Lower Recoil .38 Special Defensive Ammo

[massgun]

Due to increasingly severe arthritis in both wrists, I find myself looking for a less punishing .38 Special defensive load (lol, never in my wildest, younger imagination would I have ever thought of .38 Special as "punishing"). I have carried the Speer Short Barrel 135gr +P rnd in my LCR for about the last 3 years, but at my last range trip, could only manage 3 shots before having to stop due to the pain. I know that if required to shoot, I probably won't notice the recoil/pain at that moment, but I need to be able to practice now and then with my carry ammo and can just no longer do it.

For the purpose of this thread I would appreciate anyone's personal experience with .38 Special lower recoil ammo only. I have not found a lot of current (2017 or newer info on the web), but my search skills are sorely lacking, so please post any links you may know of.

At this point, I don't want to explore different calibers/guns either until I feel I can't find a viable round for use in my LCR. Thanks all in advance, I appreciate all replies.

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

IWBA Wound Ballistics Review - Google Drive

Dig through here. There is some good info on 38 special wadcutters.
A cast wadcutter is pretty mild and with all the frontal area has plenty of good clean cutting and tissue crushing. Not to mention 148 grains is pretty heavy and gets good penetration.

https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/revolver-ballistics-test/

Won’t break the bank or your wrist. Accurate too.

 

[Waher]

Try Critical Defense Lite?
38 Special 90 gr FTX® Critical Defense® Lite - Hornady Manufacturing, Inc

 

[Fixxah]

How about a different carry gun? Semi-auto in .380 maybe?

 

[mac1911]

IWBA Wound Ballistics Review - Google Drive

Dig through here. There is some good info on 38 special wadcutters.
A cast wadcutter is pretty mild and with all the frontal area has plenty of good clean cutting and tissue crushing. Not to mention 148 grains is pretty heavy and gets good penetration.

https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/revolver-ballistics-test/

Won’t break the bank or your wrist. Accurate too.

I have shot plenty of lower recoil semi wadcutter target loads.
Other options are to get a slightly heavier pistol?

 

[massgun]

IWBA Wound Ballistics Review - Google Drive

Dig through here. There is some good info on 38 special wadcutters.
A cast wadcutter is pretty mild and with all the frontal area has plenty of good clean cutting and tissue crushing. Not to mention 148 grains is pretty heavy and gets good penetration.

https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/revolver-ballistics-test/

Won’t break the bank or your wrist. Accurate too.

Thanks for the links, checked out lucky gunner site and it has great info and tests on 3 of the rounds on the list I have compiled to try out. As far as wadcutters, the 148 gr load tested gives great penetration but almost zero expansion, so I guess it's a matter of which someone feels is most important. The Winchester Train & Defend 130 gr rnd looks pretty good also although a bit short on penetration it expands to .59" out of a snubby! Ultimately, it will all come down to what I can tolerate for, say, min 25 rnds of practice per session with whichever I decide to carry.

 

[massgun]

Try Critical Defense Lite?
38 Special 90 gr FTX® Critical Defense® Lite - Hornady Manufacturing, Inc

It is already on my list of rnds to try.

 

[massgun]

Fixxah & mac, your suggestions are in my "plan B" if I can't find a rnd I'm happy with and can handle in the LCR. If the rnds don't work in the LCR. I will try them in my previous pocket carry S&W 640 which is all SS and I think 8 or so ounces heavier. I switched from a KelTec P11 semi years ago because I was having trouble racking the slide, so switching back may not be the answer unless I can find one with a very light racking force. It will probably take a while to sort it out , but I'm sure I will eventually find something that works for me.

 

[pupchow]

Those Liberty Civil Defense loads pack a punch with a lightweight projectile, which offers much lighter recoil sensation. They're also a lot lighter to carry around. I've got some in .357 but have not tried any in .38spl.

re: 380
Not sure if Sig's still making them, but a P290RS in .380 is very easy to manipulate the slide on. No manual safety, just a long DAO trigger. I picked up one because its so easy to use, for possible future needs.

 

[wmass]

I run Hornady Critical Defense 110 +p in a scandium J-frame. It's not the softest shooting but is noticeably less punishing than 158rn practice ammo.

 

[Waher]

You might also consider, if you are already a big fan of the form factor, using a .357 LCR with .38s. Goes from an aluminium alloy frame in the .38 special only to a stainless steel frame in .357.

 

[massgun]

You might also consider, if you are already a big fan of the form factor, using a .357 LCR with .38s. Goes from an aluminium alloy frame in the .38 special only to a stainless steel frame in .357.

Just looked up the specs on the .357 LCR and it's only 3.5 oz heavier than the .38 version. That may be enough to mitigate the recoil a bit more, but my S&W 640 is about 7.6 oz heavier, so I will try that first rather than buy a new gun only to find it doesn't really do the job. I really do like the trigger on the LCR better than the Smith, but if the Smith works, I'll just go with it.

 

[alohadoug]

Some of the revolver "experts" (Chuck Haggard, Claude Werner, Michael de Bethencourt) prefer wadcutters with short barrel revolvers.
I read that Chuck switched from the .38spl LCR to the .357 LCR (but still shooting only
.38spl) because of a perceived reduction in felt recoil. Even a couple of ounces can make a difference.

 

[straightshooterjake]

Thanks for the links, checked out lucky gunner site and it has great info and tests on 3 of the rounds on the list I have compiled to try out. As far as wadcutters, the 148 gr load tested gives great penetration but almost zero expansion, so I guess it's a matter of which someone feels is most important. The Winchester Train & Defend 130 gr rnd looks pretty good also although a bit short on penetration it expands to .59" out of a snubby! Ultimately, it will all come down to what I can tolerate for, say, min 25 rnds of practice per session with whichever I decide to carry.

If you are looking for a low powered 38 special round, then I would not have too much concern about expansion. Ideally, a good defensive round will have both penetration and expansion. But it takes a certain about of energy to get both penetration and expansion, and 38 special is right on the edge for having enough energy for ideal performance. With 38 special from a short barrel, it generally takes pretty solid +P loads to do well on ballistics tests.

So with a standard pressure 38 special load, some compromises need to be made. I believe that decent penetration with marginal expansion is a better choice than the other way around. Using wadcutters follows the same idea, where you give up expansion, but you get a bullet shape that is somewhat damaging as it travels. Of course, you can find some experts who think differently, but I believe that if you have to make a choice, then penetration is required, and modest expansion (or even less) is acceptable.

The same tradeoffs apply to .380 ACP. The energy level is marginal for penetration with expansion, but with a decent round, overall performance is acceptable.

I am also a believer that the best defensive round is one that you can control well, so a modest round that you can train with comfortably is a good overall choice.