38 Special +P Carry Ammo: Where Did All Of It Go?

[mr.revolverguy]

Chronograph and Gel Test Results. Where is all of the 38 Special +P ammo. This pandemic is making me change carry ammunition in the middle of winter at that. I like to stay with one ammunition but often fire my carry ammo between 4 to 6 months of carry and reload with fresh. This practice now has me in a predicament, where I am now having to change due to the great ammo shortage of the "PANDEMIC"



Which of these would you carry? What's King in Self Defense Penetration or Expansion?

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[Nosferatu]

.38 Special and .357 Magnum Self-Defense Ammo Ballistics Test - LuckyGunner.com Labs

We conducted ballistics gelatin tests for 38 self-defense revolver loads in 38 Special and 357 Magnum. Here are the full results along with photos and video

www.luckygunner.com

 

[DirectDrive]

View attachment 1088115

Chronograph and Gel Test Results. Where is all of the 38 Special +P ammo. This pandemic is making me change carry ammunition in the middle of winter at that. I like to stay with one ammunition but often fire my carry ammo between 4 to 6 months of carry and reload with fresh. This practice now has me in a predicament, where I am now having to change due to the great ammo shortage of the "PANDEMIC"

View attachment 1088116

Which of these would you carry? What's King in Self Defense Penetration or Expansion?

It seemed like .357, 38SPL, 44Mag and 44SPL was simply out of production for quite some time during the height of COVID.
Hornady Critical Defense standard velocity 38SPL and 44SPL has just recently been showing up on some shelves out here.

 

[TTSX]

At least you don't shoot .357 Sig

 

[mr.revolverguy]

oh my 357sig oh my, might as well start throwing rocks. I have not seen any of that in what two years?

 

[oremike]

I've been making it all a long, well as long as I can get the componates. I made a batch of 38 Special +P loaded with the Hornady 125gr XTP's and a batch of 357 Mags loaded with the 158gr XTP's just last week for a customer.

 

[Knobgoblin]

Question for you sir.

That federal " punch " is new to me. I assume it's been in production for a while, and I just missed it. Being a fan of hydra shoks, I would probably continue to buy them over the punch ammo if both were available.

What say you? Was "punch" a first choice? Or just the only choice in this instance?

 

[mr.revolverguy]

It was what was available in 38+P. Having said that the punch is supposedly made of softer lead like the hydra shok making it easier to open up yet gaining adequate penetration. If Hydra Shok were available to me I would not have even looked at the punch. Though I was shocked it did as well as it did.

 

[Longwalkhome]

I don't think there is anything new inside 38 special ammo, just rediscovered. Top rated 38 ammo for years was soft lead 158 grain hollow points +P. As semi autos took over most 38s faded away. As an old man that has been shooting for decades I remember the changes and why they came about. +P ammo needed +P guns and folks were shooting +P in small guns not designed for +P.

A lot of changes in bullet weight to get recoil down and still have velocity.

 

[bcp]

Ammunition factories are running 25/8/370. Shops aren't getting any because the distributors don't have it, so it can't be hoarders and new gun owners buying it all.

I wonder if it is going to the same place missing socks go to. Or the thing you put down, but now you can't find it, and you haven't moved.

Bruce

 

[Jay Walk]

Remington 125 gr is in production, see

LuckyGunner, ammo dot com, LAX, Palmetto, SGammo and many others.

 

[Member 34319]

It's probably the same situation as 380. Limited runs. Add shortages of materials…

Why eat up machine time making rounds less popular than others? Why waste materials making rounds less people want?

9mm likely gets prioritized over other calibers. Same for popular rifle rounds over less popular rifle rounds.

357 likely gets more machine time and material allowances over 38 these days.

 

[Longwalkhome]

Before the crunch revolvers were a dying breed, just finding jacket 357 bullets to load was becoming difficult.

 

[bionic knees]

I shoot .327 federal, I have found some on gunbroker but by the time you buy it, pay the credit card fee, and shipping you are getting near $75 a box, I won't pay that much. I can also shoot .32 H&R mag, .32 long, and .32 short but that stuff is nearly nonexistent.

 

[Longwalkhome]

If imported ammo is allowed then that's the first sign ammo is on its way back. American companies didn't make big runs on seldom used calibers and if you wanted ammo it was imported stuff that was easier to find.