Snubbie Ammo
Any 38spl ammo recommendations for a 2" Smith pre-36? Thanks in advance.
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http://www.winchester.com/Products/handgun-ammunition/super-x/silvertip-hollow-point/Pages/default.aspx
Rob, years ago I had to carry conceal in a less than a safe environment. .44spcl and .38spcl snubbies, and I had a lot of free time on my hands to reload and do some bullet testing. HBWC loaded backwards are an excellent all around close range load.
Silvertips are pure lead, in a aluminum jacket, with a serrated edge hollow cavity. Maximum expansion at close range from a short barrel, that's the only thing they're made for.
Shot some hog carcasses and they went in, but didn't come out. The only way I can describe the internal organs, are liquefied. Any human target, torso hit within 30ft is going to be DRT, or wish they were.
Accuracy sux in comparison to other rounds, but you can put all five or six into a paper plate at 30ft.0 -
If your a hand loader, I have a good load that shoots 2" at 15yds in every snubbie I've ever tried it in.
W.D.0 -
EDIT: Well, Charliemeyer may be on to something; the first US Air Marshals used .38 revolvers loaded with wadcutters.0 -
Its a good question.
You're implicitly raising the issue of using +P ammo in your non +P-rated gun.
I've looked into this before and finding a good NON "+P" defensive load in .38 special can be tricky. It think the Winchester 110 grain silvertip is one of the only common ones out there.
Personally speaking, I'll only load my smith .38s (including the older non +P rated models 36) with +P ammo for "serious" use.
The Smith snubbies are fairly tough, and frankly the difference in performance between +P ammo and ordinary ammo is pretty minimal. In some cases, the +P rated ammo doesn't shoot any faster than the non +P, with the main difference just being a better quality projectile with the +P labelled round. People talk about wearing out snubbies with +P rounds, but I've never actually seen nor heard of a case where this has happened with factory +P ammo in a steel Smith gun.
So again, personally speaking, I have zero worries that carrying +P ammo for emergency use, or *occasionally* shooting it to rotate my stock is going to hurt my guns. I have shot a few boxes of the stuff through various older guns and never noticed any issues or problems.
As to which specific load, if you go dig up the ballistic data (and I've done it), I think you'll find that most of the ammo from the major manufacturers is fairly similar in terms of pushing similar weight bullets at roughly similar velocities.
In other words, between the top loads from Federal, Remington, Winchester, etc, there probably isn't all that much of a real world difference, and for this reason, I think worrying about which one is "best" is mostly wasted energy.
So I'm not that picky. I've carried Federal, Corbon, Winchester, and Speer at one point or another, and I'm comfortable that so long as I'm using a +P round in 125 or 158 grain weight and do what I need to do, any of them are "good enough". For what its worth, I have Winchester in one of my guns right now and Federal in another.
If you want a particular recommendation, the Speer 135 grain stuff was designed specifically for snubnose guns, and I think you could definitely do worse.
It probably is possible to get better performance if you go to one of the "super premium" loads from Buffalo Bore, Corbon, Double-tap, etc. Apart from cost, the biggest problem with the higher end loads from those companies are probably getting up there in pressure, and I wouldn't want to fire too many of them from an older gun.
On the Remington "multiball", personally, I'd avoid that.
Especially with a relatively low powered round like a .38 special from a snubnose, penetration is the most important ballistic characteristic you want in a defensive round. The way to do that with a low velocity round is to use a heavy bullet weight.
So while the idea of having more than one projectile seems good, I think in practice the lighter bullet weight means you sacrifice penetration, and instead of your 70 grain balls being twice as good as one 158 grain one, they end up being less good.0 -
Winchester 110gr SilverTips seem a good starting choice. Info and recommendations much appreciated. Thanks to all. 0 -
A good 125gr. HP is a good load for non +P in snubbies. 0 -
I can tell you whats in my model 60. 148 gr hollow base wadcutter seated backwards on top of 3 gr. of bullseye. Almost 100% energy transfer in a gallon milk jug at 10 yards. The winners write the history books. 0 -
A++++quote:Originally posted by charliemeyer007
I can tell you whats in my model 60. 148 gr hollow base wadcutter seated backwards on top of 3 gr. of bullseye. Almost 100% energy transfer in a gallon milk jug at 10 yards. The winners write the history books.0 -
If you don't wish to handload, the prior post vis-a-vis reverse wadcutters can be purchased fully loaded. (See below.)
If'n you run across a box of Federal Nyclads (don't know if still made), you will have a 125gr totally soft/pure lead hollowpoint going to the target. I think* it leaves a snubbie barrel at ~900fps or slightly greater.
It's the nylon coating that enables the pure lead to function, and it's not in the +P pressure range (standard pressure). Designers of the round had snubbies in mind when they did the workup. Best, Joe
*needs confirmation0
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