It would be interesting to see gel testing of that old standard load out of 4” barrel police service style revolvers. Some say most current versions run slower than those ‘in the day’. How is this FBI (or ‘Chicago’ etc) load for SD use out of a 4” barrel revolver ? They may not be ‘modern’, but I don’t imagine they’d harmlessly bounce off a bad guy, either.Originally Posted by HCM
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From what I remember, they do pretty good in bare gel testing. It's the intermediate barriers like auto glass and sheet metal that the modern, barrier blind projectiles really shine.
I was into 10mm Auto before it sold out and went mainstream, but these days I'm here for the revolver and epidemiology information.
Ask and you shall receive:
https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/rev...cs-test/#38spl
Significant difference out of 2" and 4" barrels for Remington and Winchester versions. Federal was about the same (lack of) expansion.
Last edited by LtDave; 12-04-2017 at 11:46 AM.
The first indication a bad guy should have that I'm dangerous is when his
disembodied soul is looking down at his own corpse wondering what happened.
Lucky Gunner did a pretty extensive test of .38 and .357 ammo. While a lot of folks don't have much faith in their expansion data, they did supply chrono data. The following is from a 4" Ruger GP-100:
Federal: 892 fps, .35" expansion
Remington: 921 fps, .56"
Winchester: 839 fps, .51"
The overview is here, and has imbedded links to the results for each load they tested.
ETA: Looks like Lt Dave was typing at the same time I was.
Last edited by revchuck38; 12-04-2017 at 11:50 AM.
With dad's support and my money I bought the 15's .22 twin; the model 18. I am lucky enough to still own it.
I don't want to turn this into an ammo debate, but the 158gr +P LSWCHP (especially loaded to 1970's spec) was a "proven" round. This was a 1970's and 1980's round. It sounds like the modern factory version of that load has been watered down a bit.
Before the 1970's, the 200gr Super Police cartridge was pretty darn popular. My understanding is it worked well against people and dogs, but not so great through auto glass and other barriers.
Believe it or not a lot of guys carried handloads back in 1950's and 1960's (especially at my department). If they didn't hanldoad themselves they knew someone who did and a six pack or bottle of Jack went a long way for payment. The 148 gr wadcutter over 3.5 grains of Bullseye was a pretty popular load.
Last edited by KevH; 12-04-2017 at 01:17 PM.
Agreed.
.38 Special isn't exactly a squirrel round.
This. K-frames are the symphony orchestra of the handgun world: outdated and overly complex, but still powerful, refined, and standing the test of time for a quaint evening’s outing.
Back in the day, the hot CC option was a strong side leather IWB along the lines of a Sparks Summer Special. Mine is a leather arsenal by Elmer MacEvoy. Reloads were (and remain) HKS speedloaders, either in andrews leather split belt snap pouches, or just a right hand jacket pocket.
If I get a chance to dig into the safe, I’ll send you a pic of my tuned NY-1 4" K-frame nestled in your new-school AIWB rig. Like those outreach programs putting classical music groups into non-traditional venues like breweries, wine bars, and rock clubs, the mash-up doesn’t suck.I am going JM GEORGE.
I have a lot of the old “FBI” load stashed away from back in the day (Federal and Remington). That said, the late 80’s eraly 90’s hotness (literally) was the “RCMP” load: the same LSWCHP driven to roughly 1000fps from 4 inches. I used to go through a lot of the old Cor-Bon version of this load back when A) I only owned one handgun (the 4" NY-1 that I took top shot at LFI in 1994 or 95 with) and B) the common tactical gun game of the day was bowling pin shooting. That LSWCHP at 1k fps will take pins off, if you hit the center. They also flatten out to resonable facsimilies of a nickle; flatter than 3-day old pints of beer combined with pancakes from Kansas.
Buffalo bore, of course, makes a totally over-the-top version of this load that has a copper gas check under the slug to keep things clean, if not a bit insane. Truthfully, I wish it was loaded just a bit milder to match what I understand to be the original RCMP spec.
For practice, i’ve had good luck with both Georgia Arms "canned heat" 158gr plated SWC, as well as Freedom Munitions version of the same thing, new and reman, as available.
FWIW.
During the last Great American Ammo Shortage, the popular factory semi auto defensive ammunition quickly emptied from the local shelves. (As did .22LR). - - What never disappeared was 38 Special lead loads or .30-30 Win. IMO the ole 4” barrel K frame and .30-30 lever gun isn’t completely useless, even nowadays.
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Last edited by SamAdams; 12-04-2017 at 04:46 PM.
I’ve always loved the look and feel of the 2 inch model 15. So much so I added a 4 inch model 67. 160g LSWCHP hand loads run about 850fps out of the snubbie
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