.38 Special snubby, standard ammo or +P

[Michigunner]

My S&W 642 is very light with the aluminum frame.

Now I'm seeing writers like Chuck Hawks literally urging owners to use standard .38 Special ammunition, rather than +P.

I think some folks expect the gun will jump too much, and be hard to keep on target, thereby reducing its effectiveness in an emergency.

I can imagine you would not want to shoot +P all day at the range because of wear and tear on the shooter and the gun.

I'm tempted to practice with standard rounds, and carry +P.  And also shoot a small amount of +P at the range to see what it feels like.

Do you think +P is best for ordinary carry?  Obviously, it's not like the shocking experience of a .357.  I want to follow the herd on this one, and do what is generally accepted.

Bill  

[Seven]

I tend to go with the "practice with standard pressure to get your mechanics down, shoot enough +P to know how it'll handle, carry the hotter ammo for defense" school of thought.  Now, I do this with 9mm these days (in my Steyr S9), not .38, but the principle is the same.  In an emergency situation, you'll have adrenaline pumping through your system and won't even notice the increased recoil.

7

[MountainMan]

Bill your plan is a good one.  I have also read too many +Ps can throw off the timeing(tuning) of an Airweight.  Haven't even shot mine yet so can't tell you what it is like.  I don't at the moment plan on using +P .38s except in my Model 60 stainless.  I'm sure though a few shot here and there would be fine.

I read somewhere that jacket semi-wadcutters where a good defense load.

[capt.koolaid]

Shooting +Ps and +P+ .38 Specials over the years HAS messed up the timing in my Snubbie. Once I found a competant gunsmith ( Tryed Gander mountains smith once, NEVER again!) and got it repaired I switched to Federals Nyclads. They have excellent reports on performance from snubbie barrels and are standard pressure loads. I also liked the performance ive got with winchesters silvertips in 110 grain.

[Michigunner]

Thanks, Capt.

I was looking for the Federal Nyclads, but they seem to be no longer available to the general public.  However, ammoman does seem to have them at $25.00/box.  Just found that.

Instead, I ordered Super-X 110 gr. Silvertips, and some Gold Dot 38 Special 135 gr. made especially for stubbies.

Bill

[pauline]

The barrel says 38 S+W spl +p

they should work with no problem. somewhere I read they would handl a ++p but as I only yse the .38spl I have never checked it out.

for home defence I just use Wadcutters. the blunt end is less likely to go into other rooms, i once liked using the cutter inverted, made a beautiful key hole in targets, no Idea what they would do to a person but it is an ultimate hollow point.

I learned long ago if I need to shoot someone they will be less than 30 feet from me, the police say 21 ft away is the closest, with the gun out.

If i am more that that well my 9 hk does well out to 40+yds.

there is no one gun. as carry conceled is not easy for bulky guns.

P/B