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That is good to know...as that was the load I was looking for....Might work for a 4 inch barrel?...
I have heard that Buffalo Bore makes a good .38 Special "FBI" load...might have to try those out
Andy
 
That is good to know...as that was the load I was looking for....Might work for a 4 inch barrel?...
I have heard that Buffalo Bore makes a good .38 Special "FBI" load...might have to try those out
Andy

Yeah, Buffalo Bore is good stuff, pricey but good. I would say their standard pressure .38 specials feel more like a mass produced +P to me. Which is fine, I don't mind a bit.
 
I have had pretty good luck with Buffalo Bore stuff, and it is a bit on the hot side of things, may not be an issue, but just so you know if you try them out! Accuracy is also quite good, another thing I like to see out of a line up like this! Have't tried them in .38, but have run them in full pop .357 and they are quite stout! :)
 
One more option I thought about. I have tried what some out on the internet consider "mild" factory .357 magnum loads.
The standard by which I measured this was the potent, definitely not mild Federal 125 grain .357 magnum C357B out of my LCR. This round was a bit painful for me to shoot, poor follow-up shots, and not fun.

Then I tried two of the "mild" ones.
Hornady Critical Defense 125 grain, .357 magnum. Was snappy, but not painful like the Federal's, follow-up shots were acceptable. Definitely snappier than .38+P but not as much as the Federals.

Remington Golden Saber 125 grain, .357 magnum. Very similar to the Hornady offering. Falls somewhere in between the full blown Federal rounds and the milder Hornady rounds.

Both shot well for me, a tad high but at the self defense ranges that I might need them at, perfectly acceptable. Between the two, I would choose the Hornadys.

These are just the two "milder" .357 offerings I tried, though I believe there are more. Obviously, if you reload you could accomplish the same thing. Using .357 cases for .38 special specs might also be nice as they don't leave the carbon ring inside the cylinder walls like the .38's do.

Just a couple more cents to add. :s0155::s0155:
 
USAF active 1967-71, reserves 1974-75 -Security Police, now Security Forces. Carried Mdl 15, 38 spcl as primary for 14 mths and second weapon for 34 mths with M-16. Mdl 15 had 158 gr round nose duty ammo. Personally owned Mdl 15 carried when employed by private patrol service in Oakland, Emeryville and Berkeley, CA. Used 125 gr JHP. Never any problems. Carried Mdl 19 railroad police, city PD, State Police/Highway Patrol 11 yrs. Always carried 38+P 125 jhp ammo. Still have the 19. Very nice shooting handgun. No problems.

Other firearms carried - With State Police/Highway Patrol Colt Cmbt Commander 45 acp - 3 yrs, S&W Mdl 686-357 - 7 yrs, S&W Mdl 4006-40 cal - 13 yrs. Current retired concealed carry is Sig Sauer P2022, 9mm with California magazines, sometimes carryin the Cmbt Commander w/8 round mags.
Dude, you worked some mean streets... I tip my hat !
 
One more option I thought about. I have tried what some out on the internet consider "mild" factory .357 magnum loads.
The standard by which I measured this was the potent, definitely not mild Federal 125 grain .357 magnum C357B out of my LCR. This round was a bit painful for me to shoot, poor follow-up shots, and not fun.

Then I tried two of the "mild" ones.
Hornady Critical Defense 125 grain, .357 magnum. Was snappy, but not painful like the Federal's, follow-up shots were acceptable. Definitely snappier than .38+P but not as much as the Federals.

Remington Golden Saber 125 grain, .357 magnum. Very similar to the Hornady offering. Falls somewhere in between the full blown Federal rounds and the milder Hornady rounds.

Both shot well for me, a tad high but at the self defense ranges that I might need them at, perfectly acceptable. Between the two, I would choose the Hornadys.

These are just the two "milder" .357 offerings I tried, though I believe there are more. Obviously, if you reload you could accomplish the same thing. Using .357 cases for .38 special specs might also be nice as they don't leave the carbon ring inside the cylinder walls like the .38's do.

Just a couple more cents to add. :s0155::s0155:
Those are all good offerings. Including the 125gr. bullet loads. The only real bad Brand that I will stay from is SuperVel. I hear they are supposed to be back on the market but I don't think I will try them again. The Old stuff was really BAD and a number of guns were destroyed. The 125gr. .357 Remington Magnum :mad::mad::mad:SuperVel is the Ammunition that damaged and destroyed many Model 19s because SuperVel pushed the pressure beyond the point of Safety. That and a general lack of Quality Control is what killed them. Unfortunately, just not soon enough.
 
SuperVel, hmmmm... It was the yardstick by which all other .38+P and .357 ammo was judged back in the day.... The Model 19/66 was a gussied-up K-frame .38 bored to .357 iirc... Ive fired and owned a few and really like them but they just don't have the meat to take the steady pounding of the .357 cartridge. .38+P they will take, and the rule is "Practice with .38 ammo and sight it in with your duty .357 ammo for carry"... Obviously the 19/66's won't take the pounding of heavy loads like the N-frame M27 and M28 do. For myself, the K-frame is good to carry, the N-frame is better to shoot...:)
Some departments to my knowledge issued .38+P to be fired in the issued .357-chambered duty revolvers. +P .38 spl is a pussycat in a .357 revolver. YMMV :D
 
The idea was good, the application just wasn't done properly. I've Fired thousands of rounds of 125gr. .357 ammunition through Model 19s and never had a Problem. I've also examined several boxes of the early SuperVel and found powder charge weights that were Scary to say the least. I'm just glad I was able to inspect the stuff before being asked to shoot any of it.:);):)
 
SuperVel, hmmmm... It was the yardstick by which all other .38+P and .357 ammo was judged back in the day.... The Model 19/66 was a gussied-up K-frame .38 bored to .357 iirc... Ive fired and owned a few and really like them but they just don't have the meat to take the steady pounding of the .357 cartridge. .38+P they will take, and the rule is "Practice with .38 ammo and sight it in with your duty .357 ammo for carry"... Obviously the 19/66's won't take the pounding of heavy loads like the N-frame M27 and M28 do. For myself, the K-frame is good to carry, the N-frame is better to shoot...:)
Some departments to my knowledge issued .38+P to be fired in the issued .357-chambered duty revolvers. +P .38 spl is a pussycat in a .357 revolver. YMMV :D
The death knell for the K-frame duty gun was when departments started requiring full-power duty rounds be fired during practice and while qualifying.. none a that "cheating" stuff.
 
The death knell for the K-frame duty gun was when departments started requiring full-power duty rounds be fired during practice and while qualifying.. none a that "cheating" stuff.

Glocks killed revolvers, once they came out with a semi auto that was easy to run revolvers were obsolete. It's funny those departments that required full power magnum loads in revolvers never required full power ammo in the auto loaders. I believe the full power in revolvers had more than one purpose and wearing out guns to get new ones was probably a big part of full loads.
 
Glocks killed revolvers, once they came out with a semi auto that was easy to run revolvers were obsolete. It's funny those departments that required full power magnum loads in revolvers never required full power ammo in the auto loaders. I believe the full power in revolvers had more than one purpose and wearing out guns to get new ones was probably a big part of full loads.
I said K-frames.
 

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