Various 38 Spl 2" barrel chrono results

[strat1080]

I recently purchased a S&W 442 with 1 7/8" barrel and was curious about the velocity it could generate with various ammo. Being new to the snubby revolver world I was dying of curiosity to found out just how much power this little snub could generate.

I was surprised how hot the WWB 125+p JHP stuff was. It really hurt my hand the first time I ever shot it at a target.

All fired at 15 feet from muzzle from S&W 442

WWB 130 gr FMJ-

I did two different strings of shots on this.

3 shots
Average-767
Hi- 783
Lo- 753

4 shots
Average- 772
Hi- 788
Lo- 760

WWB 125 gr JHP +p

Average- 883
Hi- 891
Lo- 875

Hornady 110 CD (non +p)

Average- 887
Hi- 915
Lo- 865

 

[murphydog]

Thanks for the info on the Winchester 125 gr ammo, always wondered what velocity it would get out of a 2" barrel.

 

[jpwhel]

Thanks for the post, I have both of these WWB ammos that I shoot from a 642, good to know what the fps velocity is.

 

[photoman]

I remember seeing some results from the "Jello Junkies" camp on that WWB 125gr JHP+P and it did very well for "cheap" ammo.

Thanks for the info on the Hornady ammo. That's a load I've been interested in lately for my Airweights.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Thanks for posting the info...

 

[TACC1]

Thanks for sharing/posting. Always good to know what real-world performance is. TACC1

 

[Ptarmigan]

Hornady 110 CD (non +p)

Average- 887
Hi- 915
Lo- 865

Curious how many rounds of the Critical Defense you chronyed to get this 887 average. I only ask because of the rather large (for the usually consistent Hornady) 50fps variation between the high and low velocities.

It is particularly useful to see rounds truly chronographed from the actual snub-nosed type barrels most people intend to use it for. The only other measured velocities for this particular Hornady non+P Critical Defense came from the late Stephen Camp, who IIRC clocked it at an average 856fps from his Centennial.

It annoys me to no end that companies such as Hornady and Federal make self defense ammo specifically for the folks that want to use it in lightweight snub nosed guns, yet either tout the velocities they themselves have measured from either a longer barreled handgun or will not disclose what length of barrel was used at all. Even in small snippets, data like yours are very helpful to CCW users everywhere because it helps to make an educated decision on what's practical. Thanks for posting.

 

[125JHP]

Thanks for doing those tests, my hand doesn't hurt so much now... That is a good start for doing ammo comparison. Keep your data and add to it as you shoot more of them at the range.

Just a FYI tip for future use, Chrono results of only 5 shots are good for ballpark curiosity, 10 shots will give you a pretty good good idea of fps out of a particular gun and at least 20 shots are needed to give you a repeatable velocity range you can expect and use for comparisons. More is better. That gets time consuming and expensive with factory ammo, so I usually use the 5 shots for initial testing of loads then 10 and keep adding to them as I go (from each specific gun-don't mix data) to collect 20~50 for analysis.

 

[Hapworth]

Indeed, thank for this post. I'm pleasantly surprised at the numbers the Hornady posts...

 

[phubai8]

Thanks much for the data. I have been trying different loads in my model 38s but do not have a cronograph. Very helpful info.

 

[strat1080]

Curious how many rounds of the Critical Defense you chronyed to get this 887 average. I only ask because of the rather large (for the usually consistent Hornady) 50fps variation between the high and low velocities.

It is particularly useful to see rounds truly chronographed from the actual snub-nosed type barrels most people intend to use it for. The only other measured velocities for this particular Hornady non+P Critical Defense came from the late Stephen Camp, who IIRC clocked it at an average 856fps from his Centennial.

It annoys me to no end that companies such as Hornady and Federal make self defense ammo specifically for the folks that want to use it in lightweight snub nosed guns, yet either tout the velocities they themselves have measured from either a longer barreled handgun or will not disclose what length of barrel was used at all. Even in small snippets, data like yours are very helpful to CCW users everywhere because it helps to make an educated decision on what's practical. Thanks for posting.

It was a 5 round shot string for the Hornady. I remember seeing DocGKR who does ballistics gel testing on another forum post tests in which the 110 CD chronoed at 865 fps and 875 fps from different lots.

Just goes to show. Different guns and different lots of ammo are going to produce different results.

 

[strat1080]

Thanks for doing those tests, my hand doesn't hurt so much now... That is a good start for doing ammo comparison. Keep your data and add to it as you shoot more of them at the range.

Just a FYI tip for future use, Chrono results of only 5 shots are good for ballpark curiosity, 10 shots will give you a pretty good good idea of fps out of a particular gun and at least 20 shots are needed to give you a repeatable velocity range you can expect and use for comparisons. More is better. That gets time consuming and expensive with factory ammo, so I usually use the 5 shots for initial testing of loads then 10 and keep adding to them as I go (from each specific gun-don't mix data) to collect 20~50 for analysis.

Definitely. I just ran out of time. I was doing some shooting up at about 11,000 ft in the National Forest here at Colorado and got some early thunderstorms. My primary reason for going up there that day was to chrono some 30-06 hand loads.

I think a 5 shot string is pretty good but 10 shots definitely can give you a more accurate figure because the ES and SD will open up a little more.

I actually tried to chrono 5 shots from the 130 FMJ and 125 JHP +p but I missed the target window on a couple shots. I'm still adapting to shooting this snubby accurately. Surprisingly my wife shoots it really well. I'm used to full sized autos.

 

[strat1080]

I thought I would add that whenever I do chrono tests I usually shoot some 22 LR ammo before hand just to make sure that the lighting conditions aren't producing different results. 22 LR doesn't vary too much so if the velocity seems off there is probably a lighting problem. I shot some 36 gr Federal bulk back 22 ammo and got 1235 fps which is right around what you would expect. That 770 fps is also what I've seen most people get from the WWB 130 gr FMJ stuff.

 

[Ptarmigan]

I was doing some shooting up at about 11,000 ft in the National Forest here at Colorado

Now I'm gonna have to subtract about 25fps to your velocity measurements to account for that thin air.

 

[125JHP]

I'd have to take an oxygen tank to shoot at that altitude...
I also start out with 22, its a good baseline indicator if your setup is working as expected.

 

[vipermd]

Thank You for the Info, makes me want to go out and chrono my 638 with CCI gold dot 135 gr short bbl. Be Safe,

 

[LOBO]

Thanks for sharing the info!