Help chooseing .38 defensive ammo

[Taczac]

Hi everyone, 1st post here... I currently keep a 4in S&W 686 loaded up with .357 Federal 158gr hydra shocks for house duty. The wife finds the recoil too hard for her so I am looking for an alternative either in a .38 special +p or mid range .357 mag. Low flash, and not crazy loud would be great. Most of the reading I have found on these calibers is about carry ammo in snubs. I'm looking for current production best/proven options in a full sized house gun. Thanks in advance!

[Opoponax]

It's tempting to want to employ the most powerful round one can handle, but the fact is that a non +p .38 round is going to do the job you want it to do, assuming you aren't assailed by ninjas wearing body armor. And since that's highly unlikely, what I'd suggest is that you try out a few different types of .38 ammo and see what she likes best.

What's often overlooked, at least as far as I'm concerned, is confidence in the ability to make the shot you want to make. If your wife finds a round she likes, then that's the round she should use. Forget about feet per second, pounds per square inch, expansion at X feet, etc. Hit someone in the chest a couple of times with a .38 round doing 800 and they're gonna go down like a sack of potatoes.

The ballistics charts say all kinds of things. What matters is what she can use effectively, and she can only find that out by testing different ammo.

Best of luck.

[Exodus343]

Lucky gunner has a blog that's always being updated on defense ammo ballistics and penetration

[Barbarosa]

I reload so I can't help much with store-bought brands, but my wife tends to prefer standard pressure .38 special loads (not +P) with a 158 grain lead semi-wadcutter. Winchester Super X makes just such a round. Loads for lead tend to be a bit slower that jacketed rounds so recoil is less.

Opoponax hit the nail on the head; a hit with a .22 is better than a miss with a .357.

[hambam105]

Low flash .357 Magnum Ammunition is like saying I want Ford F250 4x4 dually long bed that gets good gas mileage.

All of your NATO ammo is low flash. LE type ammo should have less flash than the civilian loads. But finding LE low flash ammo is a little tricky, just keep track of your Lot Numbers and have a few friends around during the testing process so you don't fool yourself. Trade secret has to what kind and what amount of powder is in their LE ammo.

When some says different they are speculating, misinformed, or giving away Trade Secrets.

[champu]

What I would do is go through the .38 special table here and pick a few different rounds that look like they expanded consistently, buy and have her shoot a box of each, and then subjectively pick a favorite.

/edited to add: note when you're looking through the table: they shoot each round in a snub nosed and a 4 inch and the results are interleaved, so for your 686 make sure you're looking at the 4" rows.

[Khromo]

The Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel loads use a very fast burning powder to minimize muzzle flash and muzzle blast. Shooting that ammo in a 4" barrel should present no problem, just lower flash and noise.

This load uses a 135 grain bullet at .38+P pressure, which should be a reasonable compromise for your wife.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/2719493508/speer-gold-dot-short-barrel-ammunition-38-special-p-135-grain-jacketed-hollow-point

Funny story. Back in the days when I had a job, I carried a 2 1/2" Model 66 for a while, because it was very accurate and easy to carry, and loaded it with full-house .357 Magnum ammo, because it was free and I was young and stupid.

One night I had occasion to search a house, when the owner's dog, which we didn't know about, decided to attack me. Fortunately, one shot resolved the issue, because firing a .357 indoors, at night, is one of the most painful experiences I've ever had, and that list is long. Shooting that gun with that load on the range was no picnic, but shooting it indoors, in the dark, was near debilitating. I never wanted to do that again, so I migrated to a .45 because I had no confidence that I could operate the .357 effectively indoors, in low light, after the first shot. I nearly puked!

I would take your wife's concern very seriously, and keep lowering the pressure levels until she gets fully comfortable and capable of delivering aimed hits.

[Fotodog]

Taczac,
I also own a beautiful Model 686 357 Mag, and earlier this year tested about 10 of the most popular rounds such as Speer, Hornady, Remington, Underwood. I was looking for a self defense round with lower flash and recoil, and one round stood out from all the rest: Buffalo Barnes.

I practice at an indoor range with subdued light in the shooting bay, and a couple of their low flash/low recoil rounds were significantly better for those priorities. It's an expensive round, and can be hard to find sometimes, so I don't practice with it on a regular basis, but it's what I keep loaded for SD. Here's the one I like the best:

https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=276

I also tested their 38 low flash rounds and really liked them. I do think you are better off deciding if you want to shoot 38 or 357 Mag and sticking to that caliber. Some people, including me, have had difficulty feeding 357 rounds after shooting 38 rounds in the same session without cleaning. The 38 rounds, being shorter, can leave residue in the chambers which builds up and makes feeding the longer 357 rounds tighter. I'm sure others might shoot both rounds in the same session with no problems, but this is my experience.

[M1NM]

If you handload use some wadcutters loaded backwards. They mushroom great and you can load them fairly light.

[Milsurp Collector]

Low flash, and not crazy loud would be great.

Keep something like these ready next to the gun:

http://www.opticsplanet.com/howard-leight-electronic-impact-pro-hearing-protection-earmuff-nrr-30.html

They amplify soft sounds and instantly shut off the amplifier when a shot is fired. So they enhance your hearing when checking things out and protect your hearing if shots are fired. Even if you miss, the bad guy will be stunned by the noise of your shot but you won't be. The electronic earmuffs give you an advantage. You can also use them at the range.

I keep electronic earmuffs on my nightstand.

[AFTII]

[SoCal Bob]

What type of grips are you using? If wood, you might try some rubber grips like the Hogue monogrip or the Pachmayr diamond pro. The monogrips really soak up the recoil on a GP100.

[Bad Caselaw]

135 grain .38 Special +P Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel.




Caselaw

[Taczac]

Thanks for all the info! I appreciate the replies. I might check out the Speer 135 .38s- I know NYPD carries that in their snubs. I do also reload- I primarily shoot 158gr swc from rim rock. I'm going to order some of their 158gr swchp and push them a little faster than my target load and see how they do.

[Milsurp Collector]

I do also reload- I primarily shoot 158gr swc from rim rock. I'm going to order some of their 158gr swchp and push them a little faster than my target load and see how they do.

Since you mentioned low flash BE-86 powder http://www.alliantpowder.com/products/powder/be-86.aspx has a flash suppressant.