My pocket gun is a "J" frame .38 Special and I load a 158 gr. SWC, and 5 grs. of Unique at 712 FPS. The load is not difficult to shoot.
Awhile back after reading about what people shoot and recommend I decided that my load probably wouldn't leave a mark if a person was even wearing a shirt.
I killed a grown doe deer with a rifle so I could test meat and bone. The first pistol shot went through the near shoulder blade, missed bone on the off shoulder and was against the skin. The second shot broke the big bone in the near ham and lacked a 1/4 in. of reaching the hide on the off side. The bullet holes were large enough that I probed with my finger.
I believe that is a good enough load for an old geezer pocket popper. Larry