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Old 08-24-2014, 08:00 PM
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rwsmith rwsmith is offline
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Default This thread is long in the tooth, but....

Quote:
Originally Posted by PALADIN85020 View Post
Jeff Cooper (the Guru) said:

"The .38 Spl. I consider this cartridge to be a two-inch-barrel-only proposition. In a snubby I like a 160-grain lead SWC and either five grains of Red Dot or 8.5 grains of SR4756, to break 1000 fps. Such a load is hard on the gun, but you don't get something for nothing. For a policeman who is forced to use a .38 Spl. but can go to a six-inch barrel on his duty gun, I suggest the Speer 146-grain JHP and 10 grains of SR4756, for 1300 fps. This is an overlooked combination that gets the tired old .38 up into low-end .357 performance."

Important disclaimer: I take NO responsibility for advocating or suggesting these loads, but I will tell you that I have loaded up his Red Dot load and it was really harsh in a Model 60. I only shot a few of them, and the rest have been sitting in my closet since the 1980s. As always, YOU are responsible for what you load. Just sayin'.

John
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I'm going to go out on a limb, and with the same disclaimer that Paladin makes, I'm going to say that there are many makes of revolvers with all kinds of age, quality and condition.

An all steel Smith and Wesson in good shape that was designed for smokeless powder isn't going to blow up firing a typical +P round made today. This may not apply to the hot boutique rounds but for guns are strong and well made, +P just isn't that hot nowadays. It may be hard on the gun if shot continuously but it will loosen and shake before anything drastic happens. I echo Jeff Cooper's adage that a low end .357 round is effective if handled right. I load what amounts to a really hot .38 in a .357 case. Easy to handle, won't blow out your ears, especially indoors and decent velocity. Something else I prefer is something a little longer than a 2" barrel to get over the 'short barrel velocity' hump. I don't think an extra inch of barrel is going to make a gun unwieldy. Another thing I don't pay attention to is the 'one shot stop' that is the holy grail of loads. If I ever have to pull a trigger, it isn't going to be just once.

This is all just my opinion and take on things., but I've put a lot of thought and research into this and feel comfortable not carrying a big, powerful gun.
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Last edited by rwsmith; 08-25-2014 at 05:38 PM. Reason: correction
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