Finally, a really meaningful post! Been there, done that, etc.

What ammo and gun? What ranges and bullet impact/placement? Sizes of opponents, etc.?

One Dallas officer supposedly used an issued M-64 with four-inch barrel and Winchester lead SWC-HP to terminate six felons. No known problems, but I don't know the size of those men or where he hit them or the ranges.

Your experience and his are the best gunfight data I've found, apart from the experience of a soldier operating in Iraq, and his experience was with 9mm and .45 ACP pistols using military ammo. Good hits equaled quick kills, but he sometimes fired more than one shot in quick succession.

I also believe a detective here who looked up info on several shootings with .357 145 grain Silvertips, which he reluctantly described as being almost too effective. I think he's a bit squeamish. But one man posting here saw a report in an FBI case where that .357 round almost removed an arm from the felon hit. That seems pretty satisfactory, but I don't know the barrel length or the range or the size of the felon.

But these cases don't address the subject of this thread: the factory supplied .38 WC round, especially from short barrels.

I do know that writers like Keith and Skelton said that .38 WC loads were good for small game that wouldn't drop reliably to RN bullets, although the WC's were slower. Ranges were probably short. The example given here of the .32 WC load employed on a big raccoon seems to bear out that the shape of the flat bullet does cut a full caliber hole and transmits more shock.

We need more men with actual experience of this ammo on live animals or men to post. Otherwise, it's all just guesswork, even if well founded and well meant.