Remington UMC .38 Special+p125 grain SJHP

Just picked up another box of this at the Wally World near my parents' place on my way out of town after shooting some in my 640 at the range with my dad. Nice and powerful (with lots of flash from a 2" barrel) and about the same price as other bulk .38. A forum search shows a few P-f members use it regularly for training. I think it will be my regular training load if I can find a place that carries it near me.

Curious to see how it does in my "testing." :)

It seems like it would be ok for self-defense from a 4" gun, assuming light clothing.

Any thoughts from the hive mind?

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Originally Posted by Baldanders

Just picked up another box of this at the Wally World near my parents' place on my way out of town after shooting some in my 640 at the range with my dad. Nice and powerful (with lots of flash from a 2" barrel) and about the same price as other bulk .38. A forum search shows a few P-f members use it regularly for training. I think it will be my regular training load if I can find a place that carries it near me.

Curious to see how it does in my "testing." :)

It seems like it would be ok for self-defense from a 4" gun, assuming light clothing.

Any thoughts from the hive mind?

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By 'testing', do you mean shooting it into water?

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Originally Posted by the Schwartz

By 'testing', do you mean shooting it into water?

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Yes, my very scientific protocol of 4 water filled 1 gallon milk jugs and 1 kitty litter jug.

Anyone know if there is really any difference between this and the "HTP" version? Flash suppressant?

https://youtu.be/Y1YTscBaPPchttps://youtu.be/VCSVmunM4OI

I watched the videos above and looked at some other info on the net which seems to point to this load either expanding moderately and penetrating fairly deeply or it doesn't expand and it penetrates deeply. I can live with that in an inexpensive bulk round for training and possible general use in "emergency" situations; i.e: not having the money for Gold Dots in my budget.

I am curious to see how this performs in a levergun. It seems like it would be a better antipersonnel load than bulk box 125 grain SJHP .357 in my M94 due to better penetration.

I buy it because it's shoots to the same poi as my Winchester Rangers but is much more available. I'd have no hesitations to use it in a 4" gun.

I'd rather just use my swc loads out of shorter barrels though but wouldn't lose sleep if it's all I had for my shorter guns.

This was our department's revolver duty load (prior to going Glock 25 years ago), alongside the 125 SJHP .357 load for those of us who bought our own magnums.

The .38 +P version seemed to work fine; with good shot placement, I never heard any complaints about the ammo's performance.

After shooting .38+p and .357 125 sjhp in my mkIII, I would pick the former if I was a 1970s LEO and had a choice. I'm increasingly thinking of the latter as a carbine load. 158 grain loads seem more controllable in .357 to me.

The "Chicago/FBI" 158 grain+p SWCHP seems to be romanticized way more (and the Nyclad loads have a cult following that comes in #2) but every time I see an ex-LEO comment on this load on the net, it's pretty much the same statement: "worked fine for us."

The older I get, the more I trust "boring" over "exciting." Which is why I'm a Gold Dot fan. It's the only premium hollowpoint line where I can pick the appropriate load in a few seconds, as opposed to the "infinite permutations" most lines seem to have these days.

This is my definite "reserve" load at the moment-- if I can "keep it stock," it goes fast in my .357s because it's so much fun to shoot! It has enough recoil to be satisfying, but low enough for 100 rounds not to batter my hands too bad in my snubby. Reminds me of 9mm Para in the Trooper, much like a .22 in the M94.

I will certainly be recreating this in a handload, probably with a 125 -130 grain hardcast or fmj pill.