Why I Dumped My .38 $pecial.

[ralph7]

There is some competitive priced Blazer .38 ammo posted in this thread. Check with your range before you buy as the places I frequent won't allow me to shoot aluminum cased ammo.

 

[SWFan27]

I am looking at Remington's website and they now have both the Reminton UMC 125 grain semi jacketed hollow point 357 Mag and 38 Special +P in stock and ready to ship. Their 357 Mag has been in stock again for months now, but the 38 Special +P thankfully showed up again today as being available. The 38+P is $37.99 a box of 50 rounds and a box of 100 for $76.99. Soon enough you may find it even cheaper from online sellers.

 

[LVSteve]

Bingo, it's an investment, just like stocks.

It's like people complaining they don't have any money, but then they aren't willing to invest in order to make money!

It's the chicken and the egg.

I swear some people just complain about everything. They say ammo is too expensive so you tell them to reload. Then they say equipment is too expensive. Then you say cheap equipment is available, then they say "well you can't find primers."

Ughhhhhhh.

...and watch out for the flame fest if you suggest that they cut back their shooting to save money.

 

[smoothshooter]

One advantage of .38 revolvers is that when you get a new one you don’t have to put a couple of hundred rounds of expensive ammo thru it to check reliability.
With a revolver, you can fire two or three cylinders-full of ammo thru it and if it works okay, you are good to go.

 

[smoothshooter]

The Black Helicopter Crowd & Preppers are hoarding the Para Military ammo. The ammo companies can make big bucks and not have to change tooling for lesser sales volume cartridges. Pair this with the No Inventory type business plan and you got shortages. Little companies are springing up if it’s profitable they will make it- for higher price.
I’m 72, shot up a storm for several years, RVn Vet and I know guys in their 20s that have burnt up more Ammo already than I did my entire life. Getting ammo to them is like getting a bucket of balls at a driving range.

I suspect that the ammo companies are having a heck of a time with new-hires, getting them to stick around long enough to be trained and develop competence at the job.

 

[smoothshooter]

I suggested a "minimal" setup. I doubt they are outrageously expensive. Most basic tools will make ammo just as good as higher priced equipment, it's just a slower process. When learning handloading, slow is better anyway.

With reloading, money buys you speed, not quality.

 

[rockquarry]

.38 Special and .45 ACP with cast bullets were the standby chamberings for serious handgun shooters for decades. They still are for me but apparently not for today's shooting / handloading majority. 9mm must have taken over.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

With reloading, money buys you speed, not quality.

This is why I'm still.loading my handgun ammo on a Lee Classic 4 Hole Turret Press. It works plenty fast for me. I can load between 180 to 200 rounds/hour safely and correctly.

 

[LVSteve]

.38 Special and .45 ACP with cast bullets were the standby chamberings for serious handgun shooters for decades. They still are for me but apparently not for today's shooting / handloading majority. 9mm must have taken over.

On that I have no doubt.

 

[Dave Lively]

One advantage of .38 revolvers is that when you get a new one you don’t have to put a couple of hundred rounds of expensive ammo thru it to check reliability.
With a revolver, you can fire two or three cylinders-full of ammo thru it and if it works okay, you are good to go.

Particularly true for boutique ammo. I have never heard of anyone having to put stronger recoil springs or make other modifications to a revolver the way many 10mm shooters have to make to get the hot Underwood/BuffaloBore ammo to cycle reliably through their semi-auto pistols.

 

[Old cop]

I went to a gunshow this past weekend and no .380 anywhere & ammo prices were over the roof. Went home w/o buying a thing.

 

[jeeps]

I went to a gunshow this past weekend and no .380 anywhere & ammo prices were over the roof. Went home w/o buying a thing.

Gun shows are a rip-off anymore, buyer beware the sharks are circling.

 

[Browns fan]

When I bought my first revolver in 2020 due to all the craziness going on, I was shocked to find out how thin the available supply of guns and ammo was at the time. Thankfully my LGS had a new S&W Model 66-8, four inch barrel 357 Mag/38 Special in stock. It cost more than I had planned to spend but worth every penny.

I have since bought thousands of rounds mostly online and normally look for great deals. 357 Mag and 38 Special ammo has become much more available recently and prices are dropping. I kind of paid the high price tax early on for getting into the game so late. I have a couple 357 Mag S&W's now.

i shot some of my Klinton 94 .38& .357s about a week ago flawless

 

[ggibson511960]

.38 Spl became an enthusiast's cartridge 40 years ago when high capacity plastic wonder-nines began to appear. In my neck of the woods, with little NRA Bullseye competition, target .38 Spl factory ammo was a rarity, and is to this day. So be it. I'm puzzled these days when I see young folks at the range dumping high capacity semi's at man sized silhouettes 7 yards away into watermelon sized groups. To each his own. I prefer the pleasure of .38 Spl HBWC's from a Model 14 that is far more accurate than my shaky hand.

 

[rockquarry]

.38 Spl became an enthusiast's cartridge 40 years ago when high capacity plastic wonder-nines began to appear. In my neck of the woods, with little NRA Bullseye competition, target .38 Spl factory ammo was a rarity, and is to this day. So be it. I'm puzzled these days when I see young folks at the range dumping high capacity semi's at man sized silhouettes 7 yards away into watermelon sized groups. To each his own. I prefer the pleasure of .38 Spl HBWC's from a Model 14 that is far more accurate than my shaky hand.

Accuracy seems to be very secondary these days for many shooters, if they have an interest in it at all.

 

[38SPL HV]

Handload…even with the cost of components, it’s still cheaper and best yet much more rewarding. Otherwise, get yourself a Glock 19 and be happy!

 

[kaaskop49]

.38 Spl became an enthusiast's cartridge 40 years ago when high capacity plastic wonder-nines began to appear. In my neck of the woods, with little NRA Bullseye competition, target .38 Spl factory ammo was a rarity, and is to this day. So be it. I'm puzzled these days when I see young folks at the range dumping high capacity semi's at man sized silhouettes 7 yards away into watermelon sized groups. To each his own. I prefer the pleasure of .38 Spl HBWC's from a Model 14 that is far more accurate than my shaky hand.

...or 3 rapid double-taps on 3 silos at real-life ranges from an 'obsolete/obsolescent' 4" K-frame. With a 2nd 4" K-frame as a 'back.' Range officer once told me, "Point, don't use the sights." With my results!?

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

 

[K-22]

Cheap?

sgammo.com

50 Round Box - 38 Special Lead SWC 158 Grain Prvi Partizan Ammo PPH38SS50 Round Box - 38 Special Lead SWC 158 Grain Prvi Partizan Ammo PPH38SS50 Round Box - 38 Special Lead SWC 158 Grain Prvi Partizan Ammo PPH38SS

$24.95

Its out there cheap, you just have to look.

.50 CPR is cheap?
Not in my world.
Best,
Gary

 

[GypsmJim]

Reloading only option cheap with hard cast bullets.

That's the answer for ANY caliber.

I load ALL handgun rounds for basically the same price, and rifle rounds are only pennies more.

Reloading isn't just a good idea, but its a heckofalot of fun. Casing booolits is even more fun.

 

[BillBro]

In times past the phrase "things will settle down" or "prices will return to normal" may have applied but in current times I jist dont see how anyone can really believe either of those or a myriad of other hopeful, wishful notions like those. The normals that you are remembering is gone my friends, gone. Never to return. Our situation has never been this evil, this purposeful, this deliberate. Not speaking solely about our chose passion but everything, its all caving in on not just us but the world and is being directed. Now, speaking just about our sport specifically is totally different. Its hated and despised by so many of these supposed leaders today it is given special attention by all.
No folks, I just have a gut feeling that this one is different from all the other "shortages" from before, its bigger than jist us and our wants, its everything and our is just being a special victim.
Sorry to be the doom-sayer but I just cant shake the feeling this time and really dont see any hope on the horizon, there are just too many greedy, corrupt and plain wicked people on the televisions anymore. I can't name a single person on the political scene who makes me feel that there is a chance for change, and if there was one we all saw what happens to those types of people didnt we? They get crushed for daring to try to make things better for the people.
Sorry but the soapbox has failed, the ballotbox has failed and few have hands steady enough or hearts hard enough to open the last box available.