38 vs 38 special

Oct 25, 2020 02:53 am

380 ACP. The 9mm is more powerful, and semi-auto handguns have more rounds in the mag compared to revolvers, so it’s better than the .38 Special — no contest, end of the debate. The .38 Long Colt, a standard military issue revolver cartridge adopted by the US Army back in 1892, was being used in the Philippine American War.

Yet, in today’s market, there are some exceptionally reliable pistols available. Consequently, after shooting his LCRx and giving him my thoughts on his new acquisition, I got all excited and decided to revisit the topic of .38 Special vs. 9mm, a subject of countless debates in many online gun forums. You can’t hide the fact that both the 9mm and .38 Special cartridges have similarities.

This isn’t to say that looking at ballistics charts is pointless — if the only available ammo from my LGS are full metal jackets for both calibers, assuming I could only buy a box of either, I would probably pick the .38 Special because it wouldn’t over-penetrate like the 9mm due to its lower velocity. The problem is that black powder isn’t a very effective propellant. Yep, next to none. It was first used in the semi-automatic Colt Model 1908 pocket hammerless pistol. 9mm, was originally designed by Georg Luger in 1901, two years after the .38 Special came out, to be a rimless semi-auto handgun cartridge loaded with more powerful smokeless powder. We will not go too deep as to why smokeless powder is the better bullet propellant. We’ll even go as far as trying to announce the best of the two – or at least our personal favorite. The restriction of military grade cartridges like the .45 ACP in some regions of the worlds significantly enhances the popularity of the .38 Super. The problem was that they weren’t so effective against the enemy at that time. The .38 Special is one of the most common calibers used in revolvers. Like many of these, the chambers are bored straight through.

The .380 ACP and the .38 Special are popular pistol cartridges commonly used for self-defense purposes. Even when you load up the 9mm with the lightest weight possible, you still get past the 12 inch FBI penetration requirements, if you use controlled expansion type bullets. Because it was going to be used in not-yet-as-popular semi-auto pistol designs (e.g. With modern up-to-date defense ammunition these two rounds are very comparable, but with ballistics analysis one has to give a slight advantage to the venerable old 38 Special. So if you consider the ballistics values when both rounds are holding the same amount of weight, it’s not surprising that you’re going to see some higher values for the 9mm. Why did George Luger choose smokeless powder? For comparison, standard pressure .38 Special loads have a SAAMI specification of 17,000 psi while higher pressure .38 Special +P loads top out at a SAAMI pressure rating of 18,500 psi, an 8.8% increase in pressure leading to better ballistics. It’s a potent enough round for self-defense, and we would rather opt for a .357 Magnum round if a revolver was on the cards. Please tell me why :not just yes or no . Experts attribute this preference to the legalization of concealed carry in addition to the inexpensive and compact pistols that use the .380 ACP. However, it does keep up with the 9mm to a reasonable extent.

For example, the Smith & Wesson 642 .38 is a great choice for concealed carry. frangible, controlled fracturing, etc.) There are new 38 Special ammunitions which can increase the muzzle energy though not all revolvers can use them. As stated above, the .38 Super is usually found on pistols while .38 Special is mostly employed by revolvers. This is because there are other dynamics involved that we will look at in this article. This article highlights their major differences. .38 Special vs 9mm comparison. To start with, let’s mention that it has to be the most commonly used round in the world. Nowadays, thanks to the advance of technology and technique, there is a wide range of excellent ammunitions available for purchase. And this double action only revolver is only 6.3 inches full length. The .38 Special is a rimmed, centerfire cartridge by Smith & Wesson. It was designed by Elmer Keith, Phillip … (The .357 Mag was developed from the .38 Sp) The .38 Sp is a more powerful round with a muzzle velocity of 900fps and a muzzle energy of 264 FtLBs for the standard 147 gr bullet. And, if you’re on a budget and set on a revolver, the .38 Special is a no brainer, as there are some fantastic options on the table. The performance and quality of the modern rounds are often superior to the old ones. Watch the video below if you’re in doubt: As for the other people arguing that the 9mm tends to over-penetrate, controlled penetration bullet designs (e.g. The 38 Super is often used in pistols while the .38 Special is commonly employed in revolvers. ARX Interceptor and Lehigh Defense) coupled with modern powder charge load data, the relatively weaker rimmed cartridge can go toe-to-toe with the more powerful rimless cartridge as far as terminal performance, i.e. People often compare these two handgun calibers because of all the similarities mentioned above. In the final analysis it all depends on how many bullets are accurately delivered to the intended target and where. It is most commonly used in revolvers, although some semi-automatic pistols and carbines also use this round. The reason there seems to be some ambiguity between the two rounds is that there is some ambiguity between the two rounds. Of course, there may be other arguments that strengthen the .38 Special’s corner. The case of the 38 Special is capable of supporting a variety of powders from Hercules 2400 to Alliant Bullseye. Your email address will not be published. If you decide on a pistol, then you’re more likely going to have a longer barrel than a snub nose revolver. Here's my well-worn 1942 Military & Police with some of the 500 rounds of Rem +P and the 600 rounds of my own +P+ (same 125 at 1,100 FPS) that I fired through it expecting absolutely nothing to happen. These days, there are a lot of modern bullet designs and a lot of different load data that even something as weak as a .380 ACP can be as good of an equalizer as a .357 Magnum when it comes to self-defense even when the former can barely produce a quarter of the latter’s muzzle energy. Despite these similarities, these cartridges are not interchangeable. It initially utilizes black powder but the manufacturer promptly offers a smokeless loading within a year of its birth. Therefore, this shouldn’t be a deciding factor for which round is better in common use. After looking at all the factors and weighing things up, we’d definitely go with the 9mm Luger as our favorite caliber out of the two. Here is the real crux of the issue. And, both of them use smokeless powder. In competitions hosted by IPSC, the.38 Super is one of the dominant calibers. As you know, the differences are pretty profound. So ultimately, the 9mm is the most powerful of the two if they are loaded with the same weight.

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