Federal’s latest FBI Load for Airweights

[CW3RDL]

I seldom buy or shoot any factory ammo, but I suspect this stuff will vary from batch-to-batch in both velocity and accuracy, like everything else. This ammo's accuracy was poor in my Model 14, better in my Model 15.

My cast SWC and Bullseye or 231 loads are much more accurate but MV is about 100 fps less than the Federal load.

Manufacturers load to pressure limits, not to advertised velocity. Legal liability is a bigger driver of production than meeting advertised velocity. Chronograph any cartridge you bet your life on, especially from compact/subcompact handguns. And it goes without saying, function test the load in the specific gun you carry. Murphy still roams the earth with his list of rules. Rule 1) If something can go wrong, it will go wrong….and at the worst possible moment.

 

[BrBa]

I've chronographed the 135 gr Gold Dot +P factory load on multiple occasions with different barrel lengths, using a Garmin Xero. I have confidence in it, but it does tend to have a fairly large ES & SD in every firearm I've tested it.

This was from the last session:
Marlin 1894 16": 9-shots, 1181 fps, ES 46 fps, SD 20 fps.
S&W 686-5 5": 7-shots, 970 fps, ES 40 fps, SD 16 fps.
Colt King Cobra 3": 6-shots, 940 fps, ES 30 fps, SD 15 fps.
Ruger LCR 1-7/8": 5-shots, 873 fps, ES 31 fps, SD 15 fps

I was able to gain a bit more velocity with handloads using Speer's published data:
Ruger LCR 1-7/8": 915-920 fps using 7.2 gr HS-6 (max. load) and a magnum primer.

 

[Rock185]

Some may remember when loading hollow base wadcutters backwards became a thing for carry in 2" .38 Spcl. revolvers. That is the only .38 Spcl. loading I can recall doing. I don't recall the velocity, but accuracy was terrible in my 2" revolver.

FWIW, I chronographed Underwood 125 and 158 grain .38+P in a 2" revolver. The 125 averaged 1090 FPS, the 158 - 1055 FPS. The 158 was not all that much fun to shoot in the airweight snubby revolver...

 

[rockquarry]

Some may remember when loading hollow base wadcutters backwards became a thing for carry in 2" .38 Spcl. revolvers. That is the only .38 Spcl. loading I can recall doing. I don't recall the velocity, but accuracy was terrible in my 2" revolver.

FWIW, I chronographed Underwood 125 and 158 grain .38+P in a 2" revolver. The 125 averaged 1090 FPS, the 158 - 1055 FPS. The 158 was not all that much fun to shoot in the airweight snubby revolver...

Never tried the backward seated HBWC but remember when this idea was sort of popular in the '70s. I wondered about the accuracy. Yours is the only comment I can recall regarding it.

 

[Goodtime Charlie]

Just about any 158 gr "FBI load" is going to be too slow to expand reliably from a 2" revolver. Perhaps the only one that will expand is made by Buffalo Bore, but shooting those from an airweight is like slamming your hand in a car door.

Buffalo Bore also loads the Barnes 110 gr TAC-XP to around 1100 fps from a 2" revolver. Those expand every time and get adequate penetration. I get the same velocity as those using 7.7 gr HS-6 with a magnum primer. That's still below Hodgon's published max. (7.8 gr) and also below Barnes' published max. (8.2 gr) for that bullet. It also has less recoil than the Speer Gold Dot 135 gr Short Barrel factory load.

I like this guy's videos. He uses actual ballistic gel, not the synthetic stuff:

I like that he uses "actual ballistic gel", but I'd feel more comfortable with his results if he stated the particulars he was using with the gel, as they can affect the performance of the bullets.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1752928X15001109

While ballistic gel does give a medium for comparison, I am skeptical of how it actually relates to real world performance. I'd rather look at actual autopsy results to base my ammunition selection on. Of course, ammunition manufacturers can't do that to promote their latest whizbang ammo, but many currently available loads have been on the market long enough to have some real world results. If anyone has a source for that kind of information, please let me/us know, as it would be extremely valuable.

 

[HKSmith]

The original .357 Magnum bullet was a swaged lead SWC. This was the only load available until about the 1970's. Remington (and maybe others) still offer the swaged lead SWC load in .357 as well as many jacketed bullet choices.

 

[ddixie884]

I recently purchased a couple of boxes of Federal's LE 38 Special +P 158 gr LSWCHP ("38G"). There are many out there nowadays at good prices (less than round nose std velocity…checkout Recoil Gunworks for instance).

The Federal crimp is not too pronounced as Remington's current FBI version…but the Federal bullet moves slightly from its crimp similar to how Remington's version does when shooting out of a S&W 442 Airweight (checking every fifth unfired round…ten cycles (50 rd box) but never subjecting the fifth round in the cylinder more than the four shots proceeding it. I shot each fifth round separately). No chance of enough bullet jump to jam the cylinder…giving me confidence.

The Federal version from over four years ago would come awfully close to jamming things with significant bullet jump. If you look at the outside of the cases of Federal's latest version they have what appears to be compression marks adjacent to where the bullets sits within …can they be compressing the cases to provide more neck tension for the bullets? The crimp is not much different from those I tested four + yrs ago…they must be doing something to keep the bullets from moving as much as they had previously. Federal load has no jump in a 4 inch revolver…probably designed for these larger revolvers instead of Airweight versions. It's my standard load in 4 inch revolvers.

I'm long winded here but I would recommend Federal's latest "FBI" round for snub noses. I guess you could put your own roll crimp into it as I did with my older versions but not really necessary unless you don't want any movement whatsoever in the Airweight.

If in doubt whether a cramp is adequate, I always run them through a cramp die. JMHO – YMMV Dixie.

 

[Goodtime Charlie]

The original .357 Magnum bullet was a swaged lead SWC. This was the only load available until about the 1970's. Remington (and maybe others) still offer the swaged lead SWC load in .357 as well as many jacketed bullet choices.

The problem with those soft, swaged lead bullets in .357 Magnum is that they lead the barrel so badly.

 

[CW3RDL]

Some may remember when loading hollow base wadcutters backwards became a thing for carry in 2" .38 Spcl. revolvers. That is the only .38 Spcl. loading I can recall doing. I don't recall the velocity, but accuracy was terrible in my 2" revolver.

FWIW, I chronographed Underwood 125 and 158 grain .38+P in a 2" revolver. The 125 averaged 1090 FPS, the 158 - 1055 FPS. The 158 was not all that much fun to shoot in the airweight snubby revolver...

No joke. Ouch!!!! Hahaha

 

[STORMINORMAN]

Federal's FORMER 38 Special +P 135gr Micro HST (JHP-WC) was a favorite a ways back... According to various gell tests expansion certainly wasn't a problem.

I was lucky enough to acquire a couple hundred of these projectiles in bulk and have loaded them successfully in 357 Magnum cases as well.

Cheers!