Winchester .38 spl 130 grain FMJ

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You might want to also take a look at www.aimsurplus.com

Their everyday price for a box of Prvi brass ammo, 130g .38spl., is $13.50. It’s good practice ammo. If you’d prefer 158g, they have Geco for $13.95.
 
I'd be careful in buying bulk until you know the brand/make/model will function in your revolver. This is especially true if you've had the action tuned any. Buy a box or two and test first.
 
I'd be careful in buying bulk until you know the brand/make/model will function in your revolver. This is especially true if you've had the action tuned any. Buy a box or two and test first.
Urk, already ordered two cans of the Winchester. Hope it will be OK.
 
I wouldn't be concerned about Winchester, but I am leery of some of the cheaper overseas stuff. One brand has two makes of .38spl. One from their factory overseas and one made in the USA. I discovered the hard way that the USA made were of a higher power factor and more consistent that the overseas ones.
 
I wouldn't be concerned about Winchester, but I am leery of some of the cheaper overseas stuff. One brand has two makes of .38spl. One from their factory overseas and one made in the USA. I discovered the hard way that the USA made were of a higher power factor and more consistent that the overseas ones.
Curious as to which brand that would be....
 
Curious as to which brand that would be....

ARMSCOR USA is made in the USA. ARMSCOR PRECISION is made in the Philippines. The boxes/labels are very similar and at a glance many people (me that is) wouldn't realize they were different. Many retailers don't distinguish between to two so you have to be careful when ordering as to which one you get. Both have been positive on ignition, but "PRECISION" runs 5-10 units lower of Power Factor than "USA". In addition, though admittedly small sample sizes, Precision has a higher standard deviation. I love the success story of the company and family, and for non-critical shooting it's fine ammo, but I need to depend on making PF at competitions.

I bring this up only as part of the idea that, yes there are some good deals on bulk ammo, but before you purchase 1000's of rounds, I'd test a box or two to make sure it fulfills your needs and works with your gun. And be careful as to what exact "version" of any ammo you're getting.


(If you're curious, I finally discovered S&B SB38P as a reasonably price brand that reliably makes PF for ICORE.)
 
When buying W-W 130gr .38Spl, be sure to check if the lot numbers fall into the recall range https://winchester.com/support/customers/USA38SPVP-Recall
So the ammo arrived yesterday. Each can held 3 100-round boxes. Five of the six boxes have a lot code not included in the recall, but the sixth box does not have any lot code. I called Winchester and asked them what I should do, they said to be on the safe side I should put that one aside and they will send me instructions for returning it, and they will reimburse me what I paid for it. I asked what I should do about the rebate, they said go ahead and cut out the barcode and send it in and they will still give me the rebate. So all in all very nice customer service.

Thanks again for alerting me to the recall. :)
 
Thanks, I bookmarked it. Being that I ordered two cans of the Winchester I'm set for a while. I never heard of Prvi before!

Prvi Partisan is very good ammo manufactured in Serbia. I have fired quite a bit of it in various calibers. In 7.63x25 it's what I shoot in my century-old Mauser C96, the most valuable gun in my collection.

Regarding your question about brass, if it's a shiny silver colored, it's cadmium-plated brass. (Typically called nickel plated for some reason.) You can also find steel cased and aluminum cased ammo.
 
Prvi Partisan is very good ammo manufactured in Serbia. I have fired quite a bit of it in various calibers. In 7.63x25 it's what I shoot in my century-old Mauser C96, the most valuable gun in my collection.

Regarding your question about brass, if it's a shiny silver colored, it's cadmium-plated brass. (Typically called nickel plated for some reason.) You can also find steel cased and aluminum cased ammo.

Thanks for the info about Prvi Partisan. :)

Do I have to sell the cadmium-plated separately? And just out of curiousity, is there a difference in value between that and the brass-colored?
 
Regarding your question about brass, if it's a shiny silver colored, it's cadmium-plated brass. (Typically called nickel plated for some reason.)

Wait, what? Since when? This is entirely new information to me. I tried doing some quick Google searches about cadmium and cartridges cases, and got nothing. "Nickel plated cartridge cases" turns up tons of stuff. Is everybody wrong, and how long have they been wrong? And why? Is it easier to coat cases with cadmium then plate them with nickel? This is startling stuff.

PS - another quick Google search suggests that nickel is about 30% more expensive than cadmium, with nickel being priced at $7.70 per 100 grams, versus $6.00 for the same weight of cadmium.
 
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I was told that cadmium was used many years ago by someone who worked for a manufacturer. Beyond that I don't recall details.
 
Thanks for the info about Prvi Partisan. :)

Do I have to sell the cadmium-plated separately? And just out of curiousity, is there a difference in value between that and the brass-colored?

You can probably sell them together although some folks prefer to not use it. The reason for plating is corrosion resistance on duty ammo.
 
I bought the Model 36 from an out-of-state friend awhile back, but had never shot it, due to serial health issues it was over a year since my last previous range visit. It is a 1971 model square butt with the original walnut grips (and beautiful perfect bluing, it has not had much use). I had tried dry-firing the new version (which has a round butt) in a gun store, where I thought the trigger was fine but the grip was way too small, and the sights hard to see. When I saw the photo of my friend's with the square butt I thought that would solve the grip issue. Part of the problem last week was undoubtedly that I not only hadn't been shooting, I didn't do any shooting-related strength exercises the whole time I was dealing with my medical stuff... for example I could not shoot my 686 one-handed last week, which previously I had been able to do quite accurately with either hand. Right now my tentative plan is to get back the strength in the relevant muscles (fingers, forearms, chest), then put rubber grips on it (someone here recommended Pachmyer (sp?), they look good to me) and get the trigger polished and try again. If it's still horrible then I'll probably put the walnut ones back on and try to sell it.

My objective for carry ammo is #1 accuracy, and to do the best job of stopping the BG. The Hornady specs made it sound perfect for the latter, and as noted previously it was accurate in my 686 and soft to shoot, so I was happy with it.

Re the 90-grain version vs the 110, when I first got my 686 (which was my first gun) I asked the RO at the LGS/range where I bought it which version he would recommend for his mom, he said the 110, so that's what I bought.

Pachmeyer grips are definitely a helpful addition if either recoil or repeatable grip technique is an issue.
With today's technology there really is no need for heavier bullets in a 38 Special unless you gun doesn't like light ones.
 
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