What .38 Special Ammo?

[Hunter8282]

I have a new to me 686-3 4" on it's way. It will be my first revolver and I want to get some .38 Special ammo to use while I familiarize myself to the gun. There seems to be a great variety in choices and I am bit confused. The one store I stopped at had American Eagle 130gr FMJ and 158gr LRN.

So what would you recommend for a new revolver shooter to get going. I'll likely be shooting at an indoor range to start.

 

[walkin' trails]

II would recommend 148 grain wadcutters to begin with. They're not a high velocity load, and were designed as a target load for punching holes in paper. Theyre short and stubby thus hard to work with speed loaders, but are pretty good for training a nee shooter in the basics. After mastering the fundamentals, you can move up to semiwadcutters, which are more versatile.

First I would put some time into dry firing that 686 until I could press the trigger on DA and drop the hammer w/o disturbing the front sight. Then go to the range and practice ball and dummy drills. That's where you load two side by side, skip a hole and load s third. Spin and close the cylinder and engage your target. When the hammer falls on an empty chamber, you can tell if you flinched or held a good sight picture. This shows that you are mastering the trigger. Then, without ejecting the three spent cases, load three more in the empty charge holes and continue. Repeat this drill till you finish the 50-round box.

Welcome to the club and enjoy your 686. You might also look for a professional instructor in your area, as internet instructions sometimes fall a little short. Right now,funding 38 ammo might be a little hard . Consider shipping on the net and ordering what you want in bulk. If not, either of the rounds you mentioned would work fir training ammo b

 

[ispcapt]

148 gr wadcutters are soft shooting. However, they usually cost a bit more than the loads you mentioned and not every place carry wadcutters. In this case cheaper is better. The more you can afford to shoot the more trigger time you'll put in which is a good thing.
Of the loads you mentioned the 130 gr is a soft shooter altho the 158 gr isn't bad either. Either the 158 or the 130 will work fine. You'll just be putting holes in paper and both will do that with no problems.
Since you'll be in an indoor range might check with them first to see if they have restrictions on the type of bullet. If they don't allow all lead then go with the 130. If they don't allow FMJ then go with the 158.

 

[Harley Fan]

Hunter, congratulations on your 686 acquisition. I could have written your post about four months ago, as I had just bought a 686-2 4" at that time. As has been said, most ranges will have plenty of 130 gr. available.

In parallel to learning to shoot, I've been learning to re-load as well. I've developed a 125 gr. .38 mild range load using a plated SWC I can use in both my 686 and a Model 10 Snubby. I have no idea if you would do so, but it's easy to save your brass, as it's not sailing past your left ear and onto the floor (or ground)

II would recommend 148 grain wadcutters to begin with. They're not a high velocity load, and were designed as a target load for punching holes in paper. Theyre short and stubby thus hard to work with speed loaders, but are pretty good for training a nee shooter in the basics. After mastering the fundamentals, you can move up to semiwadcutters, which are more versatile.

First I would put some time into dry firing that 686 until I could press the trigger on DA and drop the hammer w/o disturbing the front sight. Then go to the range and practice ball and dummy drills. That's where you load two side by side, skip a hole and load s third. Spin and close the cylinder and engage your target. When the hammer falls on an empty chamber, you can tell if you flinched or held a good sight picture. This shows that you are mastering the trigger. Then, without ejecting the three spent cases, load three more in the empty charge holes and continue. Repeat this drill till you finish the 50-round box.

Welcome to the club and enjoy your 686. You might also look for a professional instructor in your area, as internet instructions sometimes fall a little short. Right now,funding 38 ammo might be a little hard . Consider shipping on the net and ordering what you want in bulk. If not, either of the rounds you mentioned would work fir training ammo b

Walkin'- this is most informative, and I've read it carefully, as I'm a beginner, too. Thanks for posting this up!

 

[kaaskop49]

attn Hunter 8282

Hey Hunter! You say this is your 1st revolver. Make sure to pay extra attention to the chambers of your 686 when cleaning. The 686 has the .357 Magnum-length chambers and .38 ammunition will leave fouling residue at the front of each chamber. Make sure to clean this out thoroughly after each range session with .38s so you can cleanly use .357 ammunition further down the road.

 

[Realgunner]

Quick answer: For practice and breaking-in the gun, use the cheapest factory 38 Special ammo that you can find. Stay away from reloads; you don't know what you're getting. Yes, 148 gr factory target wadcutters are great, but hard to find these days. I've been shooting for 40 years, retired law enforcement, firearms instructor, competition shooter, etc. Safe shooting!

 

[S&W Fan]

Big fan of the 130gr fmj for just having fun at the range, lately haven't had any issues finding it, my range seems to load up on the Federal white box runs about $21/box of 50. That's what I usually run through my 686, then some magnums at the end of the range session.

 

[shooter1911]

I don't think I've seen a box of wad cutters on the shelf in the last ten years.

 

[rwsmith]

Avoid...

Avoid +p ammo at first. It just costs more and is not that much more powerful.

And like has been said, if you don't clean the crud rings out of the charge holes when you try .357s they will not go in easily.

Funny that they have LRN but no WCs. The LRN are probably cheaper than the FMJs and loaded to a lower velocity.


Just get a 'normal' load .38 round. I'll say that being shot out of the 686 you will not feel much recoil at all. My wife is sensitive to blast and recoil but she loves shooting the 686 w/ .38 ammo.

Welcome to the 686 club! Love that gun.

 

[insider]

Just get the .357 Magnum loads and jump in with both feet! Starting off with .38's will only cause you to flinch in anticipation when you switch to the high power loads.

 

[old&slow]

The indoor ranges around here do not allow lead. Jacketed stuff only . I've used some 130 gr. FMJ 38's ( don't remember the brand ) and they seemed to be very mild. Good practice loads.

If you are new to the shooting game. Start off with mild 38 special loads and very good ear protection. DO NOT start off with full blown magnums rounds ! That's the Best way I know of to learn, to flinch , yank the heck out of the trigger , not be able to hit a bull in the butt, and not train a new shooter.

 

[hatchdog]

As others have stated, check with your local range to see if they allow the use of lead bullets. My local indoor does not allow lead bullets because of the possibility of lead contamination in the air we are breathing. I use the Federal American Eagle 38 130 metal case which is a standard velocity/pressure load. I find them to be more available at the LGS's and priced reasonable.

 

[Hunter8282]

Thanks everyone! I should have mentioned that this is not my first pistol, just my first revolver. I've been shooting semi's and long guns for since I was a kid. Just not that familiar with .38 or .357 loads.

 

[Hunter8282]

Stopped at the local Gander Mtn this afternoon and they had lots of .38 ammo. Picked up a box of American Eagle 130gr FMJ and a box of Remington UMC 130gr MC. They were less than $2 apart so I figured I would just try one of each. Now just waiting for my 686 to get here!

 

[Nevada Ed]

That 357 magnum will shoot anything you put into it .........

The 38 special will be a little cheaper but at these times I would shot ANY ammo that you can find....
mostly if the price is right, be it 38 or 357.

I over cleaned mine when it was new..........
It will do just fine with 3-4 trips to the range without being cleaned but nothing wrong after every outing if you do not get carried away with the polishing compounds to get it like new.

You will need to know what all the ammo and bullets types shoot like over the long haul so why limit your buying?

Shoot it all.............

 

[Nightowl]

Stopped at the local Gander Mtn this afternoon and they had lots of .38 ammo. Picked up a box of American Eagle 130gr FMJ and a box of Remington UMC 130gr MC. They were less than $2 apart so I figured I would just try one of each. Now just waiting for my 686 to get here!

I have shot thousands of 130 grain .38 Special ammo through my 627. From my experience the Remington and Winchester bullets leave a very hard to clean ring at the end of the case. The Federal American Eagle does not and is very easy to clean up what it does leave. I now only use the American Eagle 130s. And I'm about out! Back to reloading bench!