr.

Very clean burning and accurate

90% of my revolver shooting is with these two, clean burning and consistent.
Black Hills 148 HBWC - quite accurate
Fed AE 130 FMJ (AE38K)

Winchester shoots dirty in general, and there isn't really anything I like from them. CCI Blazers are also dirty. AE38N 158 RNL smudges easily and fouls cylinders but is okay for burn. The Federal RTP version of the above (RTP38130) is okay too.

I don't think about price point much with 38 due to lower overall volume.

@rsa-otc would know, but I’ll add my .02 about ammo: Freedom Munitions 158 jacketed in both new and reman, as well as their copper plated 148 full wadcutter. It’s all worked for me, and I’ve shot thousands of rounds through various .38s. I’m also partial to the same Winchester 130fmj that @Dagga Boy has mentioned using.

The FA did get my early 90s 640 hot enough to cause interesting sensations when reholstering AIWB after the walkbacks requiring reloads to keep up in ECQC under the summer sun, but nothing burning. The FA isn’t quite as stout as the green n tan perfecta 158 fmj that I got from SGammo recently. FWIW.

I think perfecta rates their 158 rn at 960fps

I’m on my third 1K case of Precision Delta’s remanufactured .38 SPL 158gr SWC. I am relatively lazy about cleaning, and so far I’ve had no issues.

Tag for knowledge.

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Originally Posted by ST911

90% of my revolver shooting is with these two, clean burning and consistent.
Black Hills 148 HBWC - quite accurate
Fed AE 130 FMJ (AE38K)

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This is my primary revolver training ammo as well.

I have no negative recommendations except about steel-cased anything (which I do shoot, but only in Russian-made rifles).

Rather, I simply try to find a relatively economical load in the given caliber, typically in FMJ or LSWC, which hits as close-to-correspondence in POA/POI (and in "felt-recoil", if possible) as whatever premium DocGKR-approved CCW/LEO load I've already tested and found good.

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Originally Posted by 03RN

I think perfecta rates their 158 rn at 960fps

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That sounds about right, against FA’s 910 or so. The difference is definitely noticeable in a j-frame.

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Originally Posted by Sidheshooter

That sounds about right, against FA’s 910 or so. The difference is definitely noticeable in a j-frame.

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Just double checked. 984fps

Wish it was a flat point and it would be a decent all around load.

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Originally Posted by SAWBONES

I have no negative recommendations except about steel-cased anything (which I do shoot, but only in Russian-made rifles).

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So to be clear, have you shot a decent quantity of steel case ammo in revolvers and if so, what was the negative experience?

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Originally Posted by TGS

So to be clear, have you shot a decent quantity of steel case ammo in revolvers and if so, what was the negative experience?

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I can't answer for Sawbones, but I have two cents to put in on steel case .38...

I shot some Tula 130gr FMJ from my 442, and I had sticky/sluggish extraction. I ended up plucking a few cases out by hand. None of them stuck hard, but brass cased ammo has not given me any similar issues. It felt pretty hot for 130gr .38 ball ammo, but I didn't chrono any. It was a bit dirty, even compared to Winchester or Federal 130gr ball. At near 9mm prices, it's probably the cheapest factory .38 ammo out there.

All that said, I reload most of my own practice ammo any more, and wouldn't go out of my way to purchase more Tula, despite the low price.

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Originally Posted by TGS

So to be clear, have you shot a decent quantity of steel case ammo in revolvers and if so, what was the negative experience?

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Sorry for any misunderstanding. I didn't say I'd shot steel-cased ammo in revolvers.
I was merely repeating what others have recommended against use of steel-cased ammunition in both handguns and long guns designed around brass-cased ammunition.

(My experience with steel-cased ammunition has been limited to Russian rifles (in which I shoot nothing but steel-cased ammo) and a bit in semiautomatic pistols. I have no experience at all with shooting steel-cased ammo in revolvers.)

The intended point of my post #12 was not against steel-cased ammo, but rather to highlight my personal emphasis about desired characteristics when choosing practice ammunition, which is to have duplication, insofar as possible, of the carried load, in terms of correspondence for POI/POA and even felt-recoil, for the cheaper (typically with a FMJ or SWC bullet) practice load.

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Originally Posted by ST911

Fed AE 130 FMJ (AE38K)

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Originally Posted by blues

This is my primary revolver training ammo as well.

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Make that three of us.

I'll only shoot about a box during a practice session, and do a basic cleaning when I get home.
But I've got a one day class coming up next month, so I'll see how bad things get.

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Originally Posted by 03RN

Just double checked. 984fps

Wish it was a flat point and it would be a decent all around load.

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Gotta be out of 6". That’s plenty hot; cor-bon’s +p+ "RCMP/FBI" load was an honest 1000fps out of 4" and it was way hotter than the big box’s FBI loads, which all went between 890 and 900 out of 4V, IIRC.

No wonder it feels snappy to me in a J-frame.

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Originally Posted by Sidheshooter

Gotta be out of 6". That’s plenty hot; cor-bon’s +p+ "RCMP/FBI" load was an honest 1000fps out of 4" and it was way hotter than the big box’s FBI loads, which all went between 890 and 900 out of 4V, IIRC.

No wonder it feels snappy to me in a J-frame.

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I'd be interested with the actual chronograph numbers.

Winchester's 130 grain +p clocks about 920fps and the perfecta is snappier.

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Originally Posted by Sidheshooter

Gotta be out of 6".

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Perfecta is loaded in Italy by Fiocchi. Most of their 38 Special loads are tested in a barrel with a length listed as 7.710NV. So, 984 fps would seem to be from a non-vented 7.71" barrel.
http://fiocchi.gunsamerica.com/fiocchi_catalog.pdf

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Originally Posted by Velo Dog

Perfecta is loaded in Italy by Fiocchi. Most of their 38 Special loads are tested in a barrel with a length listed as 7.710NV. So, 984 fps would seem to be from a non-vented 7.71" barrel.
http://fiocchi.gunsamerica.com/fiocchi_catalog.pdf

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I'd love to find some Perfecta. My go-to source (Walmart) dried up after the earthquake in Italy shut the factory down in early 2017, I think, and I haven't seen it since except in .380. Where are you finding it these days?


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I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

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Originally Posted by SkippySanchez

I'd love to find some Perfecta. My go-to source (Walmart) dried up after the earthquake in Italy shut the factory down in early 2017, I think, and I haven't seen it since except in .380. Where are you finding it these days?


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I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

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$230/K
Free shipping for orders over $250. My last order I added a few boxes of shotgun slugs that I needed anyways.

https://www.ammunitiondepot.com/314-38-special

I picked up a box each of GECO .38SPL and .357M.

The case mouths do not appear to have any crimp at all. They are not flared out, like the FM junk I've commented on elsewhere, but just completely straight.

I'll shoot them carefully and see how it goes, but do not think I'll reorder .357s. Might be OK for .38s.


I've seen WWB cases in .38 that were so screwed up they would be hilarious if they weren't potentially so dangerous. Pretty much signed off on never buying WWB again except as a "worst case" reliability check for 9mm.

I've had decent luck with brass case Monarch when it's on sale at Academy. Haven't reloaded any of it yet. It's fairly warm, but no problems.

The Precision Delta wadcutters have been good, but dirty. At $0.17/rd when they were on sale, I'm waiting for the next good sale.

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Originally Posted by 03RN

Just double checked. 984fps

Wish it was a flat point and it would be a decent all around load.

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Bumping, because I ran a box of this through the K6 again today, along with some golden saber 125 midrange .357.

I know you’ve shot both loads recently, so I’d be curious as to your take. Mine, after running a cylinder with 3 perfectas and 3 golden sabers (because I had to double-check) is that there’s a little bit more muzzle flip with the .357, but I actually find the 158 .38 to have just as punishing a recoil impulse straight back. Put another way, that’s a stout .38 load, and I don’t really find the hotter .357 to be any more unpleasant to shoot in the little Kimber.

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Originally Posted by Sidheshooter

Bumping, because I ran a box of this through the K6 again today, along with some golden saber 125 midrange .357.

I know you’ve shot both loads recently, so I’d be curious as to your take. Mine, after running a cylinder with 3 perfectas and 3 golden sabers (because I had to double-check) is that there’s a little bit more muzzle flip with the .357, but I actually find the 158 .38 to have just as punishing a recoil impulse straight back. Put another way, that’s a stout .38 load, and I don’t really find the hotter .357 to be any more unpleasant to shoot in the little Kimber.

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There is significantly more recoil with the perfecta ammo than the Winchester​ 130 grain +p round I use for carry in my m64. My m64 is also about 8oz lighter than my m19. Those perfecta rounds nearly feel like standard 158 grain magnums in the m19. Shooting them in the heavier gun back to back with the magnums there is a noticable difference though.

I wish I had a chronograph

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Originally Posted by Dropkick

Make that three of us.

I'll only shoot about a box during a practice session, and do a basic cleaning when I get home.
But I've got a one day class coming up next month, so I'll see how bad things get.

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Same here. Similar poi to Gold Dot or Win 130 gr as well for me.

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Originally Posted by Norville

Same here. Similar poi to Gold Dot or Win 130 gr as well for me.

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Yeah, that was my thought too, and it seems to work. Keep my carry ammo and practice ammo shooting as close to the same poa/poi as possible, as long as I do my part.

I probably put close to 200 rounds of the Federal 130 gr though my 642 of the course of the class. I only had a couple lightly stuck cases but they came out on the second try.

I picked up 500 rounds of tulammo 130gr 38 special maybe 18 months ago because the price was right. In every gun I've tried it in ejection has been sticky, to put it mildly. I've often needed to use tools. After trying it in about a half dozen smiths just out of some sense of duty to make sure it wasn't the gun, I put it aside and have been using my own reloads or precision delta wadcutters for practice. I'd recommend staying away from the steel 38s.

(for the curious, the only thing I see on the tula boxes where I would expect the lot number is "H14," and they definitely don't seem to be loaded hot. Recoil is minimal and the primers look fine. But extraction is a bear.)

Outside the edit window; sorry. Just checked my logs. I actually bought 1k and ran 500 and change through 9 S&Ws. J, K, and N frames. All the same lot number, all similar issues. It was least severe (kind of stiff, but doable with your hand) with all steel recently thoroughly cleaned guns with full length ejector rods, it was most severe in titanium cylinders (dead blow hammer kind of severe). Everything else was in the middle.

I use Remington/UMC 125 gr +P .38 Special SJHP as a good analog loading to my carry load of Remington 125 gr .38 Special +P. It's clean and accurate, but the primers are harder than Federal's are.

I get a box of 100 for $32-$34 at WalMart or Sportsmans Warehouse-not screaming deals, but decent considering I want a +P similar to my carry load, which I'm willing to pay the extra dollars for.

For .357 Magnum, I use Sellier & Bellot 158 grain (ball or soft point-the loading is the same for both); fairly expensive for what it is, but high quality ammunition at a 200 power factor, so it's not wimpy stuff like a lot of commercial .357 is these days, and a good analog loading for my carry loads of either 158 gr HydraShok (general carry) or Hornady Custom (hunting) JHPs

Best, Jon

This is good information. I was thinking about getting some of the steel case ammo for practice in .357 mag but I've read that it sticks in the chamber. Seems the .38spl is a problem too. All my revos are sighted in for 147 to 160 grain bullets so I'll stick to my own reloads. VV N320 under a good coated bullet or copper plated bullet shoots very clean.