Most of my hand gun experience is with 9mm semiautos so I'm used to FMJ practice ammo. I have revolvers, and I just "assumed" that FMJ was the standard practice ammo for them too. However, I've read a few threads in the forum that indicate wadcutters are better. Someone please explain why FMJ's are not so good for revolvers, and why leading is not an issue with wadcutters. I do not and will not reload so that doesn't factor in for me. Thanks in advance...

I don't think it's that wadcutters are better than FMJ in revolvers, but traditionally most people shoot lead bullets in revolvers. Personally, I like FMJ bullets for practice, regardless of gun type. For my 642-1 in .38 Special, I do most of my practice with 130gr FMJ, specifically PMC 132gr FMJ, and Speer Lawman .38 Special 158gr TMJ +P when I want to do some +P practice. Both work fine in my snub.

The one good thing about wadcutters, though, is that, aside from their low recoil, they do punch nice, clean holes in targets. FMJ tend to leave jagged holes, which you've probably seen shooting 9mm FMJ. May not be particularly important for routine practice, but if you're really trying to work on precision shooting it can be helpful.

For practice, just get whatever the cheapest ammo you can find, especially with ammo being hard to find nowadays. As long as it's not some bargain-basement, commercially-reloaded junk, you should be fine.

If you have self defense ammo, it would probably be a good idea to try and get practice ammo in the same bullet weight, but it's not essential.

You may also want to do a search. Ammo suggestions is a regularly occurring topic.

Just my opinion.

If you are just practicing, the most common .38 Special ammo you will find (or can find?) will be 158 gr lead round nose or SWC at standard velocities, probably around 700-750 fps. At those velocities even soft projectiles will tend not to leave lead in the bore.

148 gr wadcutters are even more lightly loaded so leading will rarely surface with these.

Any 130 gr FMJ is also fine as noted above, and of course no issues with leading. I have found the accuracy with this load (Winchester, Remington, etc.) to be indifferent, however.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Best 38 Spl practice round? Use the round which S&W uses to regulate sights on their 38 Special fixed sight revolvers...the 158 gr RNL (or SWC) standard velocity round.

Yes, this is what I've read before. But why isn't leading in the barrel and at the forcing cone an issue? Or is leading something that you just put up with when cleaning?

Well if you don’t reload, it’s whatever you can get.

I can get whatever I want, and probably have a ton of it already. I'm still looking for someone to answer why FMJ's are harmful to a revolver barrel, and why leading is not an issue with wadcutters.

I shoot quite a few .38 spl.....had a bunch of Winchester 130gr FMJ...and reload 158 gr SWC....there is more leading with my reloads, but I clean my guns after every trip to the farm, so it's not an issue...lots of fun ringing steel with your own reloads! the factories are cleaner overall...cant say I feel FMJ are hard on barrels IMHO

The idea of FMJ harming a revolver barrel goes way back to the early 1900's when 45 ACP was about the only FMJ round you would find in the U.S. It was claimed that firing FMJ ammo in a revolver caused more wear than a cast or swaged lead bullet, yet the Model 1911 was designed for a steady diet of FMJ and those barrels died of corrosion due to poor cleaning and corrosive primers, not tens of thousands of FMJ rounds.

FMJ ammo is not going to ruin your revolver barrel, so if you prefer to practice with the 38 Special 130 grain FMJ or Speer's TMJ loads, fear not.

Why is the 38 Special 148 grain lead wadcutter load so praised for accuracy? Because it is a low recoiling round usually with a soft lead bullet that has a hollow base that expands to seal perfectly against the rifling. Leading is usually not an issue due to these loads being low velocity and the bullet sealing so well through the chamber throats, barrel forcing cone and bore.

Soft lead bullets with a solid base may cause leading because the base cannot expand to seal as well as the hollow base wadcutter and that allows hot combustion gases to leak past the bullet, melting the lead in the process. With solid bullets you really do have to drive them harder in order to make them better seal the bore. If the cylinder's chamber throats are smaller than the groove diameter in the barrel, you are pretty much guaranteed a lead fouled barrel.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

Great answer. Thank you!

These days, you're likely to see 10 boxes of 130gr FMJ .38 Special for every 158gr LRN on the shelves. It has become the de-facto "cheap" round for 38/357 revolvers in the same way that 115gr FMJ is for the 9mm Parabellum.

Like that 9mm, it works, it's about as affordable as center-fire ammo is going to be, it's accurate enough for defensive practice or plinking, and there are better choices for bulls-eye type precision or defensive use.

Its genesis was in the 1950's, when the Air Force wanted a lighter load than the then-standard 158gr FMJ .38 Special for some lightweight revolvers. The ammunition companies simply took the existing .38 ACP/.38 ACP Super bullet and loaded that. It became the standard in the military until near the end of the .38's time in the service (sort of).

The Pistol needed a bullet that would feed and have minimum problem...........
enter the FMJ round nose bullet design.

The revolver does not have a feeding problem..........
so any type of bullet may be used and back in the day, lead bullets were cheap and worked.

Light target loads were usually a 148gr HBwc design that worked in auto pistols and revolvers for most qualifying, with the heavier 158 gr lead used as an option.

Today's manufactures can now produce a low priced 130 gr jacketed bullet for target work that is low enough in price to make shooters happy
at the cash register.

Just a matter of finding ammo, right now.

If You EDC Your practice ammo should be what You normally carry. Seen too many practice with low velocity 38 spec and carry .357 mag. Then grimace and almost drop the gun when the mag goes off. Especially with LW snubs.

I don't think you have to do all of your practice with your carry ammo. I do think you should shoot your carry ammo enough to know how it shoots, make sure it's reliable in your gun, and that you can shoot it well enough, and periodically fire some of your carry ammo through it. I do most of my snub practice with 132gr FMJ, but always try to run at least a few cylinder-fulls of +P through it at the range.

There's also ammo out there that will mimic carry ammo. For example, Speer's 158gr TMJ +P would be a good practice version of the FBI load.

For me it is a combination of economics and accuracy. WC's are inexpensive compared to heavy plated or jacketed bullets. My best accuracy is with good jacketed or wc/swc lead bullets. I do reload and I keep lead at less than 1000fps. I have never had a problem with leading.

Those two cartridges just scream out to be reloaded. Particularly since they are two of the easiest rounds to reload. For practice ammo I like 148 HBWC, 158 SWC, and 125 & 158 plated flat point bullets.

Inexpensive 158 gr. lead round nose "plinkers". I use whatever is cheap.

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John

If you are shooting a .38, leading in a decent barrel is not really much of an issue. Lead at .357/.44M levels of performance, that duplicate jacketed rounds requires some effort, the right bullets, and handloading equipment.

Once you have the right combination of powder burn rate, bullet hardness, and bullet size, leading is minimal. Lead bullets will never wear out a barrel, and accuracy is equal to jacketed performance.
At the moment there are no more handloading components than there is loaded ammo. Some of the handloading hardware is also out of stock.

Clean you bore after each shooting with a good bore brush (I like Brownells “Tough” bore brushes) and solvent (Hoppes, G96, Breakfree, Ballistol etc work to get under the fouling) and run your brush 10-12 times and you’ll clean out any leading after firing 50 rds of Remington 38 Special 158 gr RNL.