The 130gr. full metal jacket loads for the .38 Special were first introduced in the late 1950s or early 1960s, near as I can tell.

I carried the 130 gr. FMJ ammo when I was in the Air Force. I served with a number of sergeants who had carried it in Vietnam, the Philippines, Korea and other hot spots where its use was probable.
They all agreed that it was a woefully weak load. Most agreed that the 148 gr. wadcutter we qualified with was more powerful than the 130 gr. duty load.

There was a story, probably apocryphal, making the rounds about why the Air Force insisted on issuing such a weak load.
In the movie, "Goldfinger," James Bond is captive aboard a jet aircraft at high altitude. A bad guy threatens to shoot him and Bond points out that if he misses, or the bullet passes through him and then the skin of the aircraft, the resultant decompression will kill everyone on board.
The bad guy relents.
Yet, this myth continues today.
I knew a Sky Marshall in the 1970s who laughed about this myth. He pointed out that a bullet hole in the fuselage would allow very little air to escape, and certainly wouldn't, "suck everyone through that little hole" as I have heard others describe it.
Even the breaking of a window, while disconcerting, wouldn't suck everyone out the window.

Anyway, the story goes, someone in the Air Force believed the James Bond bluff and developed and demanded a load that would not penetrate the skin of aircraft.
Sounds rather farfetched to me, but stranger things have happened.
Remember your Byron: "'Tis strange but true, for truth is often stranger than fiction."

We know for a fact that when the Air Force began issuing a very light, .38 Special snubnose with aluminum frame and cylinder to pilots in the 1950s, the standard 158 gr. jacketed load was straining the gun.
Cylinders and barrels became cracked.
At that point, the weak 130 gr. load was developed and issued for the .38 snubnoses. Not much later, the whole lot of aluminum revolvers was recalled.
I suspect that the Air Force had a bunch of 130 gr. ammo on hand, newly manufactured, and wanted to use it up.
At the time, according to one of my sergeants, the Air Force Air Police carried the 1911 .45.
The Air Force was dissatisfied with the .45 and adopted the Smith & Wesson Model 15 Combat Masterpiece.
This would have been the late 1950s or early 1960s. The sergeant showed me a photo of him as an Air Policeman in 1962 and he clearly was carrying a 1911 .45.
When a new weapon or ammo is adopted, it takes a while to get it issued to everyone. So, 1962 might have been the last year, or near it, for Air Police to carry the 1911 .45.

Anyway, by the time I went through the Security Police academy in 1975, the Air Force's primary sidearm was the .38 Special, in both 2 and 4-inch barrel lengths.

Security Police carried the 130 gr. full metal jacket load.
Office of Special Invesigations (OSI) sometimes carried the lead 158 gr. roundnose bullet ammo if they worked with police departments offpost.
I know, because I worked in the armory at Lowry Air Force Base, in Denver, and we had a few cases of Remington 158 gr. lead roundnosed ammo on hand.
It caught my eye. When I inquired about its use I was told it for OSI, but we were barred from carrying it because of the Hague Convention (which mandates ammo with no lead exposed).

A sergeant once told me of his personal experience with 130 gr. full metal jacket ammo.
He shot at a fleeing car in the Philippines with the stuff, from his 4" barreled Model 15.
Two bullets bounced off the trunk, failing to enter. A third bullet failed to break through the rear window.
He was, understandably, quite disgusted with the load but, like the rest of us, forced to carry it.
He warned us rookies repeatedly that if we had time, grab the shotgun we carried in the front seat. It was loaded with 2-3/4 00 buck loads.

I was a Law Enforcement Specialist in Security Police, so I rode patrol and stood gates. Security Specialists walked around aircraft and buildings, or checked IDs behind a desk. Theirs was a dull job; mine was a little more interesting.
But because my patrols often took us into the housing areas, we were not allowed to carry the M16 rifle.
The fear of an M16 bullet penetrating the wall of a housing unit and killing an innocent inside motivated that prohibition. The shotgun pellets had a little less penetration.

Well, I've prattled on long enough, reminiscing. Hope this enlightens some of you.

The 130 gr. FMJ ammo for the .38 Special is weak, but it's okay for plinking or introducing a new shooter to the .38 Special with a load that has little recoil or blast.
These loads are also good for small eatin' game at close range. The jacketed bullet won't damage a lot of meat, leaving plenty for the pot.
It would be good for rabbits, grouse and perhaps even a turkey (where it's legal) at close range.
But beware! That 130gr FMJ bullet is prone to ricochet. Don't shoot it where rocks are the backstop, or at hard surfaces.

Here endeth the lesson.