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In wanting to get the most out of my SD pistols I have embarked on reloading the best performer in 3 different pistols, Taurus Mod. 605 .357 2 1/4", Taurus Mod. 85 .38 +P 2", and an Armscor .38 spcl. 4".
In the factory rounds the mod 605 and Armscor both like the Rem .38 125 gr. JHP +P round. I loaded up some .38s from the Sierra data book ( 5th edition) using Sierra 140 gr. JHP with 6.2 gr. of unique and both guns loved it. However the Mod 85 seemed to be picky and didn't like any of it too well. So a load of 5.8 gr of unique along with the 140 gr. JHP was great. As was the same bullet with 6.0 gr of unique. Question is --- are my loads considered +P or standard .38 spcl. loads ???
Here is what I have been able to find:
According to data (all on the internet) standard .38 spcl. has a muzzle velocity of 700-850 fps. That is for data published post 1972. Supposibly in 1972 munitions manfactuers reduced loads across the board. Same data mentions that the SAAMI standard were also adjusted in 1972 to reflect said chance.
In 1972 the .38 +P load was introduced. It was known as the FBI load. This pushed a 158 gr bullet out of a service revolver (both 2" and 4") at 1000+ fps. Interesting is the fact that it is said that standard loads prior to 1972 for the .38 spcl. were also in that range. I cannot find a SAMMI spec from that period to confirm.
This post is getting quite long. So I will do another to list what I have in 4 different manuals for ballistic data.
In the factory rounds the mod 605 and Armscor both like the Rem .38 125 gr. JHP +P round. I loaded up some .38s from the Sierra data book ( 5th edition) using Sierra 140 gr. JHP with 6.2 gr. of unique and both guns loved it. However the Mod 85 seemed to be picky and didn't like any of it too well. So a load of 5.8 gr of unique along with the 140 gr. JHP was great. As was the same bullet with 6.0 gr of unique. Question is --- are my loads considered +P or standard .38 spcl. loads ???
Here is what I have been able to find:
According to data (all on the internet) standard .38 spcl. has a muzzle velocity of 700-850 fps. That is for data published post 1972. Supposibly in 1972 munitions manfactuers reduced loads across the board. Same data mentions that the SAAMI standard were also adjusted in 1972 to reflect said chance.
In 1972 the .38 +P load was introduced. It was known as the FBI load. This pushed a 158 gr bullet out of a service revolver (both 2" and 4") at 1000+ fps. Interesting is the fact that it is said that standard loads prior to 1972 for the .38 spcl. were also in that range. I cannot find a SAMMI spec from that period to confirm.
This post is getting quite long. So I will do another to list what I have in 4 different manuals for ballistic data.