Buffalo Bore 38 Special 158gr SWC-HC – Superb Standard Pressure Classic

Description

The Buffalo Bore 38 Special 158gr SWC-HC is the old FBI load pattern, built properly and kept at standard pressure. A soft lead semi wadcutter hollow point at 850 fps produces roughly 253 ft-lbs, it is gas checked so it will not lead your barrel, and Buffalo Bore rates it for about 14 inches of penetration. Safe in older revolvers and alloy framed guns. Twenty rounds per box, item 20C/20.

• Buffalo Bore 38 Special 158gr SWC-HC Overview
• 38 Special Standard Pressure Ammo Ballistics
• Why The 158 Grain Semi Wadcutter Hollow Point Endures
• Specifications
• Carry Notes For This Gas Checked 38 Spl Load

Buffalo Bore 38 Special 158gr SWC-HC Overview

The bullet is the interesting part and it has a long history. A soft lead semi wadcutter with a hollow cavity was the load American police carried for decades, because soft lead expands at the modest velocities a 38 produces where a jacketed bullet often will not.

Buffalo Bore has added a gas check, which is a copper cup crimped onto the base. Soft lead at these speeds would ordinarily leave lead fouling in the bore, and the gas check is what stops it. Their claim is straightforward: it will not lead your barrel.

The pressure choice is the whole point. The Buffalo Bore 38 Special 158gr SWC-HC is standard pressure, not +P, so it is safe in older revolvers that carry no +P rating and in lightweight alloy framed guns. Buffalo Bore’s argument is that modern powders let them get meaningfully more out of standard pressure than the factory ammunition of forty years ago managed.

38 Special Standard Pressure Ammo Ballistics

The published real gun figures are complete and honest. A two inch Smith and Wesson Model 60 gives 854 fps for 256 ft-lbs, a 2.5 inch Model 66 gives 871 for 266, a three inch Ruger SP101 gives 930 for 303, and a four inch Mountain Gun gives 979 for 336.

Note that the two inch snub is meeting the nominal figure rather than falling short of it. That is what the low flash powder buys you, and it is a very different experience from firing conventional 38 Special ammunition out of a short barrel and watching the numbers collapse.

Buffalo Bore rates penetration at approximately 14 inches in human tissue, with expansion first. For 38 Special standard pressure ammo that is a genuinely good result, and it sits inside the range most people regard as appropriate for a defensive handgun round.

Why The 158 Grain Semi Wadcutter Hollow Point Endures

This bullet shape has outlived almost every design that was supposed to replace it, and the reason is metallurgy rather than nostalgia. Soft lead deforms readily, so the hollow cavity opens at velocities where a jacketed bullet is still sitting there wondering what to do.

That matters enormously in a 38 Special. The calibre simply does not have velocity to spare, and a bullet designed around 1100 fps that arrives at 850 is not going to expand. A 158 grain semi wadcutter hollow point in soft lead does not have that problem, which is why this shape still sells.

The semi wadcutter profile adds to it. The sharp shoulder cuts a clean full calibre hole rather than pushing tissue aside, so even if the cavity does not open fully you are still getting a better wound than a round nose would produce. It is a design with a good worst case.

And the gas check makes it practical to shoot. Soft lead at these speeds without one would foul your barrel steadily, which is why so many people gave up on cast bullets. A gas checked 38 Spl load is clean enough to practise with, and that alone separates this from most cast ammunition.

Specifications

Carry Notes For This Gas Checked 38 Spl Load

No pressure caveat here, which is the appeal. Any sound 38 Special revolver is a candidate, including older guns with no +P rating and lightweight alloy framed carry pieces. Genuinely good low flash airweight revolver ammunition is a short list, and this is on it.

Point of impact should be close to right. Fixed sight 38 Special revolvers were generally regulated around a 158 grain bullet, so a 158 grain semi wadcutter hollow point usually lands where the sights are looking. Confirm it rather than assume, but you are unlikely to be surprised.

Expect more soot than a jacketed load leaves. That is normal for a gas checked 38 Spl load carrying a bullet lubricant, and the gas check keeps actual bore leading minimal, but the cylinder face will look dirtier after a session.

Practise with it. Recoil from 38 Special standard pressure ammo is mild enough that a full box in one session is no hardship, and confidence with the exact ammunition you carry is worth more than a marginal ballistic advantage elsewhere.

Low Flash Airweight Revolver Ammunition Availability

This low flash airweight revolver ammunition is in stock and ready to ship from MAG5 Firearms, a family owned FFL dealer in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Ammunition orders ship to most states, and local customers are welcome to pick up in the shop. If you need case quantities or a +P 38 Special load, call us and we will check what our distributors have on hand.

Manufacturer details are on the Buffalo Bore site. For an all copper bullet in this calibre, compare the 38 Special 110gr TAC-XP or, if your revolver is rated for it, the 38 Special +P 110gr TAC-XP. You can also browse our full ammunition selection.