Gold Dots, now you see 'em, now you don't!

[JohnHancock]

I've been searching high and low on the net as well as brick & mortar for Speer Gold Dot 135 gr. for .38 special for months to no avail. Last night I was doing my weekly rounds on the net and low and behold, Cheaper Than Dirt had a couple of boxes in stock! Needless to say I grabbed them and today when I checked my order status (processing) they were already out of stock with no back order! Are these any easier to find in other parts of the country or is this some gov't hoarding conspiracy?

[perrazi]

the best is usually the hardest to find in times of shortages.

[Arik]

Yes the gov is specifically hoarding 135 gr 38spl.

I see Speer Gold dot everywhere I just never paid attention if it's 135, 125, 158, or what.

And cheaper than dirt is a dishonest company who sold out the 2A

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[shouldazagged]

I wonder if the fact that NYPD and LAPD, among others, have selected them has a lot to do with it. Analogous to the "FBI load" effect, and there's nothing wrong with that. If the professionals use it with good results, it's going to be very sought after by the citizen gun owner.

[mustangman]

I found these.

Speer Ammo 38SPL+P Gold Dot Short Barrel 23921 | Trop Elite Equipment


http://www.natchezss.com/product.cfm...campaign=43737

https://www.iammo.com/Ammunition/Han...ound-Box-23921

[SMSgt]

Stopped by the FL Bass Pro near me and the ammo shelves were overflowing. Just about anything you might be looking for.

[hoc9sw]

In my neck of the woods a few weeks back .38 was overflowing the shelves, today, none to be seen in normal range ammo. There were Gold Dots at Academy Sunday, don't know what weight.

[Doug M.]

Revolver ammo is not run down the lines very often because the auto-pistol calibers keep the manufacturer(s) so busy. I experienced this with CCI/Speer when I ordered a bunch of the corresponding .357 mid-range load in 2012. It took ... 8 months IIRC, maybe longer, before it was made and shipped.

[Bekeart]

I have some from my gun show table:

Speer Gold Dot
38 SPECIAL +P 135 GR. GDHP
53921 (FIFTY ROUND BOX)

$50 per box + ACTUAL Shipping

[CoMF]

The problem with that particular load is that everybody and their dog wants it. When it goes up for sale in any nominal quantity, it doesn't last long.

A while ago, I posted that SGAmmo had about 79 boxes of the 50-count LE boxes at reasonable prices. Not even 15 minutes after it hit the board, someone bought an entire case worth (or 20 boxes) of it. By morning, it was all gone.

All is not lost if you can't find it. There are plenty of other defensive loadings that "work."

[JohnHancock]

Thanks for the tips and insight guys! As was seen on the sites that mustangman listed, it looks like some have trickled out to the general public. I didn't realize that so many law enforcement branches had adopted this round. My CTD ordered processed, so I'm assuming I did get one box anyway. I'm hoping to do some casual testing this weekend and compare the Georgia Arms Gold Dots against the real McCoy to see how they measure up. GA Arms is certainly a lot cheaper. I'll keep ya'll posted!

[Boge]

Originally Posted by perrazi

the best is usually the hardest to find in times of shortages.

That's what the women tell me.

[ladyT]

One of the hardest calibers to find has been 38 special in any shape or form and the prices have been insane.

[mscampbell2734]

I chrono'd some last week. Out of a 442 ave 890 fps, out of a 4" 586 ave 990 fps.

[Ben_hutcherson]

The 135gr 38 special +P Gold Dot was unobtanium for over a year in my experience(or really any 38 special Gold Dots, although that particular one is the only one I look for). Gold dots in other calibers seemed plentiful, but the 38 special ones were nowhere to be found.

I bought a box when I bought my first 38 special revolver. When I started looking for more, I couldn't find them.

Finally, about a month and a half back, I found a single box in a local shop.

Since then, I've seen them pop up here and there.

I paid $23 for my first box of 20. The box I recently bought was $28, and I've seen them as high as $30.

[JR78]

I carried them in my off-duty 642 for a few years. I never had a problem with availability, since I got them from the training department. However, Last month our training Sgt. said they were limited even through police sources. So he gave me a couple boxes of Winchester Ranger 130 grain bonded. Honestly, it seems a tad bit hotter, but no other difference. I carry Speed 9mm duty ammo, but there is alternatives that are just as effective. You may want to look for Black Hills red box as well.

[Jim Lawburgh]

I just bought 10 boxes of Buffalo Bore 38 and 357 to feed my TRR8 and LCRx.
They had some at Midsouth at the time, along with some 158 gr. I belive. Not sure how many, or if any left.
Stay safe,
Jim

[Don 73]

Originally Posted by JR78

... our training Sgt. said they were limited even through police sources....

It took us nearly a year to get duty ammo for our 9s and 45s this last time around.

[Stratajema]

I would have used FMJs rather than buy any ammo from Cheesier Than Dirt. Essentially you have given business to Satan.

[JJEH]

Can't get the Gold dots in 135gr either right now, but I can get other loads.

[smith17]

TargetSports USA has the Speer 135 grain Short barrel load in stock now at $26.99 per 50 round box. Buy a case of 1000 and get free shipping.
Ed

[Erich]

In case this is of interest, as JR78 noted, the Winchester PDX1 130-gr +P loading is a great (and easily available) substitute. Check the testing sites (Bruce's Pocket Guns and Gear is great) - the Winchester load and the Speer short barrel load perform essentially identically.

http://mousegunaddict.blogspot.com/2...-speer-38.html

http://mousegunaddict.blogspot.com/2...130-grain.html

[claudel]

Originally Posted by mustangman

I found these.

Speer Ammo 38SPL+P Gold Dot Short Barrel 23921 | Trop Elite Equipment


< Snip>

I was at the range @ Trop 2 days ago and they had plenty of
Speer short-barrel Gold-Dot in both .38 & .357 on the shelf.

Too bad I'm looking for Corbon .357 125G DPX at the moment.

It seems as if it's always more difficult to find what one wants...

DPX seems to run better for me in my particular revolver of choice.

[Nevada Ed]

The Remington GS will also work..........

[RonJ]

Originally Posted by Erich

In case this is of interest, as JR78 noted, the Winchester PDX1 130-gr +P loading is a great (and easily available) substitute. Check the testing sites (Bruce's Pocket Guns and Gear is great) - the Winchester load and the Speer short barrel load perform essentially identically.

Pocket Guns and Gear: Clear Gel Terminal Testing Speer 38 Special +P Short Barrel Gold Dot Hollow Point

Pocket Guns and Gear: Winchester PDX1 38 Special +P 130 Grain Bonded JHP Terminal Performance Test

Erich, a year or two ago you wrote a post that was slightly disparaging of Gold Dots. What was your beef?

BTW, I liked your most recent sig line.

[Erich]

Thanks, Ron.

If you could direct me to the post you recollect, I could perhaps give you some insight, but I don't remember it.

I can tell you that I was initially skeptical about the short barrel 135-gr +P Gold Dots in the fact of the tremendous initial swallowing of the marketing bait by so many (online) people who'd never shot a thing with them (but who had read the same glowing gun magazine articles about them that we all had and therefore were ready to recommend them). In light of that, I wrote several posts along the lines of "Let's see what the real world shows, not the marketing boys claim," and maintained that we knew what the old FBI Load did.

That said, I've seen enough real world results to suggest that the 135-grain short barrel Speer .38 +P load really is a pretty good idea. And, since it performs essentially identically, I'm willing to go with the 130-gr +P PDX1 load as well (I've got both around the house).

Anyhow, that might have been what you're mentioning, but I don't know that I said anything actually disparaging of Gold Dots. Let me know if there's something else that I said - like if I mockingly used the word "Nytrillium" in a post about Gold Dots, for instance.

[RonJ]

My words were SLIGHTLY disparaging. It's been a long time but I think the reference was to someone recommending Gold Dots for a home defense load. Your above explanation sounds about right.

[Erich]

Cool. Hey, have a great weekend!

[Nevada Ed]

The 135gr GD may be the new kid on the block for the snub nose but..............

on 8/17/12 I shot the Speer 125gr G Dot out of my M49 at 836 fps at ten feet, through 4 water jugs to check out the expansion that would take place.

One never knows what a quality or regular bullet will do from shot to shot. This time the end result was not so good and opened my eyes to what can happen at times............

[Doug M.]

Weird. That looks like the 125 grain projectile from their .357Sig load. I'd guess that it would not work across such a broad spectrum of velocities, and wonder if that was an error. The .357Sig is the only load of theirs that I have perceived to have a look so different from most JHPs.

[rwsmith]

I haven't seen Speer anything for nearly two years. I'd like to by the bullets rather than the full cartridges but there are none.

[John R]

Originally Posted by Arik

And cheaper than dirt is a dishonest company who sold out the 2A

How about some Details?

[Arik]

Originally Posted by John R

How about some Details?

Pulled all guns about 2 weeks after Sandy Hook. Same thing that Dick Sporting Goods did. Overnight all sales of mags were canceled trippled in price and put for sale again, even those that were already sold

[Hapworth]

Originally Posted by Arik

Pulled all guns about 2 weeks after Sandy Hook. Same thing that Dick Sporting Goods did. Overnight all sales of mags were canceled trippled in price and put for sale again, even those that were already sold

CTD did the same with firearms, pulling them and canceling orders, then returning for sale at inflated prices -- raised their price for standard Colt 6920s to $3,895.

[JohnHancock]

TargetSports USA has the Speer 135 grain Short barrel load in stock now at $26.99 per 50 round box. Buy a case of 1000 and get free shipping.
Ed

Thanks for the tip Ed! They still had "99+" this afternoon and I managed to grab some at a GREAT price! They have the 50 round box for about $5 less than CTD charges for the 20 round box! Arik's explanation above explains a lot.

[tpd223]

Originally Posted by Arik

Yes the gov is specifically hoarding 135 gr 38spl.


And cheaper than dirt is a dishonest company who sold out the 2A

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

The second part is a fact.

The first part, I hope you are joking.


Ref the 125gr Gold Dot; It was not designed to expand well from a snub. That being said, that bullet does not look like the .38 special 125gr Gold Dot, it looks like the bullet they make for the .357Sig

[Arik]

Yes I was being sarcastic

[John R]

Originally Posted by Arik

Pulled all guns about 2 weeks after Sandy Hook. Same thing that Dick Sporting Goods did. Overnight all sales of mags were canceled trippled in price and put for sale again, even those that were already sold

Two more to remove from my list as places to spend my money