[bmcgilvray]

After having just arrived at a deer lease after a 4-hour drive, my dad and I were "taking a short cut" around the edge of a plowed field to go look at a deer stand at 11:30 one night, rather than to drive or walk a ranch road. It was early November and a fairly warm evening and the snake was surprisingly lively. We heard his buzz before he appeared in the flashlight beam.

If I recall correctly, I actually missed the head, the bullet plowing through his tightly coiled body, pretty thoroughly holing him. My dad bent over and cut off his head with a little Case folder he keeps in his pocket before I was satisfied the snake was completely "hors de combat," which gave me more trepidation than did the initial contact. I'm not really a jumpy person and snakes don't much bother me normally.

Now I have to go up on the roof to make a minor repair and have Procol Harem's hit rattling around in my head.

 

[Kilowatt3]

Any thoughts as to how the performance of a full wadcutter (e.g. BBWC) of the same weight, driven to the same velocity, would compare?

Plenty of hole-cutting splat! At least it works out that way on varmints at say 860 fps or so. I have handloading friends who run bevel-base wadcutters to 100-150 fps faster than that for personal defense use.

Thanks for the reply, Bryan!

One reason I ask is because I have a big box of 158gr. BBWC's that's been gathering dust for decades. After reading a lot of posts (including yours) that suggest that a 158gr. SWC is about as good of a SD round as you're going to find, I started wondering what edge (if any) the SWC offers over a 'full' WC. I don't generally carry a wheelgun, but my wife prefers it to a semi, and we have a few .38/.357's around that might end up being the SD weapon of choice under some circumstances.

I recall reading years ago about guys loading HBWC's backwards for a SD round, but the reports were mixed. It seemed that often as not, the cavity would just collapse & not really offer any expansion. Sounds like you've had similar experiences.

Anyway, thanks again for your thoughts.

 

[GunGeezer]

Picking up a Ruger LCR on sat... been a long while since i carried a snubby.... prob gonna go with the usual 125gr JHP xtp....any other suggestions?

Get the LCR in .357 mag. Load it with .38+P Hornady Rnds.

 

[Brady]

135 gr. Speer Gold Dots +P in all my snubbies.

 

[Quincythedgo]

Another vote for the Golden Saber +P. Remington made a winner.

 

[BadgerMan]

I use either the Gold Dot SB 135 gr +P or Corbon DPX 110 gr +P

 

[SmokinFool]

My .38 snubbies carry GD 135 +Ps.

 

[Ljutic]

I just posted this test yesterday. Not one I would have gone out of my way to test, but now glad that I did. I was a die hard Remington 158 grain LSWCHP guy, but these new bonded JHPs from Speer and Winchester do really well in my tests.

Pocket Guns and Gear: Winchester Ranger 38 Special +P 130 Grain Bonded Ammo Test

 

[gtv]

My wife and I are both carrying the Hornady CD 110 gr. +P right now in the LCR. I would like to switch over to a heavier LSWCHP in +P, but cannot find any around here.

 

[Easy8]

I really like the buffalo bore low flash low smoke for snubs (short barrel)

 

[Rigrat]

I'm using 158 grn LSWC-HP's pushing about 850+ fps out of a 2" barrel.

 

[davidw]

In my 2" These short barrels

Speer Ammo - Short Barrel

 

[dripster]

Speer gold dot short barbell.

 

[bubbinator]

We all seem to agree here! As a retired LEOx2, and a reloader since 1970 I am much wiser than" back in the day". As a young LEO I loaded some hot 38/357 loads from the Speer #8 Manual. Some 357 140gr loads that weren't max but cracked the M66 forcing cone on my wife's M66 4" city issue gun! And they qualled with full power 357 ammo!
Speer Gold Dot 135 +P short bbl, Win 158gr 158gr SWCLHP, Fed 158 SWC/L Nyclad(ATF issue), WW +P+ 110jhp late 1970s era Sky Marshall issue, and new Fed 125gr Nyclad 125gr HPs Personal Defense are all loads available for my 2" M642s and M36 3". They are all great for caliber, have shot some stuff with most of them and have been pleased.