Atomic .38 Spcl. +p

[Boge]

After reading a review on another forum I bought some of this and am VERY impressed. Phenomenally accurate. I put five into 1" at 15 yds. slow fire offhand out of a DAO J Frame w/ stock sights. It's a modern version of the old reversed 148 gr. wadcutter load with a twist: they jacked up the velocity so the bullets don't tumble, i.e., they are stabilized. It's hot, but not as hot as a Buffalo Bore +p and felt to me hands exactly like the Rem. 158 gr. LHP +p. The HP cavity looks like a soup bowl and I had no bullet jump whatsoever. These appear put together very well with new Starline brass. The lead seems to be very soft as well. They claim 875 fps in a snubby and I for one believe them.

At it's worst it will be like a full wadcutter and at it's best......well look at their advertising photo:

Atomic Ammunition - Precision Crafted Match Grade Ammunition

Either way, I paid a little over $35 per 50 which is a helluva lot cheaper than Buffalo Bore. I can't get over just how accurate this shot in my gun. It's like a modern version of some of the old Cirillo Stakeout Squad loads.

 

[TACC1]

Thanks for the link. Customer satisfaction rules!
TACC1

 

[moxie]

Sold out!

I'll have to stick with my 125+P Golden Sabers and 135+P Gold Dots.

 

[hotrod150]

I might have to buysome Speer HBWC's and give this a try. 4.5 gr of W231 oughta come close, probably 850 fps or so. Other mfr's make this bullet but I really like the dry lube coating that Speer puts on their swaged bullets.

 

[Cal44]

cheaper than dirt has these Atomic's in stock as of now.

 

[Nevada Ed]

That is a sweet looking load, even though the bullet might have been via a water bath to get that picture but the main thing is that they stated......................

12 inches !!

In any ones book, that's a keeper !!

Just sort of makes you sit back and wonder, what is best.........
A 148 with a big huge open face area or a 158 swchp (Std.) bullet at 850 plus fps out of a snub nose ?
We all know that not ALL Factory loaded 158's get 850fps out of a snub nose...............

Thanks for the post.

 

[hotrod150]

I like the soft SWC-HP (FBI) load, but looking at the bullet profile I can see where in spite of the full-caliber sharp shoulder the conical nose might make it "slip in" like a round-nose instead of "punch in" like a full wadcutter. So I'm torn between using it, or a hard-cast full wadcutter, for self-defense. This Atomic "lead wadcutter" load might be the perfect compromise of design features, but that huge cavity (hollowbase facing forward) might be a little too much of a good thing. A lead full wadcutter with a cup nose or smaller hollowpoint should give better penetration but unfortunately less expansion. I think penetration and expansion are inversely related to each other, kind of like Ohm's Law of volts and amps- as one goes up, the other goes down. All in all, though, this Atomic load looks like a good one.

 

[JayFramer]

Man those sure look interesting. I wonder if the expansion they show is from a 4" barrel? Even if that was from a 4" bbl I wouldn't complain. With less expansion usually comes greater penetration, and 14-15 inches of penetration with less expansion would be fine in my book. There are some voluminous individuals out there these days. Too bad they're sold out, I was planning on buying a couple boxes. All in all this looks like a good carry load if the advertising is truthfull.

Oh yeah, this is my first "real" post here!

 

[ATOMIC AMMO]

True Specs

The specs are true and it is for sale at Cheaper Than Dirt.

Those pictures were taken of bullet recovered from Perma-Gel ballistic with 4 layers of cotton denim draped over the front of the block and fired from a snub nosed revolver. They are AWESOME!

 

[pete950]

What was the penatration in th perma gel?
are there any pictures of the strech cavity?

 

[hotrod150]

I ordered up some Speer HBWC's the other day. I plan to load some light plinking loads, and also to try my own version of Atomic's "lead hollow point". I think the trick will be to get enough velocity to stabilize the bullet and eliminate any tumbling, but yet not so much that the bullet will come apart on impact. Even too much expansion wouldn't be a good thing due to the resultant lack of penetration. (remember my earlier volts vs amps example?). I'm not too worried about a lack of expansion due to the soft lead construction and huge cavity, and there should be plenty of penetration due to the relatively heavy bullet weight as long as the bullet holds together & doesn't over-expand. Therefore a moderate velocity might be better than a barn-burner.

 

[Boge]

...but yet not so much that the bullet will come apart on impact...

The LAST thing I would be worried about with a SOFT lead bullet would be it breaking apart. Hard & brittle yes, soft no.

 

[hotrod150]

I agree, to a point. There's been plenty of instancs of hunting bullets (rifle) coming apart- of course, the velocity is much higher than the 800-900 fps we're talking about. The juggling expansion vs penetration via velocity thing still goes though.