125 Gr. bullets in the 38 Special

[Nasty-G]

Any opinions on 125 gr bullets in the 38 Special ? Was thinking of the Laser-Cast or Rainiers. HP or FP ? Just for plinking. Thanks.

[Linear Thinker]

I use Rainier 125gr flat-nose bullets for training and plinking with a 38. My load is 4.4gr Bullseye for full power loads.
LT

[joneb]

For fixed sight guns the 125gr will most likely shoot 4" low at 25yrds, I prefer 148-158gr bullets for these guns, other than that 125gr bullets can provide good cheap shootin

[gandog56]

You just want the plating for barrel leading purposes? My favorite target load for 38 special is still a lead DEWC in 148 grains. They are cheaper, too. I push them with 3.5 grains of HP-38, and don't see bad barrel leading.

[The Tourist]

My wife and I like StarFires.

[armoredman]

Started testing cast LRN 125gr, see the first results. Wheel weight cast, Lee mold, drops them at .360 so I can size them for 9mm or 38Spl.

[jdmick]

125g plated bullets over Bullseye has been a great combination in my snubbie. It works good in my .357 as well.

[TWB]

I use plated 125gr bullets over Hodgdon Universal. It's exceptionally clean but is a bit slower than the Bullseye, W-231, and Unique, though. This might make a difference in flash and ballistics if your barrel is shorter than 3" or so.

twb

[fxdrider]

I use the Rainier 125 gr. FP's over 2.9 gr. Clays - very light, pleasant load to shoot, and very accurate - out of my Ruger GP100 4", and also my wife's Taurus 85/3". Fun to shoot.

[Crazy4nitro]

My personal Most accurate worked up load for my 4" Mod.10 is 4.7grs of Bullseye under a 125gr JSP.

'Nitro

[Slamfire]

I purchased a couple thousand 125 grain lead bullets in .357 and went out and tested them. I like Bullseye in the 38 Special, and it was a consistent performer with the 125 grain bullets. The 4.0 grain load is relatively mild recoil and was accurate. These bullets shot to point of aim in modern S&W snubbies, but the older M10-5 was regulated with 158 grain bullets and 125’s shoot low.


S&W M637-2 2" barrel

125 Gr Lead BBRNFP 4.0 grs Bullseye Mixed cases WSP
9-Apr-06 T = 59 °F
Ave Vel = 760.4
Std Dev = 27.33
ES 82.1
High 798.9
Low 716.8
N = 19


125 Gr Lead BBRNFP 4.5 grs Bullseye Mixed cases WSP
9-Apr-06 T = 64 °F
Ave Vel = 827.9
Std Dev = 23.21
ES 92.27
High 879.4
Low 787.1
N = 20


4" S&W M10-5

158 LRN 3.5grs Bullseye Mixed cases WSP
19-Mar-06 T = 52 °F
Ave Vel = 749.2
Std Dev = 20.97
ES 83.49
High 793.7
Low 710.2
N = 32

125 Gr Lead BBRNFP 4.0 grs Bullseye Mixed cases WSP
9-Apr-06 T = 59 °F
Ave Vel = 863.4
Std Dev = 30
ES 70.78
High 907.5
Low 836.7
N = 6

125 Gr Lead BBRNFP 4.5 grs Bullseye Mixed cases WSP
9-Apr-06 T = 64 °F
Ave Vel = 945.6
Std Dev = 27.28
ES 75.21
High 995.2
Low 920
N = 6

[deanoaz]

I don't know why, but my S&W Model 68 is more accurate with the Remington 125 gr. Jacketed Hollow Point that anything else I've tried. Cast 125 Round Nose Flat Points are close, but still not as good.

At the range Sunday I put 4 out of 6 of the Remingtons through the black on a 50 yd pistol target at 100 yds. At that range the front sight blade is twice as wide as the target.
I was using 5.2 grains of W231 with the JHPs.

The only bad thing is I'm going to run out of them soon and havent' been able to find any locally for the past several weeks.