A parallel in hunting big animals...
I think there may be a parallel in hunting big animals. The majority of the professional hunters/guides in South Africa advocate "big and slow is the way to go" and the time I went over there, my P.H. told be to use the toughest constructed bullets available for penetration. The thread Erich gave us here is full of information which makes me rethink even the police department's recommendation of the Gold Dots and the Golden Sabers. But I have read enough reports of ball ammo going around and not doing much damage. The old FBI/Police load of a 158 gr. lead semi-wadcutter in a .38 or .357 is still probably a good load, and should hold a straighter course than ball ammo or lead round nose bullets. The problem of feeding reliability in a pistol may mandate a round nose design. Leaves one in a quandary as to what to load.
One other thing to share. I do have an old I-Frame 2" S&W in .38 S&W, not the .38 Special. The Brits decided in WWII that a 200 gr. bullet in that would work almost as well as there .455 and between that and Veral Smith's writings, I was able to get some cast lead 200 gr. .360 diameter semi-wadcutter bullets to load. I think the velocity is about 650 fps, but in the informal testing I was able to do, they do penetrate. I never felt I was at risk carrying this small revolver, and will need to go back to it. There are companies which will sell a solid wadcutter, often expressed as DBWC for double based wadcutter. The advantage of these, over the hollow base is that they can be loaded stiffer. A large flat leading edge and straight body helps insure straight line penetration. Similar to the type of solids hunters have used on elephants and buffalo for years.
