Ten X Ammo 38 special?

personally i would prefer a heavier bullet for a .38 special. for sd i would only use a premium defense round one that offers the best penetration and expansion with the most manageable recoil.

Much better than a sharp stick, but it seems pretty light in the bullet department to me too- the TFP (truncated flat point?) bullet might be a useful profile but I'd need to know the MV with that load out of your gun to make an evaluation. If it's a snubby you plan to use it in, it might surprise you how slow it really is.

A frequent suggestion for light loads in a carry .38Spl is 148 gr. hollow base wadcutters at about 700 FPS- easy to shoot, heavy enough for decent penetration and a cookie cutter hole. Of course, you'll want to look for something else for carry reloads, because full wadcutters are a bear to get into the cylinder when in a hurry.

fwiw,

lpl (110 grain CorBon DPX for me, when that's gone it'll be back to the case of 'snubby load' 135 gr. Speer Gold Dots I have waiting)

NO, while better than nothing, you really want at minimum the 158 SWC hp loads from Remington, and you can move up from that.

The rounds you mention have less energy than .380 ammo, and are meant ONLY for popping balloons and shooting paper plates. That load is a 105 grain bullet at 595 FPS, which has 89 Ftlbs of energy, which is less than plain .32 long ammo. Plain jane .380 acp ammo has 130 ft lbs and 158 grain duty loads run about 270 ft lbs. Regular old CCI mini mag .22 ammo has 124 ft lbs of energy....
Unless you have a debilitating illness or condition where recoil of any sort is impossible to handle, you just need to shoot more to get used to a little more recoil.

No it won't, in a snubby, its about 20 % less. you're down below .22 lr bulk box ammo already, get some real ammo. the Ten X is for playing cowboy games. its almost like comparing wiffle ball to baseball.

Id be interested to see what kind of penetration it gets in gelatin. That's a low powered round for sure, but if it still makes it 12" in gel...

I bet you could really zip off a few rounds quickly without much muzzle jump!

It might make 2 inches in gelatin. Its a VERY underpowered load, and as you stated, its designed to allow you to shoot very fast with no recoil. Its also such a light bullet to bore diameter, that I am pretty sure its going to loose velocity incredibly fast.

I doubt only two inches. 105gr .38spl @~590 FPS is the same bullet dia. and weight as a heavy .380 ACP, and probably doing the same velocity that the .380 would be at 75-100 yards.

i am ten-x biggest fan. i use their ammo in my 38 s & w. recently i was shooting in the dump and noticed someone had set up a metal drum lid as a target. i found it amusing that the bullet only dented the lid. while not very powerful ten-x has always went where i was aiming.

birdshot8's,

Placement is only half the equation as far as defensive ammo is concerned, though. Without adequate penetration, it isn't likely to do a lot of good. The bullet has to go deep enough to disrupt important physical functions before it quits. And if it might not even get through heavy clothing, a leather jacket, a forearm flung up in the path of the bullet... that won't do the job.

A light bullet at low velocity might get someone out of a situation where an attacker is willing to quit. With a determined attacker it might be a far different story. Since there are plenty of far more suitable rounds available in .38Spl, there's no reason not to carry one of those. And if recoil is a problem, I'd personally rather have a S&W 317 snub loaded with CCI MiniMag 40 grain solids than an anemic .38.

jmho, ymmv,

lpl

I doubt only two inches. 105gr .38spl @~590 FPS is the same bullet dia. and weight as a heavy .380 ACP, and probably doing the same velocity that the .380 would be at 75-100 yards.

Click to expand...

Thats 590 FPS from a 6 inch barrel. from a 2 in barrel, thats well under 500 FPS at the muzzle.

I have to believe that unless there is a severe physical handicap, even mid range wadcutters are a huge step up in power, and those have traditionally been used as a last resort in SD for people who could handle nothing else.

My mother is in her mid 80's and can manage 158 SWC's at 700 FPS. She has RA and while they are not comfortable, she is very confident of her ability to use it with effect if she needs to.

Which brings back the original question, "WHY use this load?"

A 105 isn't a normal .38 Special bullet weight. Mind you, if your ma and pa, don't shoot, regularly, it won't make any difference. They won't be able to hit anything with any handgun.
A 20 guage, double barrel, shotgun might be better. They'd still have to learn how to use it, but the learning curve isn't as much.
You should talk to your ma and da before you buy 'em a firearm too. A dog might be a better idea.
"...don't like long guns because of light trigger pull..." Not all long guns have light triggers. No offence, but it sounds like you need some training too.

I want something I can give them without them being too nervous.

rrruuunnn,

There are no hardware solutions to software problems, and this sounds like a software problem to me. What you are looking for is called training, as far as I can tell from what you have said here. Depending on family dynamics, either you can provide training for them, or another family member or even someone outside the family might be better suited for the job. It all depends on what works in the given situation and who is comfortable doing the job.

Any reliable firearm that both your parents can physically master will do for the task. The issue is mastery, not hardware, at least as far as I can tell from what you have said here so far.

And you aren't the only one who has to think about such things by any means. As my mom has gotten older she's traded in her .38Spl revolver for a .22LR (the S&W 317 snub I mentioned earlier, with an action job from a good 'smith). She has also traded in her cut-down 20 gauge double for a Beretta CX-4 in 9mm. And my wife, who is very good at firearms training, happily stepped up to the plate to teach her how to run the new stuff.

hth,

lpl

My wife carry's the Federal Reduced Recoil, its a 110gr Hydra-Shok moving at around 1000fps.

You may give it a try.