158 gr Win 38 Spl LSWHP +P out of a 2.5"

[Wayne Dobbs]

A follow up question. Is the Remington 38 Spl 158 gr Lead HP also Ok for the standard 4" barrel? No point in having separate loads if this adequately meets the performance requirement. Also, for you guys who carry the 158 gr SWC or hollowpoint. What do you use for practice ammo? I don't really like using the LRN, but the 158 gr FMJ I have seen is usually +P.

The Remington load works extremely well from a 4" barrel, which is what the "FBI Load" was originally optimized for. Allan Jones indicated that when they tested the WW version back in the early 1970s, they were pleasantly surprised to see that it worked great from a 4" and did very well from a 2". As he put it years ago, "it's a well balanced load".

As for practice ammo, I either shoot my standard .38 practice load of a 158 cast or swaged SWC over 4.0 grains of 231/HP38 or I shoot the 130 FMJ loads from Remington, Federal or Winchester.

 

[Massad Ayoob]

T-Star, IIRC, the polar bear shooting by the NYPD officer was long ago, definitely 158 grain .38 Special but I'm sure pre-hollow point, might have been a semi-wadcutter, or even the old round nose lead.

 

[Harry58]

Wayne,
Thanks for the info. I usually practice with 130 gr FMJ, but these shoot a few inches different than the 158 gr.

 

[Harry58]

Mas,
Thanks for keeping us straight on the old 38 Spl rounds.