So, has anyone tried Buffalo Bore’s .38spl 125gr +P JHP out of a 642 yet?
If so, thoughts? Opinions? Etc.

As my moniker may suggest: I've been a J-fan for a long time. A 640-1 was my first and long time primary CCW. BuffaloBoar, Hornady and Speer my ammo of choice. Tried the +p in quantity from all of them. Main reason for choosing a magnum-j. Didn't have to worry as much about over stressing the gun... Not anymore. BB std pressure loads (125 and heavier) in 38. Heavy for caliber loads in 9 and 40 for the semi autos too, but not +p. I'm going on 73 and find I manage the gun much better with the std pressure loads especially those with under 4 inch tubes. Little gain and more stress on me and the gun stoking +p in any handgun with less than a 4 inch barrel. When I really feel the need for more WHUMP, I go bigger, as in 357 Sig and 45 Colt.

I understand they recoil a little harder than most....

It's been several years, but I have tried them. I had to go back to find my notes. I recorded "strong recoil", and apparently it was strong enough that I only fired 5 rounds in my 642. I had no such problems with Speer 135gr SB-GDHP +P or FBI loads, where I would typically fire 20-30 rounds per range session, so that may give you some idea of the relative recoil.

I tried some buffalo bore .38 special lead in a 637 several years ago, I can't remember what load it was, but it may have been a heavier bullet than 124 grain... It was snappy as I recall. And smokey.

I have some of the BB standard pressure hard cast 150gr full wadcutters. They feel like +P in snappiness and they chop a very nice hole in paper. I would not want these chopping through my vital organs.

Thanks for the responses.
I’m sure there’s someone out there that has the time and resources to do a gelatin test with the JHP’s.
I have tested the lead semi-wad cutter hollow points out of my 340PD and was pleased with them. Recoil wasn’t as bad as I expected. They shot and performed well.
Bear in mind that I carried the 340 as an on-duty back up weapon and qualified with full house .357. Yeah, my fellow officers got quite a laugh on qualification days. Brutal recoil many many times. So a little muzzle flip from .38 anything probably isn’t going to be too unpleasant for me.
I just acquired this little 642 and was just curious about the BB+P jacketed out of this little snubbie as I have ordered some for carry purposes.
If ammo was easier to get these days I’d run tests myself.
Again, thanks, guys.

Just for general info;

I've shot both the Buffalo Bore Heavy .38 Spl. 158 grain LSWCHPGC +P and the .38 Spl. 158 grain LSWCHPGC Standard Pressure.

Here, we carry the Speer .38 Spl. 135 grain Short Barrel +P as our standard.

I've run both the above Buffalo Bore rounds through my S&W M640 No-Dash, my S&W M642, and my partner's M60. I did so with him, and he tried the same.

He's a bull. STRONG. I'm no shrinking violet myself.

I found that I (we) could shoot either BB round out of any of the guns.

The recoil of the +P BB round out of the Airweight gun was enough to make reasonable men, who might really have to use a gun to fight, look elsewhere.

For us, the steel gun(s) would work easily with all of the rounds.

The standard pressure 158g Buffalo Bore would work in any of the guns, e.g. Airweights.

I carry an M&P340 most of the time.

I've fired all of the above through it. I've even fired the Speer .357 Gold Dot Short Barrel 135 grain through it as well.

I'm still carrying the Speer .38 Special Gold Dot Short Barrel 135g +P.

But I am not dogmatic.

We carried the 158 +P LSWCHP for years, the Federal version. I no longer trust their crimp. Not for years.

But if I wanted an FBI load; a heavy lead load, I might carry the Remington, and I would definitely be comfortable carrying the Buffalo Bore standard pressure version without a thought.

I've tried the load you mentioned in your post but much prefer the Buffalo Bore 158 grain +P LSWCHP. It does an honest 1025 fps out of a 2" Chief's Spl. and I've always preferred the 158 grain weight over the 125's. I also find that 158 grain bullets shoot POA-POI for me and right on the money. The major draw back to BB ammo is that it is not for the recoil sensitive shooters as it kicks like a mule! That said, when I carried my M60-7 for EDC I used the BB 158's described above, not the 125's.

The Speer +P 135 grain GDHP is also a viable SD round out of a 2" Snubby. Less felt recoil than the BB but not as potent IMHO - still an excellent choice.

Like the chief said "I prefer the 158-Gr. bullet shown in the photo, from my S&W 642-1. A little pain from the sender, but a lot more for the receiver.

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BTW if you can handle the recoil - the Buffalo Bore 158 grain LSWCHP-GC +P is the best load you can carry in a 2" snubby! Don't worry about the cost of the ammo because you won't be shooting much of it. A few cylinders full for familiarity with POA-POI and recoil is all that is really necessary.

I can also say that after many many years using this 38 Spl. load it's the most consistent and accurate ammo I've shot through my Chief's Spl. The SD according to my Chronograph is so little it's almost unbelievable!

I was originally going to order the 158gr LSWCHP but the JHP was all they had in stock. I took what I could get.
If you had told me 20 years ago that .38 spl would someday be hard to get, I would have looked at you like you like you had a third eye. SMH...

I'll offer my customary disclaimer that BB uses incredibly hard primers that simply did not work in my guns. I will never buy BB again.

Conversely, I've had no issues ever with Underwood, who is seemingly out of everything these days...

I bought some BB low recoil, low flash 125 gr .357 designed for use in short barrels for my 640-1. Haven't tried it yet though.

Re Dr. Mordo's difficulties with BB's hard primers, I found this comment on their site:

FTF - Failure to Fire or 'Mis-fires'

FWIW, I've never had reliability issues with BB ammo, including my 642 and a couple of K-frames, one of which had a trigger job done. They all went bang when I pulled the trigger.