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Colt SAA:
The Remington 158 grain Magnums were in the yellow and green box and the 158 grain Federal Magnums were in the silver and blue box. Neither one was promo or bargain ammo.
When I did the Chronographing I did so for my own interest and had no intention of posting results on this or any other Forum at that time. I was just out at the Range testing Buffalo Bore .38 Special +P's against the 158 grain .357 Magnum ammo I had on hand. The shortest barrel I had available that was capable of firing Magnums was a 2.5" M66 and so that is what I used. Again I was not initially setting out to prove anything and so I was not all that "scientific" about it. This was an informal test that I repeated a few weeks later just for verification to myself.
By the way...... months later I also Chronographed Buffalo Bore .357 Magnums out of the same gun and they were quite a bit faster (grain weight to grain weight). I never saved any paperwork, but IIRC out of the 2.5" M66 the 158 grain BB Mag. did just under 1400 fps and out of my 3" M65 over 1400. I also tested their 180 grain Mag. Hard Cast load and that chonographed at well over 1300 fps from the 3" M65. While these are impressive velocities I only carry the 180 grain in my M65 when hiking through Bear Country. The 158 JHP BB I don't even carry. They are both very very stout out of a 3" K Frame - to say the least and I would also be afraid of over penetration on two legged animals.
Had I set out to do a Magazine article or purposely tested to do a post here I would have been more methodical or actually video'd the entire test, but again that was not my intention. I only wanted to pass on what I have found for some who might be thinking of using Magnum loads in a 2" CCW gun. That's it.
Just to re-address the recoil statement I made, all I can tell you is that I can fire the BB 158 grain 38 Special HEAVY +P LSWCHP-GC many times with no problem in the 2.5" M66 where as when the Magnum loads were fired they had much more recoil, muzzle blast, muzzle flash and noise levels. Bullet weights were the same, however the bullet types are different. BB 38's are Lead whereas the magnums were SJHP. The Magnum cases are about 1/8" longer and the powders and burn rates are different. I also recall that lead bullets have better lubricity while copper bullets create greater resistance and friction requiring more powder to push them at the same speed as an identical weight lead bullet = greater recoil.
Anyway, that's how it turned out for me.
Chief38
The Remington 158 grain Magnums were in the yellow and green box and the 158 grain Federal Magnums were in the silver and blue box. Neither one was promo or bargain ammo.
When I did the Chronographing I did so for my own interest and had no intention of posting results on this or any other Forum at that time. I was just out at the Range testing Buffalo Bore .38 Special +P's against the 158 grain .357 Magnum ammo I had on hand. The shortest barrel I had available that was capable of firing Magnums was a 2.5" M66 and so that is what I used. Again I was not initially setting out to prove anything and so I was not all that "scientific" about it. This was an informal test that I repeated a few weeks later just for verification to myself.
By the way...... months later I also Chronographed Buffalo Bore .357 Magnums out of the same gun and they were quite a bit faster (grain weight to grain weight). I never saved any paperwork, but IIRC out of the 2.5" M66 the 158 grain BB Mag. did just under 1400 fps and out of my 3" M65 over 1400. I also tested their 180 grain Mag. Hard Cast load and that chonographed at well over 1300 fps from the 3" M65. While these are impressive velocities I only carry the 180 grain in my M65 when hiking through Bear Country. The 158 JHP BB I don't even carry. They are both very very stout out of a 3" K Frame - to say the least and I would also be afraid of over penetration on two legged animals.
Had I set out to do a Magazine article or purposely tested to do a post here I would have been more methodical or actually video'd the entire test, but again that was not my intention. I only wanted to pass on what I have found for some who might be thinking of using Magnum loads in a 2" CCW gun. That's it.
Just to re-address the recoil statement I made, all I can tell you is that I can fire the BB 158 grain 38 Special HEAVY +P LSWCHP-GC many times with no problem in the 2.5" M66 where as when the Magnum loads were fired they had much more recoil, muzzle blast, muzzle flash and noise levels. Bullet weights were the same, however the bullet types are different. BB 38's are Lead whereas the magnums were SJHP. The Magnum cases are about 1/8" longer and the powders and burn rates are different. I also recall that lead bullets have better lubricity while copper bullets create greater resistance and friction requiring more powder to push them at the same speed as an identical weight lead bullet = greater recoil.
Anyway, that's how it turned out for me.
Chief38
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