Ok I have a SW 642 that is my CC. I've been pondering this for awhile now. Does it really matter if your ammo is hollow point, soft point, FMJ or +P? I'm thinking at 15 feet or less there can't be that much difference in what type ammo a person uses is there? I know that a 2" barrel isn't going to be a speed demon just because you use a +P load. Wouldn't a plain old FMJ bullet be better as far as penetration over a HP or SP? Please correct me if I'm wrong in my thinking. I do have some Corbon Powerball 100gr. +P ammo I can use instead of the WWB 130Gr. FMG

Strongly consider the 135gr Gold Dot short barrel +P load.

Thanks. Any idea on where to find it? I did a search and all were on backorder.

Surprisingly Midway has it in stock right now. It usually sells out quick.

Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel Ammunition 38 Special +P 135 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point Box of 20 - MidwayUSA

www.ammunitiontogo.com

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Centennial Every Day

Just ordered a 50rd box for $27.99

That's a great price. Enjoy.

Ammo does matter. While Powerball tends to be a shallow penetrator, most modern expanding ammo is designed to penetrate between 12" - 14". Nonexpanding ammo tends to overpenetrate. While shot placement counts for more than anything, expanding ammo is generally more injurious to the shootee and thus is more likely to incapacitate with a marginal hit.

I would suggest trying the Speer SB ammo that Dragon88 suggested. If it shoots to point of aim look no further. If it shoots high, try Corbon DPX. If it shoots low, try Remington, or Buffalo Bore's version of the FBI load (158 gr. lead semi-wadcutter hollow point +P). The std. pressure FBI load from Buffalo Bore should work fine also and produce less recoil.

Gel test results are available for all of the above listed loads if you search for the thread Perma-Gel Test Results on this forum, look at the test results at www.brassfetcher.com , or do a search in the Test Bed forum at www.stoppingpower.net .

Funny you should mention this. Just yesterday I was dealing with a family of deranged women. One of them had to be right at 400 lbs. I'm looking at her and I start thinking about my 2" .38 snub revolvers. And I realize right then and there why I don't like hollow point ammo in short barreled revolvers. "Morbidly obese" people are becoming more and more common these days and some of them are quite mobile. You can say this is the exception and not the rule, but I tend to deal with the exception every day. I believe that the 158 gr. SWC as close to 1100 FPS as your revolver will allow is still a superior choice.

Dave Sinko

I agree with Sinko In the part of the big city I patrol they tend to be a little larger than normal. I carry in my back up snub Buffalo Boar 150 gr full wadcutters.

This is well put, a valid concern, about the "morbidly obese."
I like the Remington lead SWC-HP for that reason, as well as penetrating clothing.

A three-inch barrel helps expansion, and penetration seems adequate in humans, even in bears. Ayoob has cited the case of a polar bear shot in the Staten Island zoo with this load, and it was a one-shot kill, in about the "sticking place", as I recall. The gun was a M-10 with four-inch bbl. Don't know the range, probably 50 feet to 25 yards.

Even in very large people, I doubt that the heart is more than 8-9 inches deep. Assuming that you can get a heart shot on your moving target...If you have to shoot cross-body to save someone else under attack, I think this load will reach any vital area.

Col. Rex Applegate once told me that a knife with a six-inch blade is quite adequate to kill any human. He had quite a bit of data from his OSS trainees when they went into the field, as well as from British colleagues. On the other hand, they probably weren't knifing too many really fat people, I guess.

I use the 158 grain lead HP or the Speer Short Barrel load or their 125 grain JHP, which often gives over 900 FPS, even in a snub. I feel about as well protected as I'll be with a gun that size. But I have a Ruger SP-101 that's in .357, and am considering using Magnum loads where large dogs may be a factor. My Smith .38's get the above recipe. Usually, so does the little Ruger.

T-Star

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Centennial Every Day

I'm satisfied that 158 grain SWC +P loads are superior to all others for use in any .38 Special regardless of barrel length.

Maybe I'm too cheap to buy all new ammo, but I'm happy with my stash of Federal 158gr +P LSWCHPs as well as the old Nyclad 158gr +P LSWCHPs. They go in my 2" Taurus 85 as well as my 4" 66-4.

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I miss my 4546 the most.

There is a certain amount of comfort that comes with knowing your ammo has enough penetration to go through a moose.

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Centennial Every Day

Hah, you never know. Moose could start showing up in my duck hunting slough in Eastland County at any time with global warming and all.

The most important question is which load can you shoot most accurately. If you can shoot 158gnr. +P's well, they would be great, however if the recoil is so heavy that you have trouble controlling the lightweight 642, I would go for something with less recoil. My personal preference in a Model 37 is the old/new Federal 125 grn. Nyclads because I can control the gun well and hit what I shoot at. Everything comes second to hitting the target and nothing beats going to the range and practicing regularly.

I carry one of two loads in my Airweight J frames. It's either the FBI Load (158gr LSWC/HP +P) or the 135gr Speer short barrel ammo.

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

Yes the type of ammunition you use does matter. The only +P load to use in a snubby is the 135gr Speer® Gold Dot™. Otherwise use the Federal® Nyclad™ 125gr HP standard pressure, or THIS, which is what the wife & I carry.

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David
CW3 USA (Ret) 1968-1990

This just begs to have the question asked asked, oh please do tell. Do you have some real life experience to back this up or are you just speaking figureitivley.

I have always liked the Speer Lawman 158 TMJ FP +p load for a deep penetration load, but the Doubletap Hardcast 158 LSW +p load looks very promising also:
"Velocity: 1025fps / 4" Ruger GP-100, 1.875" bbl S&W - 950fps
Bullet: Keith style SWC Hardcast
Muzzle Energy: 369 ft. lbs. 4", 317 ft. lbs. 1.875" "

.38 special 148gr DEWC

Please note the winky at the end of the sentence

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Centennial Every Day