[bedbugbilly]

Late to this dance . . . . I reload 38 Colt Short and Long all the time. In the Short, I usually use a 120ish grain cast lead (all i use is my cast) and the same for the 38 Colt Long - a 120is or a 149is grain lead bullet. I shoot the out of anything from a J frame to a 6" barrel and anything in between the 6 and my Smith Model 36 snub.

As far as a SD round - that's a personal thing. However, I don't think anyone would volunteer to stand in front of one of my 38 Colt Shorts to find out.

The 38 Colt Short was originally developed as a black powder cartridge to use in the Civil War Colt Navies ('51 and '61) which had conversions to cartridge such as the Richards & Mason. I load mine in both black powder as well as smokeless. My best result with the smokeless is using either Red Dot or Bulls Eye - others will work though. The charge is minimal as far as grain weight but I've never had a problem killing a critter like a woodchuck, possum or coon with a 38 Colt Short. It's my favorite plinking / woods walk cartridge to use in my Smith Model 36 3". They even do well out of my 357 Handi Rifle.