Best .38spc Ammo For Self Defense

Is the .45 ACP good for self-defense?

A 9mm kills their body, a .45 kills their soul.Jokes aside, it has both pros and cons. One of the pros is that it’s one of the biggest handgun rounds you can carry around daily. In fact, while it isn’t as fast as a .357 round, it is bigger.One of the biggest cons, however, is… its size. You see, if you put 15 9mm rounds in a mag and 15 .45 rounds in a mag, the .45 mag is going to be significantly bigger and the gun that uses that mag is going to be significantly bigger and heavier then the one using 9mm. My 1911 is nearly 2 and a half pounds… unloaded. With a fully loaded mag +1, it weighs around about 3 pounds. So, obviously you can carry more ammo with 9mm, and no one has ever gotten into a fight and said: “Boy! I sure do wish I had less ammo!”But! The biggest advantage .45 has over 9mm? Well, that’s simple. The .45 was made by the great American Prophet John Moses Browning and the 9mm was made by them gotdanged Nazis!I’m joking, but seriously, the self defense application of the .45 really depends on you.Edit: I used the wrong round at one point and fixed it.

I'm planning to buy my first handgun for home defense and fun. Should I buy a 9MM or a .357/.38 Special?

Well, there is a reason that every major military and police force in the world uses semi-auto pistols rather than revolvers...Semi-Autos (of which nearly every 9mm is) are easier to use, have less felt recoil, better sights, more capacity, and easier reloads than revolvers (of which nearly ever .357/.38 spl is). I'm going to disagree with Jay on a few points.  First off, ignore the Glaser safety slugs.  They are a gimmick round of dubious use.  A good modern jacketed hollow point will perform better.  ANY round can and will penetrate common drywall and still have enough energy to kill someone on the other side.  Drywall isn't that tough.And coach guns, while fine guns for what they are, have a hefty recoil when firing 00 buck, and yeah... two rounds.And don't believe anybody who says you don't have to aim a shotgun.  Patterns from a shotgun (the spread of pellets) at room distances are usually measured in a few inches.  And definitely DON'T do a pistol-grip-only (PGO) shotgun.  Those are toys, and stupid ones.  With all that out of the way, my recommendation for any first time gun owner is that you start out with a .22lr rifle and/or pistol.  Such guns are the ideal introduction to shooting, with low cost to buy and shoot, virtually no recoil, and modest sound levels.  All things that can help a new shooter focus on fundamentals.Past that, a good 9mm (or .40 or .45) semi-auto is a great choice.  Get a quality gun (Glock, S&W M&P, XD, or CZ) and it will give you many years of fine service both for fun at the range and defensive use.

What's the difference between a .38 vs .38 Special?

Well, the .38 refers to a caliber of .357 diameter. This could be several actual firearms as there have been several weapons chambered for this caliber. As you can see, it’s closer to a .36 caliber than a .38. Back in the Civil War, there was a .36 caliber black powder revolver that was extremely popular. When cartridges came along, they named the .357 caliber a .38 instead of a .36. There was a .38 Long, Short, and eventually a Special.The .38 Special was to become the cartridge of choice for law enforcement before semi-automatic handguns took over. I’ve heard this round called the “Widow Maker” by more than a few. It’s the same diameter round as that carried by several well known gunfighters and lawmen who chose it for accuracy rather than stopping power. With a solid lead round, it’s not much more than a “hole puncher” that doesn’t have an impressive record. This is one reason why the .357 magnum came into being. With hollow point rounds, though, it’s not horrible. In fact, you probably know it’s cousin, the 9mm. It’s about the same diameter round but pushed at higher pressures. If you have a .357 magnum revolver, you can also fire .38 Special +P and .38 Special +P+ rounds with put it on par with the 9mm and past it. The full power .357 magnum round is a legendary round when it comes to stopping power. However, it requires a strong frame to use it and it tends to be larger than a true .38 Special frame. If you try to shoot a magnum round in a Special, it could blow apart.Usually, when someone refers to the .38 today, they mean the .38 Special. The others are considered obsolete by most people today. I’ve only known one woman to carry a .38 S&W short and it’s the only one I’ve seen for ages.Basically, the .38 caliber weapons do better the faster you push the bullet. Right now, the .38 Special is the smallest/weakest caliber that most recommend for self-defense.

How do you learn about guns and the different calibers, etc.?

I knew a bit about firearms and different calibers just by exposure, having shot since the boy scouts as a kid. For the most part I could pick out a .22 on sight, and tell the difference between a rifle cartridge (long and pointy) and a handgun cartridge (short and round).As I started shooting more, I got to know the cartridges I shot; .38SPC, .357, .357SIG .40S&W .45LC, .45ACP, .223, .243, .308, .30–06. I could recognize those, but others still just looked weird to me, and I couldn't tell you what it was on sight. But I can read, and all commercially-made firearms tell you what they shoot:And that matches what the cartridge tells you it is:Notice that both say “40 S&W,” which is the .40 caliber Smith & Wesson cartridge (at the top is “Speer," the manufacturer). So for a given firearm, it will tell you what to feed it. The same is true of rifle cartridges:It's a little hard to read, but it says “308 WIN” (manufacturer R-P = Remington) which is the .308 caliber Winchester cartridge, also known as 7.62x51 NATO. They're not exactly the same, but close enough for now. The important thing is, don't go loading ammo into a firearm unless the markings on the case head match the markings on the barrel or chamber of the firearm.Then I started hand loading. I got to know not only the cartridges, but also the bullets and their shapes and weights, the powders and their characteristics, primers and their characteristics, and different brands of brass casings. It's really hard to learn much more than a handful of cartridge names and which firearms shoot which without serious study and hand loading yourself, but if you're interested you can always buy a loading manual. They're generally about $50 and will tell you more about cartridges than you probably want to know.I use the Lyman manual:They've been publishing it since 1878, and have revised it 50 times with new cartridges and new load data. The current edition of any loading manual should tell you about more cartridges than you care to know about.All photos taken by me, just now, on my bench.

What's a high availability and cheap ammunition round that's excellent for a Hunting/Survivalist gun?

For a bugout piece, there's a few calibers that will fit the bill..22lr is about as common as you can get, it's the caliber most folks cut thier teeth on, and most shooters have a couple in thier arsenal.9mm is also a good choice, there's an awful lot of nines around, so there's huge amounts of 9mm ammo to be had as well. Not the most powerful thing available, but we're more concerned with having a functional firearm at this point..223/5.56mm is another round that falls into the same catagory as 9mm. Common as dirt, not one's first choice.Up until the advent of the “wondernines” in the 80s, the venerable .38 special was the single most common handgun caliber in the US. Lord knows how many dusty boxes of .38 are laying forgotton at the back of closets, drawers, and trunks. Plus, it will function just fine in a weapon chambred for .357 magnum. Commanality of ammo is something cowboys did in the wild west, and it's still a viable concept today..30–30 winchester has been around for over a century, and virtually anyone who's called themselves a hunter owns or has owned one. Once again, massive amounts of this caliber laying around, plus it'll take down almost anything on the continent that isn't an angry bear.Last but certainly not least, 12 gauge. Shotguns are quite simply the most versitile firearm one can own. Birdshot, buckshot, solid slugs, even minigrenades have been loaded into shotshells, although you'd be hard-pressed to find the latter outside of a museum. For any situation that might require an armed response, there's a shotgun round tailored for it. And, 12 gauge has been around since there's been cartriges, locating ammo is a nonissue. That's the biggest plus you can get in a OhShit weapon.If I had to make the choice, it would be a 12 for a longarm, a .357 magnum for a handgun. Why the .357? As mentioned, it'll function with .38spc, so once our magnums run out, we'll still be able to feed it.