Am I reading this right? .38 Spl 997 FPS?

[Doug.38PR]

I am looking at this months Cheaper Than Dirt catalouge on page 6 at the Sellier & Bellot ammuntion.

It's listing standard .38 Spl LRN 158 gr at 997 ft per second. (that's much hotter than +P!!!!

I had about 6 boxes of this stuff a year ago, their ammo creeps out of the cartridge and by the time you get to the 4th or 5th shot, you're got a hangup on the cylidner and have to take the cartridge out and beat the bullet back down.

BUT, having read this, I do seem to remember the recoil being a little shaper than say Remington standard .38 Spl 158 gr.

Any other experiences or thoughts on this?

 

[wixedmords]

The brass itself is non- +P Doug?

If they are getting 997 fps out of them then that is on the hot side of the middle +P territory, not standard .38 territory, that is for sure.

I be concerned about the crimp though. It's pretty poor manufacturing when the bullets back out. My next thought is if you were to re-crimp, that might spike the pressure in the round.

I'd re-crimp it and shoot it out of one of the more heavy duty 357's out there.

When the quality isn't there in new ammo, it really makes you go "wow".

 

[CraigC]

The .38Spl is not a mousefart-only cartridge. Speer #14 has data pushing a 158gr over 900fps in standard pressure loadings and over 1000fps in +P. The factories are known to either pad their numbers or publish velocities taken from pressure barrels which are almost always higher than in actual guns. No big deal, pressure/velocity-wise. The weak crimp is inexcusable though.

 

[Cheesewhiz]

Sellier & Bellot makes very good and accurate ammo and it runs clean. I don't have any experience with their revolver stuff but their 9mm and .380 ACP is some of the best out there. They do load their ammo pretty hot, the 9mm is loaded to the NATO standard, which is really hot.

Added Note: You might want to send them an e-mail and let them know of your issue, they are a good company.

 

[Snake45]

Doesn't sound THAT far out of line to me, especially if they took their data from something like a 8" solid barrel. Any modern .38 of name brand manufacture should be able to handle it without worries.

 

[Doug.38PR]

The brass itself is non- +P Doug?

If they are getting 997 fps out of them then that is on the hot side of the middle +P territory, not standard .38 territory, that is for sure.

That's what I'm talking about :shock:

If that's out of a 2 inch barrel, that's pushing Buffalo Bore +P velocity.

Out an an 8 inch barrel...maybe so then.

I need to get a device that will clock velocity out of my guns.

I've never heard of Speer 14 going over 900 in standard and 1000 in +P.

THE fastest factory (wildcat factory, but factory just the same) load I've ever experienced is Buffalo Bore standard and +P 158 gr. Standard Buffalo bore is like 890 ft per second for standard and 1200 ft per second out of a 4 inch barrel. But from what they tell me they are using some sort of chemical or powder to get more velocity while staying within standard and +P pressures





The creeping was more irritating than anything else. I probably just got a bad batch (of like 6 or 7 boxes) as I've heard nothing but glowing reports from other shooters regarding that ammo and nobody I know of has experienced bad crimping.

 

[oldgoat46]

I bought some S&B 38 spl FMJ and yes it did have a rather decisive bark compared to the other Federal stuff I was shooting. I was shooting out of a 6" GP11 and the longer barrel may hav had some influence. All in all I do like S&B Ammo. thousands of rounds and no problems. especially 40 S&W which I shoot in my Vaquero convertable.

 

[63November]

Sierra data shows 1200 fps for 158 jacketed ammo in their +P section. Plus P pressures do not even approach what is allowed pressure-wise in the 357, so I would not be too greatly concerned about 1000 fps loads in a 38 rated for +P. Ruger 38s will easily handle stout-for-38 loads. I would also crimp those loads just a bit more if the bullets are moving on you. If the crimp made a great difference on the pressure of the ammo, I suspect we'd be seeing big warnings and specific crimping instructions for certain loads.

 

[Doug.38PR]

Sierra data?

 

[63November]

Sierra data?

On second thought, I probably should check that. I'm beginning to think I may be combining the 12 as in the grains of W296 that they list which may "only" make 1000 fps. In any case, it's a perfect reason to double check anything you see here. (And don't even believe that 12 grains of 296 is okay either, unless you check.) Glad you asked. I'll try to find that manual.