.38 ammo query

I agree about the Federal Nyclads. They were designed for the original Chief's Special snub. The offer rapid expansion at lower velocity and reduced muzzle flash.
 
I am using Hornady's Critical Defense ammo want some Zombie max label in .357 mag.From the reviews I have seen it has awesome performance.
 
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Silvertips, El Dorado starfire, black talon, golden sabre, Gold dot hollow point, hydro-shocks. They're all good rounds. What can you afford? What can you hit with? What can you stand to practice with? What is your gun rated for?

As long as your revolver is rated for it I'd carry any of the above mentioned hollow-point rounds. But if the jump and flash of full-on duty loads unnerves you or makes you not want to practice or you can't afford to shoot them to practice - by all means choose something you can consistently hit with and that you will practice with.
 
As you can see there are many options and opinions. ANY of the +P wad cutters, hollow points, and safety slugs and any of the "self / personal / home / zombie" defense rounds will work just fine.

The best suggestion I can give is to buy a box of a few of the popular options and see what you and yours are comfortable with. For example I got pretty lucky that I am capable of shooting hot loads and so is my wife, currently we have packed in our Air Weight some Hornady Critical Defense +P rounds that seem like they will do the job just fine.

When I go back packing and gold hunting in the Northwest I pack Buffalo Bore's heavy +P slug. I am not too worried about bears, but just in case at least I have the heaviest hitting load I can get out of my airweight. They are a tad painful to shoot, but I am sure it's less painful than the alternative.
 
Very timely question. Gun Tests Magazine just did an extensive test of ammunition out of a .38 snubbie. I will have to look up my magazine to give you details, but one that got very good grades was a Remington UMC 125 grain jacketed hollow points. They said they had good penetration, were easy to shoot (not +P) and were very econonomical so that you could practice a lot with them.
 
ASBOB said:
I have a .38 S & W snub
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My primary carry gun is a .38 S&W 442. I feed it Golden Sabers, but it honestly I don't really care what what personal defense round I carry as long as its one of the major players. I figure that most of them are similar in terms of their ability to dissuade bad behavior, and feeding reliability is not an issue with a revolver.

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I will say that I had to shoot a dog with Gold Dot .45ACP and I wasn't impressed at all with them.Entry and exit hole was the same size and the poor dog ran over 100 yards before going down.Still took another shot to finish it.Frist shot was a lung shot just behind the heart.BTW this was for a dog bite were the dog had to be tested and it could not be trapped.
 
Is the OP saying that his pistol is chambered in 38 S&W? If so, I don't think you'll be finding much in the way of good expanding HPs in that chambering. If it's a S&W pistol chambered in 38 Special, that opens up a whole host of possibilities.
 
You better be getting some of something while the getting is good.I looked several places Friday for some more .357 Zombie Max with no luck.Just noticed tonight at Wal Mart that their stock of just about everything is gone.
 
My dad has an old .38 snub police detective version and its very cool. We use it to drop pigs and home defense. Regrettably the .38 is not that great in terms of power and penetration..at least through bone. We shoot pigs with all lead rounds and you see little to moderate dis-formation ( we stand point bland (5 feet max ) and do head shots). The .38 round (especially in a snub) is meant for soft armor (skin or cloths) CLOSE range shooting ONLY. There is a reason it has a short barrel...

The hollow points are just fine for defense. You may not see much expansion but it will not penetrate through. And you want the round to bury deep and stay there in a defense situation. All metal jackets are seriously overkill for the .38. It you shot a solid steel plate you might mushroom the round completely, but nothing shy of steel will do that.
 
u812 said:
I will say that I had to shoot a dog with Gold Dot .45ACP and I wasn't impressed at all with them.Entry and exit hole was the same size and the poor dog ran over 100 yards before going down.Still took another shot to finish it.Frist shot was a lung shot just behind the heart.BTW this was for a dog bite were the dog had to be tested and it could not be trapped.
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I carry 230 grain .45ACP Speer Gold Dots, and have tested 'em through my (5" barrel) S&W 4506, and I was very impressed...Good expansion in 3 different mediums (including a fairly large coyote), with good penetration...And very manageable recoil.
 
If in the city USE HALLOW POINTS any should do. I owned a S&W 357, had a 2.5" barrel, used Federal Hydra Shocks.As far as accuracy, worked great at the range 25 yards or so. Was hiting the centerish of silouest,ofcourse did MUCH better at closer range and the casings they use are great canidate for reloads. You want hallow points in the city, you want that bullet to stop in your attended target. If you are out on the trail any FMJ will work, way better penetration, I perfered PMC. You know bears, cougers, and bigfoots n such.
 
For a purely indoor, close range load I'd go with the 148 gr. full wadcutter. Virtually no recoil or muzzle flash, very accruate (it was designed as a target load after all), and decent terminal ballistics. Reloading could be an issue if you use speedloaders; the flat fronts don't lend themselves well to fitting in those holes readilly. And I would imagine this ammunition isn't very expensive. Good luck!
 
Charlie Fox, probably old school now however some police officers used to have their cylinders slightly chamfered to facilitate speed loader reloads. The department armorer that did a Mod 28 duty revolver for me back then just broke the sharp edge of each charge hole.

May be better speedloaders now however I can see fast reloads with a speedloader full of wadcutters as problematic.

Best.
 
Old timer friend of mine used to reverse the bullet on his wadcutter target loads for a real nasty slow moving hollowpoint for his strictly indoor rounds.
 
Unk said:
Charlie Fox, probably old school now however some police officers used to have their cylinders slightly chamfered to facilitate speed loader reloads. The department armorer that did a Mod 28 duty revolver for me back then just broke the sharp edge of each charge hole.

May be better speedloaders now however I can see fast reloads with a speedloader full of wadcutters as problematic.

Best.
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Absolutely! I had this done to all my revolvers when they were my duty guns...you know, when dinosaur theft was a big problem:) I found it shaved just a bit off the reloading times.
 
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