I recently picked up a 100 round box of remington .38+P 125 gr semi jacketed hollow points. They were a good deal and all i saw was .38 and didn't know this is what these were.

My question is this, why semi-jacketed? Do they do this to save money? And really, how much are they saving? They are funny looking things and im hoping someone could shine some light on this for me.

They are one of the rounds in the lower-priced Remington (green/white box) lineup. This bullet is more expensive to produce than plain lead or FMJ, so they must make these in large quantities to be able to use them in bulk packs at a competitive price.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

But why the semi-jacket?

Remington was the company that invented the scalloped jacket. All of their JHP revolver loads use these scalloped semi-jacketed HP bullet design. The scalloped jacket design aids in expansion.

Ok cool, i have a box of .357 too and just wondered why they were like this

It's not a cost saving design. The Remington scalloped bullet has an excellent track record. "Semi-Jacketed" refers to there being exposed lead at the tip, the jacket doesn't enclose the whole tip, like the Golden Sabers jacket does.

At one time the 125gr. Remington semi-jacketed hollow point in .357 was considered the top load for self defense. It still isn't bad.

Many years ago I came upon several thousand Remington. 38 cal. 95 gr. SJHP's. I have used them as plinking and practice in my Model 27 and 36. Great for the wife in her snubby, low recoil for practice.

Ed

I spent most of my money on guns, women, and whiskey. The rest, I just wasted.

I think that in the early days especially, semi-jacketed bullets were easier to produce, it wasn't the extra .01 gram of jacket material as much as manufacturing methods.

That scalloped jacket Remington was considered premium defense ammo, 25 years ago. I still like it and bought several 100 rnd packs of .38spl and .357mag at Wally-World during the last period of sanity.........

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dd884
JMHO-YMMV

Well, this is a good history lesson. 25 years ago i was 12 and had other things on my mind than guns and ammo lol

The scalloped jacket design aids in expansion>>>>>>>>>>

It would fragment, almost without fail (the nose part anyway), a good thing that aids in stopping power. The frags increase your chance of hitting important things, and also increases the temporary cavity.

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NRA Instructor

That design is the "Old School" bullet that Remington and Winchester made back in the old days and it worked very well............
so well that it is still here today for a SD load that keeps on working. Nothing wrong with some exposed lead to start the expansion of a bullet, since it is softer than copper, that is now used in the "New style" of bullets that Remington and the others are now pushing as a SD load.

Still a great bullet design for a 38 snub nose.

Speer used to make a half jacketed swc bullet I used in .357, .41, and 44magnum. Extremely accurate at high velocities with more ft/lbs of energy than round nose designs. Sorry they discontinued it.

I have shot the 180gr Rem scalloped JHP out of my 6" 357 for several years. Super accurate but I cant find them anymore. All I can find are the 158gr. Seems like they always stop making the good bullets......

The scalloped Remington bullets are easily the coolest looking bullets I've ever seen. They just scream danger!

I happen to like those rose pedal bullets because they work. Back in 2007 I bought 100 of their .357 Magnum rounds using that bullet as a backup for my normal SD ammo. It's hard to stock 100 extra rounds at designer SD ammo prices sold in 20 round boxes. I was able to buy 2X 50 round boxes for the same price as 2X 20 round boxes of "SD ammo". (not that I think the Remington ammo isn't SD ammo)

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

the old and the new style...............
Winchester and Remington SJhp bullets on the left........
Speer Gold Dot load on the far right...........

I have several hundred rounds loaded in both 125 grain (loaded to 38 +P) and 158 grain (@ .357 Magnum) as well as a few bullets squirreled away. I practice with them and I carry them. In a real life situation, I believe that the ballistic difference between the Remington SJHP and one of the dollar-fifty boutique rounds is negligible, at best.

YMMV

So i guess the consensus is that its good ammo and comparable to todays fancy smancy self defense rounds. Good to know and i will pick up more as i see it