Bill tried to explain this but some of you seem to be missing the point. Don't think of the HD or the Outdoorsman as a 38 Special but as a 38/44. They are not the same thing. As Bill said the standard velocity of the 38/44 was 1150 fps with a 158g bullet. I can't find any currently made +P loading that comes closer than 900 fps. The only way to really understand why these guns were so popular would be to carefully develop a handload using a chronograph to check the velocity. When you are driving a 158g slug at the old performance level you won't think of it as a "38 Special" anymore.

Dave

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RSVN '69-'71
PCSD (Ret)