Ammo for the Little Revolver

[David in MN]

No secret I love the S&W J frame revolver. But I've had an ammo change recently. I have, for about 10 years, been using Speer short barrel 135 grain .38+P ammo.

https://www.speer.com/ammunition/handgun/gold_dot_short_barrel_personal_protection/19-23921GD.html

Then I get Federal's new .38+P HST from a neighbor.

https://www.federalpremium.com/handgun/premium-personal-defense/personal-defense-hst-micro/11-P38HST1S.html

This thing doesn't even look like ammo. The entire bullet is housed in the shell casing. Granted the hollow point is doing its best to emulate an ash tray and I get their design was optimizing little revolvers for preventing over-penetration but this is space age stuff. I'm going to have to test it but it got good praise on online reviews. So maybe a shift in ammo?

I'd be curious to know what makes sense to all of you who like small wheelguns.

[Stwood]

Interesting design

[Bradbn4]

that sort of looks like the nagant pistol ammo.

7.62×38mmR


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagant_M1895

[Redman]

No problem to me. Most pistol and rifle cartridges have empty space when loaded. Did you even shake one and listen carefully. I think ammo casings were originally designed around black powder which likely took up a lot more room and nothing changed with the advent of smokeless powder. Stuff the bullet down in a smokeless cartridge, save weight on the cartridge and lessen materials used in the gun. Sounds good to me.

[David in MN]

It worked... No issue in the gun. Oddly the one problem is that without a traditional bullet shape it was a little slower to load. My only complaint.

Yes, I know .38 is a marginal round originally a black powder thing so it doesn't have the pressure allowances of newer rounds. That said I just like revolvers so I try to keep up with new ammo options.

Based on reviews and some gel testing I watched (and that it runs in my gun) I might be switching.