I picked up a box of 125gr HP 38 special, Federal Nyclad at the gun show today. The box is numbered P38M. I am not familiar with the Nyclad. How does it perform in the short barreled 642 or the 60? Is it good for HD? Thanks

I think that Nyclad ammo has the same ballistics as a normal round.The Nyclad coating cuts down on the airborne lead during indoor practice shooting.It will perform like a normal 125gr HP.

Groo here
This ammo is being made again,, it is a nylon coated soft lead bullet
and is considered by some as one of the best for snubs.
One of the few that will expand at low speeds...

Yup this is what they say!!!!!

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Dom

I use it with older model non+p rated airweights,good stuff!

Cheaper than dirt have them in stock at a good price.

59184 - Ammo .38 Special Federal Personal Defense Nyclad Hollow Point 125 Grain 830 fps 20 Round Box

I use it in my 637 and my 15-3.
Very accurate in both guns with minimal recoil since it's non-+p.

I will try them out at the range. I got the box for $10, and it's a 50rd box. Thanks for the info.

Dam they haven't made 50 round boxes in years and never at that price!You got a great deal if they were stored right!

They are making the 50 rd. boxes again for LE sales, the ones I saw were white with black writing. They were $26 or so IIRC.

The Nyclad is back, for sure, both in .38 Special and in 9mm. It was the name of choice for many LEOs, even Mr. Ayoob The Knowledgeable. It is a nylon-coated (I was told) semi-wadcutter hollow point, made for the non-plus-P revolvers, especially snubbies. Believe me, it sings at 920 fps from a 2-inch barrel. Yes, they come in a box of 25, and now the round designation is P38MA. They shoot well in my SW Model 15-3 4-inch, and my Taurus M82 4-inch revolvers. I get an additional 20 fps (the Federal CSR was apologetic about this) when I shoot them through my Rossi M92 16-inch lever action rifle. They group well, don't jar the hand with 'snap', but make a respective bit more 'report' than 158 grain LSWC's. The nylon was the idea to leave less lead in the air, they say. So, yes, they work, yes, they are about twenty bucks for a box of twenty, but for something that was the premium choice for .38 Special SD/HD revolver ammo, (aside the venerable 158-gr. LSWCHP +P), why not?

The NyClad line was specifically developed for reduced airborne lead in indoor ranges. Then someone found out that the NyClad bullets would penetrate kevlar vests (more so than other bullet types) and BINGO! "Cop killer bullets" became the media rage.

If these are being offered to the general public again, look for a sensational report on "20-20" or "60 minutes" soon (assuming they can beat Geraldo to the punch).

This box is blue and gold with Federal in red. I think the new boxes are red.

The ones I have seen are not the SWC HP design. They are a round nose HP design. Not sure if that would change the "effectiveness" or not.

The ones I bought are the round nose hollow point also.

I don't believe that that is the case. I believe that what happened is that the ignorant, irresponsible and usually lying news media heard about KTW cartridges which used tungsten bullets at a very high velocity to achieve penetration. The bullets were teflon-coated, i believe, in order to provide a more reasonable bearing surface for the barrel. The newspaper and television idiots and communists heard about bullets which had been coated with nylon to reduce airborne lead, mistook the nylon for teflon, mistook the teflon for high velocity, mistook their brains for functional, and commenced to "report" on a whole new fictional class of "cop-killing, armor-piercing" cartridges. The largest class of previously-undiscovered cop-killers was this pack of "journalists," who publicized what was not previously well known, that a large number of policemen were wearing soft body armor. Head shots increased.

This all has little to do with bullets and cartridges, and much to do with stupid or immoral "journalists" who don't care about policemen, gun owners, or truth.

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Formerly Model520Fan

I have a few boxes of the original Nyclad .38 Special ammo. It's extremely accurate in any of my revolvers especially my M36. I haven't shot any of the new Nyclad ammo but I highly doubt it's changed at all. I'm betting they used the old recipe to remake the old ammo again.

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

Here's what the new stuff looks like. The 50 round box is white with black lettering. I carry it in my 642 and my 2 1/2" 7 shot 686. With 2 guns I gotta NY reload AND with 2 Bianchi speed strips I gotta another reload for both weapons. This ammo shoots great outta either weapon.....

Attached Images

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'Nam 1968-69.DAV,VFW,NRA Inst.

The new issue Nyclads I have are the 125 gr HP with the bullets being dark blue. The ones that one eye joe shows are SWCHP. I picked up a few boxes (20-rounds per box) recently for my Airweight Smiths even though they're all +P rated. The Nyclads seem to be pretty accurate and have less recoil so follow up shots are faster. My aging finger and wrist joints will appreciate that too.

They old Nyclads had a good reputation from what I've been told.

Hey Dogguy, mine are dark blue also. The camera flash just washed the color out.

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'Nam 1968-69.DAV,VFW,NRA Inst.

You're confusing the Nyclads with the KTWs, which were designed specifically as AP. Nyclads are all-lead bullets with a nylon coating and have no AP capabilities.

The new 125gr Nyclad bullet is a new design compared to the older design from the 1980's.

Do you know what the differences are?

TIA.

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Formerly Model520Fan

I put 10 rounds of the 125 nyclad through my 642 airweight today. It printed to point of aim at 10 yards, and about a 3" group which is about as good as I can shoot that little thing.

Back in the late 80's-early 90's Federal produced two different 125gr Nyclad loads, one was the "Chief's Special" (N38M) standard pressure round using a semi-wadcutter profile bullet. The 2nd load (N38N) was a +P pressure loading with a more standard looking bullet profile.

The new Nyclad load by Fed (P38MA for the 20 rnd "Personal Defense" box and P38M for the plain white 50 rnd box and Federal "Premium" 50 rnd box) is standard pressure with the conventional looking bullet profile. This new bullet has a wider HP cavity at the meplat (tip of the bullet) but a slightly more shallow cavity than the old style N38N bullet.

Out of a 442,

Tested -- .38 special Federal Nyclad...

This is exactly the opposite of the ammo that I had. What you are talking about sounds more like the old S&W vintage standard velocity .38 spl load (shown in a thread here). I never saw any made by Federal of that profile, but I also didn't really give carry ammo a second thought until '91 - '92 so I might have just completely missed them.

I should still have two or three vintage 50 round Gold boxes of the standard pressure load that has a 125 grn hollow point of a flat point / round nosed shape. The new production bullet tested in the link above looks at a glance exactly like the the vintage ones that I have.

I had several boxes of a .38 +P and .357 magnum that both featured a 158 grain LSW-HP bullet, but didn't get very good expansion out of them in my very unscientific testing and traded them all off. I still have several boxes of the 124 9mmP load also. I was a big fan of the Nyclads back then and used them for carry ammo in an old Browning Hi Power and a square butt Model 37 (in bright shiny nickel! ) . I always wished that they would introduce a 230 grain .45 acp load....

The ammo in the link from the OK Shooters Assoc Forum is the old Smith & Wesson brand Nyclad from the 1970's. When S&W quit the ammo business Federal purchased the rights to the Nyclad design and produced their own loads; basically the entire line of S&W's Nyclad ammo was produced in the Federal line.

Gunbroker Item # 203900893. Seller is lawdog490. $150 for 300rds (6 50rd boxes) plus $15 shipping. I've done business with Richard. He's a good man. This auction goes off in 18hrs. Richard will put another lot up for auction if this one sells. If you need more than 300 rounds, contact Richard and he will take care of you. Yes, it is very good ammo at a good price. Happy hunting.

PLEASE do not spread that Urban Legend! The Nyclads are not TEFLON COATED ALLOY BULLETS, which were made for a very short time and are no longer produced.

Some people who should know better looked at the blue color and SCREAMED! COP KILLER BULLETS! and fear ruled the ranges and the ammo was out of business.

As it is, the design is forty or so years old and there is better ammo for snubbies available.

Geoff
Who used Standard Velocity 125 Nyclad S&W as his carry ammo for years.

I've also purchased Nyclad from Lawdog on GB. He is a great seller, honest and reliable. Buy with confidence..........

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'Nam 1968-69.DAV,VFW,NRA Inst.

Early KTW bullets were made from bronze , with a tungsten core. Later ones were made from plain 70/30 yellow brass and the tungsten core was eliminated. The teflon coating was for bore lubrication as brass bullet are much harder than copper jacketed/lead core.

Exactly what happened to me.

During the years that the KTW was produced there have been several different bullet profiles and cores.

Bullet profiles included pointed, truncated RN and truncated flat points.

Bullet cores included Kennertium W10 (sintered powdered tungsten and copper), turned steel and brass.