Over the years I have been on this site there has been lots of post that asked for standard loads as well as +P loads for the snub nose 38 special revolver.
I have tested lead and JHP loads from 110grain to the heavy 158gr lead swc and LswcHP, ala the "FBI load" and today I want to add this information to the list for the little J frame.
There is.........Velocity, ft/lbs of Energy and Recoil that go into the mix. I am not going into the Expansion thing, today, just the Basics, for the "snub nose" revolver.
Lets start out with the little 110gr Jhp
Basic is around 880fps.................with a 96 power factor.
standard +P at 945 fps @ 218 ft/lb ..... 103 pf
125 Jhp ........ 866 fps @ 208 ft/lb ....... 108 pf
Heavy +P at 898 fps @ 223 ft/lb ..........113 pf
135 Jhp +P ... 866fps @ 222 ft/lb ....... 116 pf
148 lead .........710 fps........................ 105 pf
medium load at 790 fps @ 205 ft/lb ...... 116 pf
158gr Lead at 755 fps @ 200 ft/lb ....... 119 pf
I tried to keep the PF to 116 maximum to take in the 135 gr. Gold Dot +p and include the standard bullets that are normally loaded for a general picture of what is at hand.
There are loads that will do the job "IF" the bullet does not fail.
A lot depends on the clothing, size of the person and shot placement.
I know that I will have to go over my figures one more time and maybe have to "Cheat" a little on my non+p loads to where I feel comfortable.
I was looking into the 148 lead at 850 fps as a light recoil load but this flew out the window with my figures.
I might even look into the all 100% Copper bullets...........before deceiding.
Any thoughts?
38 J snub SD load vs recoil
Linear Mode
