Mystery Blazer .38 +P loading

[Owen Meany]

Hi Everyone,

I have a question about some Blazer .38 +P ammunition that I recently saw stacked on the floor at a local shop.

With ammo prices being what they are, I'm always looking for the best deals on .38 practice ammo and I knelt down to take a closer look (I've never used Blazer before, but am aware of its rather spotty reputation, so I was torn whether to buy any. The price was certainly attractive compared to WWB, and I don't reload, so the aluminum case isn't an issue).

Anyway, this ammo was regular Blazer, i.e., aluminum-cased, in 50-round boxes and was marked ".38 Special, +P, 125 grain TMJ".

Now, I just went to Blazer's website and that load is not listed. They have 2 .38 Special +P loadings listed: a 125 grain JHP and a 158 grain TMJ. But no 125 grain TMJ.

Can anybody help me out and tell me about this load?

Is it so new that Blazer hasn't updated the website yet to reflect its presence on the market?

Or has it been dropped from production recently, and was the lot that I saw the result of my dealer getting some kind of bargain on discontinued ammo?

And, also, does anybody have experience with this particular Blazer .38 loading?

 

[tbeb]

The only .38 special 125 gr. TMJ that I see on CCI's web site is standard pressure. It's in their Lawman line.

Chestnut Ridge Supply shows the load you're talking about on their web site. (50 rounds $13, 500 rounds $125, 1000 rounds $241, plus shipping)

If what you saw is what you want, then go for it. I've shot a very limiited amount of 25 ACP, 9MM, and I believe .40 Smith & Wesson with no problems.

 

[Moonclip]

May be a very new or a very old load of the blazer. What does the box look like? IIRC there was/is a 158gr FMJ +P load.

 

[Owen Meany]

Thank you both for posting.

The only .38 special 125 gr. TMJ that I see on CCI's web site is standard pressure. It's in their Lawman line.

Actually, Blazer has its own website, on which they list all the Blazer load specs. Kind of funny how they don't simply make those specs into a page on the CCI site, since CCI is the parent corp and their logo is placed prominently on the Blazer box.

Chestnut Ridge Supply shows the load you're talking about on their web site.

Yes, that's exactly what I saw!

Moonclip said:

What does the box look like? IIRC there was/is a 158gr FMJ +P load.

Yes, the 158 TMJ is listed on the Blazer site. Regarding the appearance of the box, below is the photo from Chesnut Ridge's site. The box and labeling are exactly what I saw at my loca shop.



As an aside, I'd be very interested to hear if anybody has used any of this ammo. I dug up a couple old Blazer threads on the Search function and was quite discouraged at some of the accounts of split cases and bullet crimp jump, though the latter issue appeared to affect only un-jacketed lead bullets. A lot of the negatives regarding feeding reliability in semi-autos, which happily isn't an issue with revolvers.