.38 snubby ammo?

[prepare]

I was there as well. You were probably in the session with Mark Fricke, Wayne Dobbs and Chuck Haggard.

Chuck's "Pocket Rocket's" class does a lot of research on projectiles fired out of 2" aluminum or Scandium frame 2" revolvers.

I own a lot of lightweight J-frames, and run Federal Gold Medal Match 148-grain wadcutters in them The speedstrip for the reload is the aforementioned Speer Gold Dots.

The trick is, find a round that shoots to your sights, and is controllable for follow-on shots. If you have to pull out an iPhone and do a much of math for holdovers, etc, that is not much use.

Wadcutters out of a 2" barrel tend to get 14'-16" of penetration, even through denim.

Mark was working on a big research paper of snub ammo testing this spring. We talked the other night, and that is now going to become a book.

Very few rounds are ever going to reliably expand out of a 2" revolver. Getting something that hits where you aim it is honestly more critical.

But hey, everybody carry what you like. I'm not going to be an attendee at your gunfight. I'm just a dude that's carried a J-frame in his left front pocket for the last 30 years, who practices drawing and stuff a round into someone's eyeball at 5 feet.

CAVDOC - are you going back this November? There are some more cool things in store.

Do you know where to get those Federal 148 gr wadcutters?

[SeriousStudent]

SGAmmo has some of the Winchester 148's, which are usually regarded as even more accurate.

Chris Baker at Luckygunner is really good people, and works hard to get that load in stock whenever he can get some.

Target Sports USA has been a good supplier in the past for the Federal GMM. Right now, I would also watch Ammoseek.com.

[Ron3]

This starts to get into the purpose of a snub in .32 magnum/ .327Magnum.

Same size as a 5 shot .38 /.357 but you get 6 shots.

You can load with .32 S&W, .32 S&W Long, .32 HR magnum, and .327 Fed. Magnum if chambered for that. Some brands of .32 acp work ok for close range practice, too.

A 100 gr SWC or XTP .32 magnum gets 1050 fps from my 1 7/8 LCR. Penetrates as well or more as a typical .38 wadcuter with similar or less recoil.

Loading the weaker cartridges or loading .32 mag cases you can shoot the typical 85-100 gr bullets loaded to 625 fps or up to whatever you want for practice, teaching a new shooter, or a person who just doesn't want recoil but wants to use a 17 oz gun.

Like a lightweight .38, you CAN find loads in .32 mag +p / .327 that can expand and penetrate, but you pay a heavy toll in recoil and blast. Those loads are probably best kept to the heavier, steel guns.

[SeriousStudent]

I also have a .327 Federal Magnum LCR.

The Gold Dots in that caliber will get your attention. I usually carry it with the buffalo Bore .32 H&R Mag JHP, as you mentioned.

[Ron3]

I also have a .327 Federal Magnum LCR.

The Gold Dots in that caliber will get your attention. I usually carry it with the buffalo Bore .32 H&R Mag JHP, as you mentioned.

Fyi, the 100 gr XTP needs 1100-1200 fps to even start to expand. It's for .327 or .32 magnum through a longer-barreled revolver or rifle. From a snub it behaves like a SWC.

The 85 gr XTP will start to expand around 850 fps and does well at 950 fps. Penetration will just be okay at best, like a .380 xtp that expands.

That's where I put .32 magnum, as an equivalent to .380. Except that .32 mag can be loaded to much higher pressures safely in a .327 mag gun.

But at some point you run into the heavy blast / recoil from a small gun trying to get service caliber performance out of it.

I'm on the fence with the 85 gr XTP, honestly.

I'm sure I could load that to 1150 fps pretty easily from the LCR but what the bullet would do at that speed I dunno. More penetration because higher velocity and same expansion at 950 fps? Or less penetration because it will open up more? This caliber needs more testing.

[Univibe]

I'd run 158 grain SWC and be done.

[Ron3]

I'd run 158 grain SWC and be done.

A perfectly acceptable choice.

[MSH72]

I attended a course called the revolver round up last year. Lots of very experienced snub carriers in the group, and we fired a lot of bullets into gelatin

Specific to 2” guns:
Short answer - if it expands, it doesn’t penetrate
If it penetrates it doesn’t expand.
Consensus- adequate penetration trumps expansion.
What load consistently penetrates adequately and has the added benefit of a full diameter wound channel and manageable recoil - wadcutters

Have you looked into Federal’s new Hydra Shok Deep? It has been designed to solve this problem in short barrels. Mike over at Revolver Guy has a nice write up on it.

I have not shot in any test mediums but the recoil is lite and the round is accurate in my 442.

[ABNAK]

Have you looked into Federal’s new Hydra Shok Deep? It has been designed to solve this problem in short barrels. Mike over at Revolver Guy has a nice write up on it.

I have not shot in any test mediums but the recoil is lite and the round is accurate in my 442.

I bought ~ 200 rds of the Hydra-Shok Deep 38 Special +P. Haven't tested them ballistically, gel or otherwise. However, from all that I've read and the limited testing I've done it is really hard to get .38Spl to expand; if it does then it usually doesn't penetrate well (kind of like the .380's ages-old dilemma). I've read the Hydra-Shok Deep does both, at least as well as can be expected from a .38Spl. The Golden Saber 125gr +P ostensibly has similar performance.

[Mr_Happy1]

Does anyone have any recommendations about where to find SD ammo?