New 38 S&W Ammo Now Here

[DaGOOSExyz]

New Ammo for the 38 S&W

For the older 38 S&W

Letting all know the first of the two new ammo offerings
from Buffalo Bore is here. It is a 125 grain, hard cast flat
nose, decent speed. It is considered a self defense round.
(I know those who shoot larger will scoff but this is the
first new ammo for us in a long while and we roll with what
we can get) The heavier, about 150 grain (I believe), wad cutter should come out soon. It's expensive but available
now if your interested. Goose

 

[10/22]

Here's two more loads for you. They're priced right and they build nice ammo. The .38-200 is not for top breaks.

.38 S&W (Not .38 Special)

 

[12string]

Buffalo Bore S&W 38 does not recommend that it is to be used in the Smith and Wesson Top Breaks

 

[DWalt]

I'd be hesitant about using it in any of the old top breaks. Does BB address that?

 

[DWalt]

BB has a reputation for hotter loads. It might be fine for use with a later swing-out revolver, but I would hesitate before using it in any top break. I still prefer to load my own. It is easy to load the .38 S&W to .38 Special performance levels if you have a revolver, like a Victory or pre-Victory M&P, that is beefy enough to handle it.

Good to see Reed's is still offering .30 Remington brass.

 

[30-30remchester]

That is great news. About the only loads previously available were round nose. This grand old cartridge deserves a little attention. How great would it be to have a soft jacketed hollowpoint load, say a Winchester Silvertip, be offered.

 

[LouisianaMan]

The .38 S&W can easily and safely be loaded to a performance level equal to a standard pressure .38 SPL. For that matter, so can a .38 LC. With the right bullet weight, shape, profile and hardness, any of these would suffice for the overwhelming majority of SD/HD situations. Nobody's claiming that this thing is a cylinder-fed bazooka, or lobbying for its adoption by the FBI.

BTW, almost every soldier wounded or killed by small arms throughout history was hit by a solid bullet. So were cops & criminals until about the 1980's.

 

[bmcgilvray]

I'll take the .38 S&W cartridge over any .380 load ever made, solid bullets or not. I happen to like semi-wadcutters or wadcutters and feel they still have a place in personal self-defense. An assailant could be said to be having a really bad day if fairly struck with with a sharp-shouldered wadcutter and the latest "expando-matic, bullet du jour" won't make up for poor hits.

I "roll my own" .38 S&W but this is welcome news from Buffalo Bore. I'll probably pick some up just to send them some business and because I'm curious about testing them.

Now, if they'd develop some 200 grain loads for the .38 S&W I could be packing 1200 grains of heavy lead in a super compact Banker's Special. Try that in the weaselly .380 automatic pistol.





There ain't no flies on the .41 Long Colt and it's blunt 200 grain lead bullet either. Just because the old cartridge is now redundant doesn't mean it won't serve just as well as many current favorites and whole sight better than some.

Just sayin'.

 

[gordonrick]

It is nice to have some new options; thanks for posting. I like to carry my Terrier from time to time and that would be better than the LRN's currently available.

 

[sigp220.45]

Thanks for posting this. I like the old .38 S&W round, too. I'm glad to see more factory loads for it.

 

[STCM(SW)]

I would use them in my Regulaton Police but not in my Perfected, I use a light hand load of 2.3 gr of TB with a 148 gr HBWC for that one.

 

[LouisianaMan]

I'm sure we all can find it, but here it is: https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=350

Stats: 1030 fps -- S&W Regulation Police 6 inch
977 fps -- S&W Regulation Police 4 inch
926 fps -- S&W Regulation Police 4 inch
874 fps -- S&W 2 inch
125g hardcast LSWC

This 977 number is very similar to the .38 SPL + P in 125g JHP. This load is not a joke. IIRC, the famous Federal Chief's Special Nyclad 125g LHP is advertised at 830 fps.

Take a look at this: https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_images&p=350. The second load due soon will be a hardcast 150g WC @ 850 fps.

 

[rwsmith]

My Dad's old pistol

My Dad's old break open .38 S&W would make a great 'pocket gun'.

 

[LouisianaMan]

But Buffalo Bore specifies not to use this ammo in break-tops except Enfield and Webley break-top service revolvers.

 

[revolvergeek]

I am glad to see these and their new .32 Long loads also. I was kind of hoping that they would offer a FBI style lhp load, but these should do nicely to breath a little life back into a bunch of Terriers and Police Positives.

Myself, I would love something along the lines of a Detective Special or 2" Model 10 in .41 Long Colt with some modern ammo.

 

[HeyJoe]

yes it says not for breaktops

https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=350

"This ammunition is safe to use in ANY solid frame revolver that is in ordinary shooting condition. “Solid frame” means any revolver that is not a top break frame."

 

[HeyJoe]

Here's two more loads for you. They're priced right and they build nice ammo. The .38-200 is not for top breaks.

.38 S&W (Not .38 Special)

forget reeds. i ordered these two rounds twelve months ago and never got anything from them.

I did get some 38-200 from old western scrounger a few weeks ago with only a week wait.

 

[DaGOOSExyz]

I think many of us will enjoy having these new loads for our old
revolvers. I want to say that the site cleary states not for top loaders
and says it on the box also. The Old Western Scrounger is still your best
bet for them.

 

[Texas Star]

Evidently, even Webley and Enfield .38's can't use the new ammo, but Colt and S&W WW II guns can. A real boon. Those with a Model 33 will be glad, too.

I wonder where the lighter bullets at higher velocity will hit, relative to fixed iron sights? That wadcutter load at 850FPS might not be too far off. And I bet it's a pretty good killer on both men and small game.

I don't subscribe to the theory that the .38 Special wadcutter is the right load for a snubnose gun, as some do. But with that added velocity/energy, it could just be what some have wanted. For once, the shorter .38 S&W is as good as or better than many 38 Special loads.

At one time, there was a full speed wadcutter load in 38 Special, and the late gun writer George C. Nonte said it was pretty potent.

 

[olskool]

any man hit square with a 38 dia. bullet at any speed will not scoff, but beg for 911