OK... so I will start by saying.. Ya, I know. I realy need to just reload my own... and maybe thats the issue here.. But you know, out looking at the shelves in the stores, and you see a ton of pricy SD rounds, and you find a lot of smaller bullets... like the 130gr rem FMJ rounds, the 110gr stuff etc..... but its almost impossable to find a normal everyday old time 158gr round for plinking, or target shooting. Back in the day that seemed to be the standard round for these. Did people just stop plinking with 38's?? No more target shooting with them?

And agean... I know I just need to roll my own. And im working on that, but at this time its going to be a bit before i can get up and runnning... And i have also seen some on line... but Im realy not looking to mailorder at this time.. I guess the days are gone that you could walk into the local shop and leave with a box isnt it?

The old standby 158gr loaded ammo in .38/357 has been replaced with the latest/greatest "man stopper" bullets and do not sell as fast so stores do not carry much stock. I am not sure how much is being loaded by the "big" manufacturers. The last box I found at the LGS was a box of RWS and I only bought that because it was too cold to load 158gr LSWCs in my Garage this winter. I have been loading .38 spcl since the 60s.

__________________
Revolver luvin' Mountaineer

Not far from me there's a little basement LGS I frequent. I was told that they will pretty much stop offering .38 plinking ammo due to their cost. No way can they buy the quantity needed to justify carrying it on the shelf.

The reality is that the hand gun of the masses is now the 9 mm.

And K53, like Neil Young sings: "Homegrown's alright with me - homegrown is the way it should be!"

I'll bet it has to do with money. That's why you see lighter bullets on the shelves (for plinking). They can save 40 grains or whatnot per bullet, and sell it for the same price. Over a box of 50, that's 200 grains. Over a case, that's how much?

It all comes down to penny-pinching.

One has to cater to consumer tastes and it appears that the majority of consumers are infatuated with the latest/greatest bullet designs. I am reminded of an old ad in a S&W catalog which staed that more med both good and bad havwe been dispatched with 32 S&W revolvers than any other. It appears that men have become tougher over the last century and require more oomph for dispatch.

Not necessarily tougher. The shooters have just become smarter, though. When I shoot somebody with anything, I want him to know it and cease what he's doing immediately. It matters nothing to me if he dies from my round 10 minutes after he kills me.

Everywhere I go I can find 158gr loads in .38/.357 calibers: CCI Blazer/Blazer Brass, Winchester, Remington, Independence, S&B, Speer etc.

Oddly enough in gun friendly NJ, that's a sick joke, I have no problem finding 158gr. Now if I could find a nice place in the woods to plink.....just dreaming.

I think you're correct, but your math - not so much so. It's 2000 grains and that's ~0.3 pounds saved for each box of shells, or ~3 pounds of lead saved in a case of 500. Might be your typing? Forget a zero?

Shotgunners have long since abandoned the old 12 gauge 1-1/8 oz. target load (which used to be 1-1/4 oz. before that). Nowadays, most of the 12 ga. shooters I know shoot 7/8 oz. It does add up since the price of lead shot is somewhere around $40/bag.
7/8 oz yields 457 rounds per bag
1 oz, 400
1-1/8 oz, 355
As they say, "The more you shoot, the more you save!" That's silly of course, but bottom line is the savings do add up.

But (returning to pistols), yes, by far the most common .38 Special round I see these days is the 130-gr FMJ, which was so uncommon outside of the military when I was a lad that it was almost sensational to find a box of them. The wholesale change over of .357s to the 125-gr load just seems deplorable, to me.

i can still get 158gr LRN at our local wal-mart and a few other places as well

Cheaper Than Dirt has em for 14.89 for S&B.

Me too. There is no shortage of 158gr 38 Special or 357 Magnum ammunition in the Pacific Northwest of WA state that I can see. Cabelas®, Wholesale Sports Outfitters®, Sportsmans Warehouse®, Big 5 Sporting Goods®, and Walmart® all have 158gr ammo in these two calibers.

__________________
David
CW3 USA (Ret) 1968-1990

Federal still makes the 158 gr. LRN, and it's widely available.

Last time I looked, all of the cheaper stuff on CTD was steel case **** from TulAmmo or some other eastern european maker I have never heard of or was sold out (a chronic problem). I ended up buying some 142gr FMJ made by Fiocci which was alright, because it was cheaper than I could get 158gr FMJ. I dont like shooting partially jacketed stuff and cant shoot full lead shot at my range(s) due to restrictions they have on the stuff.

Georgia Arms sells bulk .38 Special 158 grain SWC. Look under the "Canned Heat" section.

__________________
I believe in the wadcutter.

Speaking of 158gr in both .38 and .357, I have made it a point to only shoot that based on some of what I have read here regarding K frame and flame cutting, etc.. Is this a good idea, bad idea, doesn't matter?

That depends ENTIRELY on who made a post and on how much he really knows.

But you sometimes see a concensus.

i think just about everyone who makes 38 has 158gr LRN and LSWC
I personally have Remington LRN and Federal LSWC's in 158gr i have seen Federal, PPU and i know Winchester makes a 158gr bullets

and i have seen 357 as well with 158gr

Seems its hit and miss depending on where you live. I'm planning on reloading in the next few years till then I'll keep looking.

Around here it used to be that the 158/swc was mass produced by several different commercial reloading outfits. Now there is but one, and he puts out a very high quality, top shelf product. He is about the only source I know of, I can't remember the last time I saw 158 grain SWC factory ammunition in a GS. Sometimes I see 158 RN, but I am not a fan of that bullet.
Yep, you gotta roll your own. And yes, especially for plinking ammunition like the 158 SWC, it is worth it. A box of 500 of them is about $40-45, a pound of Bullseye (7000 grains in a pound) will load up between 1550 and 1650 rounds of 38 Special target loads (depending on the charge), $17-20 depending on the store. Primers are roughly 3 to 3 1/2 cents each. Do the math!

__________________
Geoff. Since 1960.

Speaking of S&B 158 gr, I just got back from the range (actually around 8:30p, just gone done cleaning) and fired off 200 rounds out of my model 66-2 and 28-2. 150 Winchester white box 38spl 130 gr and 50 S&B 158 gr 357 mag.

I had 8/50 of the S&B not fire. I had seen some duds from S&B before, but this seemed excessive. ***? Not light primer strikes either.

No failure to go bank from the dirty Winchester 38's.

Ya, any SWC are not going to be found local!

And ya, I do know that its a cost thing. Most of the shooters as was said are using 9mm, or one of the other semi auto cals. the old school revolver guys have moved into reloading.

So as a update I DID find some off brand 158gr RN. I forgot the brand.. though. I was going to pick it up to try, but didnt, and forgot to write the brand name... Been a long week.

Well ill keep looking. And till i get some Ill shoot up some 130FMJ 38 spc. I still have a stash of some target loads in SWC, and WC that dad madeup back in his shooting days in the 70's to burn though also. I realy dont like the smaller bullet 357 loads. Ya, I know... some of the storys are old wives tails.. but you know. i want this old m19 to be around for the grand kids... why risk it.

Thanks for letting me vent guys. I know I just have to get loading. [need to learn to feed my jet anyways!!] just seems strange that there isnt more guys like me out there, that want to normal every day plinking/target round for there old revolvers.

My local Walmart gets both .38s and .357s in various weights. It is "whatever comes in" at the time. They seem not to have any control over what bullets they get. I see 125s, 158s, 180s. The salesman says, "You want 125 grain, stop back next week when we get our next shipment. Maybe it'll be on that one."

So my suggestion: Stop by Walmart often, and when they have what you want, but lots of it. Walmart's pricing is always very competitive.

So far mine has only had the rem, or WWB 130 gr stuff. But I keep checking anyways

It is always going to be WWB or the cheap Remington stuff. The salesman told me that they will never get any good defensive ammo. Some sort of philosophical issue I guess.

Also the Walmart rules for selling ammo are stricter than the state's rules. They require a pistol license for .357s and .44 magnums, even though they are rifle rounds too and you don't need a permit to buy rifle ammo.

It used to be (gosh, I find myself saying that alot lately), that ANY LGS worth it's salt always had some sort of commercial reloaded (often local) .38 Spl. ammo, usually 148 gr. WC and 158 gr. SWC.

Recall working at a LGS in the mid-70's and an entire shelf-unit was dedicated to that, and there was a brass buy-back program.
When's the last time you saw that?

__________________
Ret'd LEO
SWCA #2275

Have you forgotten how old we are?????

Last time I saw that was back in the '70s too....

I still like to shoot 158 LSWC for practice.

I still go to gun shops and expect to see those nice Safariland and Bianchi displays they used to have.... I was like a kid in a candy store.

Having the latest rig from those guys used to make the guys on the job drool.

Now it's all plastic,nylon and very little real quality leather...

__________________
Take your time..quickly.

I quit looking for .38 linking ammo long ago. I order supplies on line and reload my own. I always have a couple boxes of GoldDots for SD but the rest is all reloads.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2

__________________
Support your Police, & NRA

*
Do you have an internet site for this fellow? I'm looking for a decent source.

__________________
NHI, 10-8.

Isn't 130 fmj the old military loading?
Are there still military contracts for that stuff?
Isn't fmj more expensive than plain lead?
Perhaps it machines better (friction)?

I was at sportsman's warehouse Sunday morning and they had cases of 250 rounds of 38 special 158 gr LRN rounds for $87. They had a dozen cases out on the floor.

I bought one and 2 boxes of 158 gr JSP 357's, also good for plinking.

Its definitely out there

OK, well its been a bit sence this thred was made... Been spending more time in Local shops, and I gotta tell you... Its amazing how LITTLE 38 or 357 they stock! I did find some of the Fed 38 LRN, and 357 JSP at WalMart finly... I would like to deal with the LGS's... But what can you do? If they dont stock any.. Other then a pack or two of those little plastic cases of 20 rounds of must be gold platted amno....and one shop that sells some off brand stuff... [if you can barly make out the print on the box, do you trust th amno??? ] there is nothing... Well except for WalMart...if you beat the other guys like me to the amno case....

Two words:

ROAD TRIP!!!

How about "special order." You can ask your dealer to get in some Federal American Eagle 158 JSPs (.357s). They have been the best shooting inexpensive .357s I have ever used. If worse comes to worse, you can always order from the web, unless you live in some jurisdiction that forbids mail-ordering ammunition.

Part of it is age related. The younger shooters think lead is bad, and that jacketed is good. This relates to the popularity of auto pistols and the 9mm cartridge.

In .38 Special, and other low pressure rounds, I much prefer the lead, but you can't explain this to a younger shooter.

I stay away from lead in anything. Makes the gun filthy. Not for me. I'll pay extra for jacketed.

just got a "few" rounds of 158gr .38 special from ammoman.

there's always plenty of what you need out there...........just got to snooop around a little.

Locally, no problem for 158 gr lead bullet ammo. At the gun show today, all of the ammo guys had lots of it, mainly S&B and Federal Am Eagle. And of course the commercial reloaders' tables all had it, mainly with SWC bullets. But reloading is by far the best way to go. About 99% of my reloads are 148 gr wadcutters. I sometimes wonder how I accumulated the buckets of .38 Special fired brass I have.

How does shooting lead bullets make the gun filthy? After close to a million rounds through mine over 45 years, I have never noticed that.

MAGTECH (158gr) SJSP (357A) = $23.xx

MagTech Ammunition Co. 357Mag 158Gr SJSP 50 Rds Ammunition 357A

Not sure why you have an issue finding a 158 gr bullet, they have a number of offerings sitting on the shelves everyday at Cabelas or the Bass Pro Shops. A qucik internet search should have a nubmer of mail order places for you to purchase from.

If you're lookin for 158gr LSWC Remington in .357, I got an old box (circa 1964-1973) for sale reasonable. PM me.

Sadly we don't have those stores up here. Wish we did. We have a Dicks sporting goods, but here they have a pretty poor choice of amino... not a ton of LGS around also. I did find the fed at WM and that should keep me till I start reloading.... or till I move out of NY!!!!

I'm still looking for a source for my old favorite Range round....148gr. Lead Wadcutters. Fun, cheap and easy to shoot.....Anyone? Zebulon

I think Georgia Arms loads that; so does Black Hills.

__________________
NHI, 10-8.

That's because hollow points are illegal in that wacky state, most of the lighter bullets are HP, or semi jacketed something or other. Most FMJ I run across here are 158gr

I just found a guy at my local gun show in Pa selling 158 semi wad cutter. I bought a case. It came out to 12 bucks a box. It was federal white box.I was more than happy as i see it for 19 bucks at the range.It seems to be gaining a following around here.

I agree on the WalMart option. Here in the Phoenix area ammo in a myriad of bullet weights is available OTC. In a tight economy shipping costs omitted are a big factor. Amazing how many of us gray-beard Vets grab groceries and ammo at the store to stash in our ruckies then ride the bus home on the cheap. Wheelgun calibers seem less popular but some converts are returning to the fold. Reloading and multiple options in a revolver that stovepipe a semiauto have come back. Midway and Cheaper Than Dirt are nice in a pinch. The reloading folks are big Midway fans. The green-boxed Remington 130 gr .38Sp seem to sit on the shelves a while at WM. I've read about Fiochi's version but also found an article critical of their accuracy with the velocity. Just got a 1905 "hand ejector" and look forward to reloading with my Lee hand press using Lee's carbide dies. Curious about a compromise at a 140-145 gr weight.

I did a drive-by at my local Academy's today and lo and behold, they had Blazer 158gr .38 special in stock. Over 20 boxes worth. Being a good citizen, I bought two.