American Rifleman: Testing the 38 Special

[RevolverRob]

There is this one - https://www.luckygunner.com/38-speci...l-le-50-rounds

Still occasionally in production. A little hot for a 2" gun, but my understanding is - it's close to LHP in penetration with more reliable expansion through barriers (as predicted). But it's really a load tailored for 3"+ guns. I believe this is the one called the "Treasury" load. But maybe one of our guys who has fired it in training can confirm that.

PS: I've never managed to find any when I'm in need of .38 defensive ammo - so I can't confirm how it shoots to sights. But since it was designed to be shot in fixed sight Smith revolvers, it should hit close 'nuff to the sights.

[Tokarev]

Here's the Federal 147gr load. Data from a 4" barrel.

http://le.vistaoutdoor.com/ammunitio...ls.aspx?id=560

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[5pins]

I have some of those Fed 147 +p+ laying around, pobably 15 or more years old, and shot two of them in bare clear gel. They didn't do very well from a 2in.

[Tokarev]

I have some of those Fed 147 +p+ laying around, pobably 15 or more years old, and shot two of them in bare clear gel. They didn't do very well from a 2in.

Any record of velocity from the snub?

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[5pins]

I can look later, probably tomorrow, and post them.

[Tokarev]

I can look later, probably tomorrow, and post them.

No biggie. Just curious.

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[Tokarev]

I still intend to do some gel testing with various lead loads. I have a box of Remington 148gr wadcutters and two different cast bullets I want to try. They're both from GT Bullets. One is a 130gr round nose HP. The other is a 145gr SWCHP. Initial testing seems to indicate that the 130gr will be a good bullet for low velocity 38 while the 145gr might be a better choice for 38 +P or even a mild 357 Magnum.

So which 158gr LSWCHP to test? Factory load or handload? I'm thinking either this bullet from Matt's:

http://www.mattsbullets.com/index.ph...roducts_id=323

Or this bullet from Rim Rock:

https://rimrockbullets.com/xcart/g-c...-ammo-box.html

Another option might be the Speer or Hornady swaged bullets and they might be best for duplicating the original FBI load:

https://www.hornady.com/bullets/hand...8-gr-swc-hp#!/
https://www.speer-ammo.com/bullets/h...hp-bullet-bulk

The problem with most of these is either quantity and/or cost. I don't need a box of 500 since I doubt I'll ever shoot that many. Nor do I want to pay $30 plus shipping for a hundred cast bullets.

Maybe I'll just get a box of the 158gr +P ammo from Underwood and see how it does.

https://www.underwoodammo.com/collec...=7865929203769

[5pins]

I haven't been able to find my crony results but here is a pic of one I shot into gel. The other is a Winchester 158gr LHP +P.
Attachment 27109

[Tokarev]

Yikes. Not too impressive...

The LSWCHP actually looks like it did alright considering it probably wasn't doing more than about 850FPS.

[5pins]

I found my data on the Federal 147+P+ on an external hard drive. I got an average velocity of 814fps out of the 2 inch Smith. Even though it’s labeled as +P+, it’s barely in +P territory. The average velocity of the Winchester 158gr LCWCHP +P was 821fps out of the same gun.