38 Special Defense-Old School

[GatorFarmer]

I'd take a file and flatten the points on the 200 grain bullets and use those.

 

[Andy Taylor]

Originally posted by 00Buckshot62:
I'd be a spoiler & go w/ the 38/44 158 rnl load

The OP says you have an M&P. I would be very reluctant to fire 38/44 loads in a K frame .38 from that era.

 

[moses]

Some Blanks will scare the heck out of em!!!

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Of the 3 you listed I would pick the WC. If I could add another it would be a 158gr SWC like mentioned above.

 

[RedBerens]

I was wondering how popular Elmer Kieth's 173gr SWC was at the time? I've read about his experiments with it, but I wasn't sure if it was used by much of the public.

 

[Groo01]

Groo here
Keith [hats off please]
noted that the 200gr produced more impact
than the 158gr and the wc target load worked well on small game but was not accurate at longer ranges.

 

[sigp220.45]

I'd go for those big, blunt, slow moving 200 grainers. I wouldn't want the other guys on the fedora squad laughing at me for carrying sissy target loads.

 

[KeithCarter]

The 200 gr. (filed flatpoint). I believe Col. Askins reported in his book "Unrepentant Sinner" he knocked a German soldier flat with one shot, but it didn't kill him.

Keithcarter
NRA Life

 

[Stophel]

Apparently sticking with factory loadings....

Just when were SWC loads generally available? Sure, you could reload with them from way back, but whenever I see old advertisements, ammo boxes, etc. I see: 158gr LRN almost exclusively, with the 148gr WC a distant second....no third.

 

[iijpm]

I remember my uncle may years ago (he was a federal agent) showing me his duty bullet, the 200gr super police in 38 sepc. He shot two bad guys with it and he said it put them down and worked fine.

 

[kmrcstintn]

The wife decided it was time for a new griddle and I decided the old one would make a fun target. It was 1/8" thick metal (it rusted after being shot so it wasn't aluminum). The 38 Special 158 grn round nosed Blazers fired from my 2" Model 60 punched through it like a .22 through a beer can, really peeling back some pretty impressive holes. I have read all the stories about 38's bouncing off windshields and car doors etc. They may be true, but I gained a new found respect for .38 special target loads.

1) from my observations, the 158gr lrn projectiles that are loaded in the aluminum blazer casings seems to be hardened to prevent lead fouling (eg: I can't make more than a shallow mark when I try to scratch them with my fingernail); they are harder than lrn's made by American Eagle, Magtech, Remington, and some batches of Winchester

2) I recently bought 2 boxes of the blazer stuff and the projectiles seem to be seated deeper in the casings (158 lrn's a tad and 125 +p tmj's a considerable amount); me thinks they have less powder and using the tightened space under the projectile to boost pressure to attain their relative velocities

 

[kmrcstintn]

forgot to state my choices

1) loaded in cylinder would be 148gr lead wadcutters

2) speedloaders or speed strips would be 158gr lrns (I can't get target wadcutters to reload quick-n-easy due to the very sharp shoulders on the necks of the casings)

 

[flop-shank]

Originally posted by kmrcstintn:
forgot to state my choices

1) loaded in cylinder would be 148gr lead wadcutters

2) speedloaders or speed strips would be 158gr lrns (I can't get target wadcutters to reload quick-n-easy due to the very sharp shoulders on the necks of the casings)

I would go with semi-wadcutters in the speedloaders/speedstrips, if I wasn't using a second gun for a New York reload.

 

[canoe on the yukon]

They are all three miserable but if my feet were held to the fire,I'd take the 158rnl.Most fixed sight 38's are sighted for it and that can mean a lot.

As far as the great wonders of the wc and swc,a lot of that is overblown.They make a nice clean cut in paper and cardboard which may account for a lot of the exaggerated claims however I've been present in the medical examiner's office during a lot of post shooting examinations and I doubt you could tell the holes apart.

 

[Texas Star]

Then, they loaded full velocity wadcutters as well as the lighter wadcutter load still made. I think I'd go with that.

Or, use a bigger caliber.


T-Star

 

[BreakerDan]

My dad has his old S&W Military and Police 5"
loaded with some old Remington Super Police 200 grainers. We have wanted to see if it would penetrate the skull of a large boar. After catching a 175lb feral hog, he shot it between the eyes and the bullet penetrated. Hog flopped over dead. No real difference over 158 LRN though.

I cant explain it, but he uses either a 44 SPl triple lock or the M&P 38 and has more hogs die
quicker from the 38 than the 44. The 44 is generally loaded with 246 LRN and the .38 with Mexican Aguila 158 LRN. He has had 3 occassions where the hogs were only momentarily nocked out with head shots from the 44 and would wake up about the time you were getting the "dead" hog out.

My 36 Chief's Special made in the 70s shoots them to point of aim for some reason. Velocity from the snub is right under 600 fps.
I get 630 fps from a 4" K38.

I have some cast 200 grainers for reloading from the lyman cast that duplicates the factory load. Loading them up to 675 fps, I took them to the dump and found that they bouce off water heaters, stoves, and a/c window units. If fired straight in, they make a gaping hole but if fired to any angle they just bounce.