Got a line on some 50rd. boxes of 135gr Speer Gold Dot .38 Special

[Ramikrav]

Thought I'd drop by and share.

Speer Gold Dot LE Duty 38 Special Short Barrel Ammo 135 +P Grain

$24.99 a box of 50!

The shipping was retarded high (IMHO), but I made up for it by ordering a few boxes of Federal Tac 12 gauge No. 1 buck for around 4 bucks a box, and it didn't affect the over all shipping charge.

Made it worth it.

Hope ya'll can benefit!

Least I could do after all the help everyone here gave me deciding what to use in my snub.

I'll be sticking with the Speer load for now, I simply cannot afford the cost of the boutique buffalo bore loads, and with the issues surrounding Remington these days (looking further into it, they had a monumental failure of management recently up to and including a pistol -forget the name, but a 9mm single stack of some sort- totally crashing and burning, AND a total change in said management, so, based on these facts and what other members here had to say about it; I'm just not too sure about the HTP "FBI load".
Looking forward to seeing gel tests of it tho.

I'll be reserving the Hornady Critical Duty 110+p for those days when my hands are beat up or some other reason I'm "down" and for if/when the Mrs wants to "borrow" my snubbie, because its lower recoil and maybe half way decent at least.

But from now on I'll be loading the 135gr +p GS in my snub.

Again- thank you all for all your help!!!

 

[chief38]

Thanks for posting. Target Sports has been consistently and fairly priced and has a very good system of e-mailing you that a back-ordered item has arrived and is back in stock.


By the way, the spec's Target Sports list for the Speer GD 135 Grain SB +P ammo is incorrect! They state a MV of 1200 fps which is way off base! The ACTUAL MV (actually chronographed) out of my 2" M60-7 Chief's Special is about 860 fps and so the ME will also drop to 222 foot pounds. [ More than likely, they mistakenly entered the specifications for .357 magnum GD's ].

This particular .38 Special Speer GD is one of my favorite SD rounds (as is the Buffalo Bore 158 grain HEAVY +P) but I just wanted to correct the error for people unfamiliar with the REAL spec's.

Chief38

 

[scooter123]

I'm not surprized, there is so much hyping of velocities for both ammunition and smokeless powders that I don't even look at the numbers any more. The good news here is that Speer does make an excellent bullet and recent tests with some of my home brew loads using this bullet show that the Point of Impact is a near match for the 125 grain plated hardball I normally reload with. Now I'll just have to wait for Midway to get more of these bullets in stock.

 

[Arik]

For a box of 50 that's a great price. It's a few dollars difference from a regular fmj range ammo (depending on manufacturer)

Here is what SGAMMO has about it
Specifications:
Part Number: 53921
Bullet Style: GDHP-SB
Caliber: 38 Special +P
Test Barrel Length in Inches: 2-V
Bullet Weight (Grains/Grams): 135 / 8.75

Ballistic Coefficient: 0.141

Velocity in Feet Per Second
Muzzle: 860
25: 838
50: 818
75: 798
100: 780

Energy in Foot Pounds
Muzzle: 222
25: 211
50: 200
75: 191
100: 182

Average Range *
25:
50: -2.2
75: -7.6
100: -16.4

 

[Hapworth]

There goes my secret fishing hole.

Yeah, Target Sports USA has tons of the .38 Short Barrel LE 50 packs and the prices are excellent. I think they have a good relationship with Speer, as they often have Gold Dots of various calibers in stock when others don't.

 

[Nevada Ed]

My J snub does well with the 135gr but hits about 3/4" low at
7 o'clock.

As a note;
One test on the net had a box of 135 GD ammo off by as much as 3 grains in the box.
The tester stated that if the load weighed in at 209 grs or less he used it for target work.

The extra weight could be bullet or powder but why shoot "light" weight ammo in a SD case.
Just a heads up.

 

[Arik]

Here's a video of said ammo with gel results

https://youtu.be/k890Rio2oBY

 

[Wishoot]

Always had good luck with Targetsports USA.

 

[S&Wrevolverfan]

Ramikrav, a while back you were talking about the Remington .38+P HTP and I did end up buying a few boxes. I don't have anyway to chrono it, but it all shot fine and was accurate and reliable enough, at least with the batch I have.

Do you know anything else about the Remington HTP or the management issue you talked about ? I would be interested as you are if someone could do some real tests with the HTP.

I guess you've decided against the HTP totally for now.

BTW, I do have a few hundred rounds of the Speer Gold Dot 135 grain .38+p as well and it's great ammunition.

Thanks for the info.

 

[moxie]

That is the best deal I've seen on that ammo. With shipping it is roughly comparable to others like ammunitiondepot.com. At least to here in Texas. Connecticut is a long way off.

I actually slightly prefer the Rem. GS 125+P in my guns. A bit more accurate and a bit less recoil. I've only had perfect specimens so far. But for sure these are the top two rounds available and the difference is negligible.

 

[Arik]

I ordered this 2 boxes of this ammo yesterday afternoon. It has already been delivered to my door! Fast shipping!!! At least I can understand what my $12 shipping paid for.

 

[Ramikrav]

My order arrived too.

Very fast shipping.

sorry to blow anyone's secret sources, lol.

Ramikrav, a while back you were talking about the Remington .38+P HTP and I did end up buying a few boxes. I don't have anyway to chrono it, but it all shot fine and was accurate and reliable enough, at least with the batch I have.

Do you know anything else about the Remington HTP or the management issue you talked about ? I would be interested as you are if someone could do some real tests with the HTP.

I guess you've decided against the HTP totally for now.

BTW, I do have a few hundred rounds of the Speer Gold Dot 135 grain .38+p as well and it's great ammunition.

Thanks for the info.

In just surfing the web, I came across the disastrous release of a single stack 9mm pistol, the R51.

Now, I don't have an R51 or know anyone that does, but just out of curiosity I looked it up further and found numerous links to stories about the rough roll out of it.

Alot of very dissatisfied customers out there.

then there was a shake up in management.

I do not know how it all correlates or even if it does, what I do know is that alot of much more knowledgeable people then myself are questioning Remington's new HTP rendition of the FBI load.

With the other issues within the company I feel it prudent to reserve judgement on the HTP load until I see some decent tests of it.

What I do know is that both the Remington FBI load and the Speer short barrel gold dot has (or perhaps, had, in the case of Remington's FBI load) knowledgeable professionals with actual experience recommendations for the snubnose revolver.

When it comes down to it, thats the gold standard for self defense, IMHO. Jello shooting is useful for a point of reference, but when it comes down to it, real life experience is knowledge that cannot be ignored or substituted.

I'd like to believe the HTP is the same thing as the Express line was, but theres too much doubt surrounding both Remington (it looks like they HAVE BEEN cutting a few corners for $$$) and the load itself.

It would be sad to see the only version of the FBI load made by a big company and thats suitable for snubs go buh bye.

It would be nice if the load was still the same as the Express line, especially at the price you can find it at.

And here is where gel tests shine- in verifying that the load still performs the same way it always had from a snub with a properly conducted test.

Someone, anyone, PLEASE, test this load!!!

 

[S&Wrevolverfan]

Thanks Ramikrav, I didn't know about the new pistol problems or the then management change.

Like yourself and others I'll use the Gold Dot in my J-Frames. I do have the HTP loaded in a couple of my 4" K-Frames though and I think it should work be effective enough in them.

Thanks again and hopefully we'll see some tests on the HTP someday.

 

[nyeti]

Thanks for the info. This is my go to snub round and the fifty round boxes are tough to find. Also got some of the .357 for my Nframes as well as some of the Federal 158 stuff to try out. Being local retailers are getting almost $40 a box for the 20 round boxes of short barrel gold dot, I didn't even blink at the shipping.

 

[Ramikrav]

$40 a box of 20!!!

Thats outrageous.

I did notice that there were some other websites listing the 20 round boxes for the same 25 bucks that these 50 round boxes are going for.

The 20 round boxes are just.... stupid.

ammo should come in 50 round boxes, period.

 

[CoMF]

The 20 round boxes are just.... stupid.

ammo should come in 50 round boxes, period.

^ This. I always try to get the 50 ct. LE boxes when possible. They're a far better value.

It's a pity the .357 Magnum short barrel version only comes in 20 count boxes, though. Seems like just about the only Magnum load I'd carry in a snub based on the internal ballistics, with just enough extra "oomph" to ensure expansion from a 2-1/8" barrel.

 

[chief38]

For a while Speer Gold dot ammo was really hard to get at any price. I guess they have been burning the midnight oil at Speer and they cranked out some serious amounts of the stuff! Good for us regarding availability, price and performance - way to go Speer & Target Sports!

 

[Kframerbluvr]

I got two boxes from them on the recommendation of a forum member back in the summer. Shoots to POA in my 442-2. Shoots low in my older Smiths and Colt DS that are regulated for 158 grain bullets. I still have a small stash of 158 grain LHP +P duty loads from my early career to feed these guys...

 

[flintsghost]

If you buy a case, shipping is free.

 

[ddixie884]

Sorry I missed it.