Are there any acceptable standard pressure .38 Special loads for defensive use?

[Circle_10]

....When fired out of a snubnose?

I recently acquired a S&W 638 that is intended as a BUG to my VP9 or for carry in very hot weather or in places where I just need a smaller gun. I'm not someone who generally uses +P in any of my guns and I'm curious if there any standard pressure loadings in .38 Special that are acceptable performers. Thus far I haven't been very impressed by the gel test results for standard pressure loads I've been watching on Youtube. Does a decent standard pressure load exist or do I just need to accept that I need to change my usual MO here and go with +P for the 638?

[Ron3]

I have 125 gr xtp 's and though not +p they seem like it when fired.

I'm not sure what else to try. When I shoot these up I'll just use +p ammo as there are far more choices and I already have a bunch of Remington 125 gr sjhp +p. They're cheap, and Remington, but I've fired a couple hundred of them with no problems.

I have Ruger LCR'S in .38 and .357.

[Nowski87]

I use Gold Dot 135grn jhp. They are a +p round but have to be softest shooting defensive .38 ever.

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[Circle_10]

I use Gold Dot 135grn jhp. They are a +p round but have to be softest shooting defensive .38 ever.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

Thanks for the tip. I'll look into those.

Buffalo Bore 158gr Semiwadcutters seem to be one of the few standard pressure loads that consistently penetrate to more than 12" but from what I recall they might actually theoretically overpenetrate and expansion wasn't fantastic. I may give them a try though.

[T2C]

I'll second the recommendation for Gold Dot 135g JHP. I think felt recoil is a little lighter than with any defensive 158g load I've fired in a J Frame.

[Circle_10]

I'll second the recommendation for Gold Dot 135g JHP. I think felt recoil is a little lighter than with any defensive 158g load I've fired in a J Frame.

The ballistic tests on YouTube look promising. I think I'll probably give them a try.

[moonshot]

I load up my airweight with WCs (Federal right now). They offer less recoil, shoot to my sights, with nice tight groups and faster follow up shots than any +P, have good penetration, and cut a full caliber hole.

I don't expect any HP, even a modern +P, to open up from a sub-2" barrel.

The biggest issue I have noticed are slower reloads, even by snub revolver standards. To try an speed things up a bit, I just bought a box of Remington 130gr Defend JHPs. These are a standard pressure round, 1/2 of the new Remington Train/Defend series.

These 130gr rounds are reported to have low recoil, low flash, and POI = POA. I cannot confirm any of this, however, as I have not yet fired any of these rounds. At over $1 per round ($26 for a 20 round box at Gander Mtn) I won't be buying many. They are simply a reload for my BUG.

I expect to test fire some later this week. All I really care about with these will be reliability, speed of reload, speed of follow up shots, and POI vs my WCs. I'm not even considering expansion.

[1168]

Have you seen this yet?

https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/rev...llistics-test/

[Drifting Fate]

If I weren't going to use a +P round, especially the 135 grain Gold Dot, in .38, I would honestly default to a full wadcutter - so mild a person can rapidly place (hope to God) surgical shots, and the square edge bites into bone and tissue. I don't trust any of the non-+P stuff to expand anyway, especially the XTP, it's just a very heavily built bullet, great for pushing fast and hard.

[Ron3]

A .38 JHP that isn't expected to expand, or at least not much, is just as good as a semi-wadcutter.

And that's fine. Penetration is what matters.