Speer 135 grain Gold Dot 38 Sp+P and 357 Magnum

[Model 15-4ever]

4" Barrel Chrono

I've shot quite a bit of the Speer .38 Spl +P 135 GDHP factory load, and my results have generally been the same - inconsistent chrono and accuracy results. Shoots very well in one gun, and completely awful in another - much more so than most factory ammo.

At any rate, here are some recent results, in my guns that the load shoots well in. Speer .38 Special +P 135 grain GDHP, #53921. 49F, 10 feet from the muzzle:

S&W 520, 4" - 997 fps, SD 21, 15Y grp 2.9"
Ruger Service-Six, 4" - 958 fps, SD 23, 15Y grp 1.5"
Charter Police Bulldog, 4" - 971 fps, SD 39, 15Y grp 2.0"
Charter Undercover, 2" - 845 fps, SD 11, 15Y grp 2.7"

I can't see much use for the .357 Magnum version of this load. The bullet was designed to perform - expand and penetrate to 12" - between 800-950 fps. In light 2" guns with short ejector rod throw, the magnum version would not have the controllablity or reloading speed of the .38 version. In a 4" gun, the bullet is overdriven at the magnum speeds, and something of stouter construction might be better.

 

[MAX HEADSPEED]

I own a Mod. 66-2 w/6" barrel (c.1982) and would like to know if it's OK to feed it .38 Special, 138gr ammo??

 

[StakeOut]

In any self defense weapon you Must consider the time after the 1st shot to get back on target for the 2nd shot and all fired rounds after that.

If you don't reload your own self defense ammo and need to rely on commercially produced ammo you need to have faith in it and your ability to put the max number of rounds on target in the shortest amount of time.

So pick ammo carefully and then practice with it until you are satisfied you and it can/will do the job if needed.

It's marksmanship,not the gun and ammo.

 

[Hapworth]

I own a Mod. 66-2 w/6" barrel (c.1982) and would like to know if it's OK to feed it .38 Special, 138gr ammo??

Your 66-2 is a .357 Magnum revolver; as such, it can safely fire any .38 Special ammunition irrespective of grain.

 

[nodpete]

I just picked up a 64-5 4" barrel and I'm heading to the range next week to try out the Speer Gold Dot 135 gr. 38+P's. I've also got some Buffalo Bore 158 gr. LSWCHP's that I believe is what this gun is factory sighted for. We'll see.

 

[eb07]

Great write up! Where did you manage to find the 135 GD SB components?

As an aside, have you done any recent work w/ the Rimrock 158LSWC-HP / .358" ?

Sorry I missed this. I bough 1000 of them when they were available. Haven't found any in a while though but I still have about half that left.

 

[bronco45]

A week ago I was pondering the same question as this thread's title. Loaded up some 357s with the following load.

Standard 357 brass, Winchester nickel, standard primer CCI 500, 9.0 grains of Power Pistol and topped off with a Hornady XTP 140 JHP, solid crimp.

Ran this load through a S&W 640Pro 357 2 1/8" bbl. Shot them through the screens at 6 ft. 5 shot avg was 1087fps. Temperature was 48 degrees and elevation was 2720 ft. Very accurate load.

 

[bronco45]

Should add to my previous post that POA/POI was dead on for windage but 3" low at 15 yds. For a SD round I can live with that! I live 15 miles from the Speer factory and their SD handgun ammo is almost impossible to obtain. I like their stuff but it's like Hen's teeth to locate!

 

[stykshooter]

"I've shot quite a bit of the Speer .38 Spl +P 135 GDHP factory load, and my results have generally been the same - inconsistent chrono and accuracy results. Shoots very well in one gun, and completely awful in another - much more so than most factory ammo."

I have heard the same about the short barrel stuff... so, so accuracy. That may be true for some shooters and a particular weapon but they all have their favorites. Some will digest just about anything reasonably well and some are finicky as hell.

I picked up a new S & W model 60-14 the other day and spent the afternoon shooting it yesterday. Ran about 100 rounds through it to break it in and then starting shooting it to see what it would do. I was initially disappointed with it as groups with 125 grain Golden Sabre .357, a personal favorite, 125 grain Gold Dot .357 and 140 grain Barnes .357 all ran 6-8" and a foot or more above P.O.A. at 20 yards. Just about worthless as a defensive carry pistol as far as I am concerned. 158 grain SWC .38's and 148 grain wadcutters hit closer to P.O.A. and grouped real well though. I tried several 158 grain factory .357 loads and all of them were absolutely brutal to shoot out of the little five shot and accuracy was worse than with the lighter bullets. I figured that 110 grain loads may be the ticket for this particular weapon, then I tried some of the Gold Dot 135 grain short barrel .357's. Here is the first group that I shot with it at 20 yards... 2 1/4". I shot up some other ammo playing with it and then shot a second group, to make sure the first wasn't just a fluke. That group was just about as tight and to the same impact point. The down side is that this Smith has expensive tastes when it comes to ammo, but the upside is it really likes to be fed Gold Dots! I stopped on the way home and picked up several more boxes of the stuff and was able to get the same lot number as the ammo I had been shooting. I couldn't be happier to find a good load that shoots tight and to P.O.A. out of a 2" fixed sighted revolver. 20 yards.... about three times the distance I expect to be using this little piece.

 

[bronco45]

Way to wring a gun out Stykshooter. Your comments spoke volumes about revolvers. My J frames love 148 wadcutters and throw 158gr SWCs all over the place, but will shoot the 158 JHPs into a good group, but the 640 Pro loves 140 JHPs. Works for me.

Glad you could find that Gold Dot load in 357 I've hunted high and locally for it, as I like to support the locals, but to no luck! Just bought some online and that's a first we will see how the exchange goes!