Amazingly the range I went to recently had 38 Special, but only in boxes of 20 and a defensive round. One per customer, so I bought a box. It appears to be a regular pressure round. Any experience with this round. It sold for slightly over $21 or so.

It’s a lighter bullet than I prefer in a .38, but if it shoots well for you, the Silvertip has a good track record of getting excellent expansion, if not always the best penetration.

PerfectTommy wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 12:07 pm It’s a lighter bullet than I prefer in a .38, but if it shoots well for you, the Silvertip has a good track record of getting excellent expansion, if not always the best penetration.

I have not tested it out yet. Next time I go to the range I’ll see if they have more and test five rounds.

I've shot it. It goes bang, should be good to go in any .38 Special-rated firearm in good, serviceable condition. Expensive, though, per round.

CowboyT wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 12:49 pm I've shot it. It goes bang, should be good to go in any .38 Special-rated firearm in good, serviceable condition. Expensive, though, per round.

Great. Thanks. Yes, not cheap, but it was available.

$1/rd, give or take, really isn’t that bad for premium .38 defensive ammo; I’d wager that box would normally have been priced in the $18 area.

This stuff? I think Paul Harrell has a review as well, but this one came up first.

https://youtu.be/warDADOL5fw

I had a discussion with my wife about defensive ammo. I guess it started from me saying that seemed to be the only stuff available for 38 Special. I explained about the penetration, the hollow points and expansion and the additional cost. Let’s just say she was skeptical. Her response was essentially all ammo is deadly.

Which is true, all things being relative. Getting shot with ball ammo is not something I’d want to wager my survival on. As the hunters like to say, “Shot placement is everything.”

Bisbee wrote: Thu Apr 08, 2021 11:50 am Which is true, all things being relative. Getting shot with ball ammo is not something I’d want to wager my survival on. As the hunters like to say, “Shot placement is everything.”

She astutely recognizes that any bullet is better than no bullet and sometimes the extra is just extra expense. As she pointed out, it’s all marketing. Sure the finer points of defensive ammo is numerically correct.

Looking at Lucky Gunner, they don't have .38 Special Silvertips. But! They did test Hornady Critical Defense +P 110g measured at 945 fps out of a 2" K6s. That's about as close a match as I think you can get, given the numbers on the back of your box. In clear gel they got expansion to .48" and penetration to 13.1" on average. That's pretty shabby by .44 Magnum standards, but if I carried, I'd carry that without hesitation.

Now, clear gel isn't ballistic grade. Expansion is typically similar but penetration ratings are probably optimistic. Assuming you're not shooting bears or sumo wrestlers, I think you're all right. OTOH, Federal's HST - which looks like a wadcutter in .38 special - gets nearly the same 13" of penetration with .73" expansion at 824 fps. Or if you prefer penetration, Winchester's 148 grain Super-X wadcutters will get you to 15.8" - and 158 grains can get you over 18" without expansion.

For pistols it’s always:
1. Penetration
2. Shot placement
3. Everything else

Because we’re taught to shoot center mass, any pistol round should have enough energy to defeat the ribcage without getting deflected. Even .22 LR has enough power to punch through a rib bone head on, but if it hits the edge or at an angle, the trajectory may be affected. A long time ago I read postings by a coroner about effects of different pistol rounds. Back then the common 115 grain 9mm ball were often deflected by bone, shifting its path away from vital organs. Heavier calibers like .45 and .40 didn’t have this problem, they trucked along and smashed through. Bullets with more energy like .357 magnum also penetrate straight. I guess you can think of deflection as a negative effect on shot placement.

With marginal rounds like .380 ACP, .38 special, and 9mm my preference is always +P, then more weight. 9mm +P and .38 Spl +P are good enough for self defense regardless of bullet design. As a matter of fact 9mm went from “unacceptable” to “FBI standard” due to +P.

Having said this, any hit in vital organs by a common pistol bullet is basically fatal. Lower energy bullets simply lowers the probability of them reaching said organs.