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Old 10-26-2013, 07:38 PM
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Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10  
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Default Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10

Want either Winchester Silvertip 110 grain or Federal Nyclad. Both seem to be made out of un-obtainium. I looked on ALL the online ammo dealers and nobody has it. Same for the ammo search engines. For .38 Special being the "most popular revolver caliber", it sure is tough to find ammo for it.
Anyone else know where I can get these two items?

Dep
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Old 10-26-2013, 07:59 PM
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Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10  
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Odds are good that you're not going to find those two specific loads except at perhaps a gun show. I know how you feel about wanting a specific load, but sometimes you have to go with the next best thing.

For the .38 special, a very popular SD round is the +P 158gr semi-wadcutter hollow point and I'm sure many others here can recommend more than a few good loads for your .38
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Old 10-26-2013, 08:38 PM
Hapworth Hapworth is offline
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Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10  
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Lots of outstanding defense ammo in .38 Special. Are you looking specifically for non +P?

Here's a resource for tracking:

GunBot 38special pistol ammo
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Old 10-27-2013, 12:06 AM
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Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10  
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Yes, gotta be non-+P, although technically my Colt Police Positive I-Frame is supposed to be able to handle +P. But it's an old geezer and I really don't want to push it's limits. The Pre-War Model 10 is not approved for +P and I wouldn't want to take the risk with it either. I've had good performance with Silvertips in the past and would like to get them. I think Nyclads may be out of production, although Federal and Natchez Shooters Supply still list the .38 Special version.
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Old 10-27-2013, 01:10 AM
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Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Deputy View Post
Yes, gotta be non-+P, although technically my Colt Police Positive I-Frame is supposed to be able to handle +P. But it's an old geezer and I really don't want to push it's limits. The Pre-War Model 10 is not approved for +P and I wouldn't want to take the risk with it either. I've had good performance with Silvertips in the past and would like to get them. I think Nyclads may be out of production, although Federal and Natchez Shooters Supply still list the .38 Special version.
This what I use, standard pressure w/+P performance.....
Click it
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Old 10-27-2013, 04:39 AM
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Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10  
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I did some research on non +P loads. There is the Federal Hydrashok low recoil, and some ammo I recently acquired, Hornady Critical Defense. The latter performed very well in ballistic gelatin tests. There are some videos of both being reviewed on YouTube.
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Old 10-27-2013, 12:05 PM
Ben_hutcherson Ben_hutcherson is offline
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Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10  
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The +P issue has been hashed to death here, but the general consensus is that anything from newer than the 1920s is safe with at least limited use of +P. I personally don't make a habit of it in older guns(or any gun for that matter, as factory +P is expensive and reloads use more powder) but don't worry about keeping +Ps loaded in the gun and occasional practice with them.

Here's some reading on the subject

+P 38 Special Nonsense Regarding Model 10

Shooting with Hobie

.38+P ammo is the same as pre 1972 ammo?

To that point, I really like the Gold Dot 135gr +P Short Barrel load and the old 158gr +P LSWCHP "FBI Load."

The Buffalo Bore standard pressure LSWHP-GC linked to above is also a good choice, although on the pricey side(I paid the same for 20 rounds of it as I did for 50 rounds of the Remington FBI load).

By the way, the Police Positive Special is built on the "D" frame, the same as the Detective Special. As I understand it, Colt didn't "officially" approve +P for these until 1972. The I frame was used to build the larger Official Police(as well as the Python).
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Old 10-27-2013, 12:32 PM
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Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10 Looking for ammo for my .38 Special Pre-Model 10  
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There are other reasons why I don't use +P in ANY handgun. For one thing, it gives minimal performance increases at the expense of higher recoil and more muzzle flash, as well as increased wear on the firearm. There are enough loads (like Critical Defense and Winchecter PDX-1) that don't need +P to perform well. +P may have been necessary back in the 70s and 80s, but bullet technology has caught up to the point where it isn't necessary to get proper expansion, which was the point in using +P in the first place.
Speer Gold Dots are a fine ammo, but I don't use ANY of the +P versioons. I am really happy with the performance of the 147 grain 9MM in Gold Dot as well as the .44 Special.

On my Colt...my bad on describing it as a Police Positive. It's an Official Police and built on the I-Frame. So it CAN take +P ammo. "In 1930, Colt scored a marketing coup when they publicized that their Official Police model could easily handle the firing of heavily-loaded .38 rounds intended for competitor Smith & Wesson's new large N-frame revolver, the .38-44, none of the comparable S&W revolvers could manage this feat."

Again...I have no intention of using ANY +P ammo at all. If I have to I will use LRN in them. I checked the YouTube test results of the 110 grain Hydra Shok non+P and it's not real impressive. Penetration is adequate, but I can get penetration with a LRN for a lot less cost. In this test the bullet flipped 180 degrees. Not good. Not much expansion either.

Clear Ballistics Gel: Federal Hydra shok Low recoil .38 special 110g - YouTube

I think my best bet if I can't get Silvertip or Nyclad is Buffalo Bore ammo. They have some good loads that are non+P and seem to be effective.
https://www.buffalobore.com/index.ph...duct_list&c=23

Last edited by Deputy; 10-27-2013 at 12:36 PM.
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