My favorite .38 Special +P snubby ammo has long been the Remington Express 158 gr LSWCHP+P, catalog No. R38S12, the soft lead hollowpoint "FBI Load." Unfortunately it's been very hard to find lately.
I was at Bass Pro the other day and discovered why. Remington has replaced it with the new Remington "High Terminal Performance" (HTP) 158 grain Lead Hollowpoint +P load, catalog No. RTP38S12. On casual inspection, it looked like the same ammo just with a subtly different package and brand name. OK, cool. And the price was good, about $10 cheaper for a box of 50 than the last time I bought the old R38S12. Maybe that should set off some warning bells?
Now that I've got a box of it home, I can detect some clear differences from the classic FBI Load. The bullet shape looks identical to my eye, same nice wide hollow cavity. Looks like the same nickeled brass. However, the bullet's lead is a lighter, frostier color. The old R38S12 was always pretty dark. I associate the lighter color of the new load with a harder cast bullet. The old R38S12 was soft as h*ll, and that was its major advantage. It was so soft that the edges would round off if you carried it in a speedloader loose in a pocket. This ensured consistent expansion, even from a snubby, while the heavy bullet weight and +P velocity ensured that it routinely met the 12" penetration standard.
The soft lead on the old version could easily be nicked with a thumbnail or a pocketknife. But I just tried to nick the new, cheaper "High Terminal Performance" rounds with my Kershaw and it wasn't as easy. I don't have hardness testing equipment or anything but I'd say the new bullet is discernibly harder.
I hope someone with some gel or other ballistics equipment tests this stuff soon. Will it still expand strongly from a snubby? If not, it's pretty much useless now. (And I don't care if it will expand from a 4" K-frame barrel. In 2013, most folks who carry or use a .38 for self-defense are carrying 1 7/8" barreled J-frames as BUGs or pocket guns.)
My working theory is that the old FBI Load was a pain in the butt for Remington to manufacture. They probably had to baby those soft lead HPs in the loading and packaging steps. Which would explain why the ammo was always expensive and pretty rare on the shelves, like they didn't care to make much of it. So now Rem has the brilliant idea of hardening up the alloy to ease production, and dropping the price. But hardening the bullet threatens to destroy the ability to expand from a snubby barrel, the very thing that made it such a trusted round for decades!
Yep, that's speculation. I hope I'm wrong. I loved having a 158 gr defense load because it hits hard and shoots to the sights. Most fixed sights on .38s are still set up for 158 gr bullets.
But if I'm right, I'll have to go back to the newfangled 135 gr Speer Gold Dot JHP+P (which I'd been carrying while I searched for more of the Rem FBI Load). Good ammo, for sure. I like everything about the Gold Dots except they hit a bit below POA, because of the lighter bullet.
Insert rant about beancounters cheapening everything down so it doesn't work right anymore...
Would welcome any corrections or independent info on this change.
I was at Bass Pro the other day and discovered why. Remington has replaced it with the new Remington "High Terminal Performance" (HTP) 158 grain Lead Hollowpoint +P load, catalog No. RTP38S12. On casual inspection, it looked like the same ammo just with a subtly different package and brand name. OK, cool. And the price was good, about $10 cheaper for a box of 50 than the last time I bought the old R38S12. Maybe that should set off some warning bells?
Now that I've got a box of it home, I can detect some clear differences from the classic FBI Load. The bullet shape looks identical to my eye, same nice wide hollow cavity. Looks like the same nickeled brass. However, the bullet's lead is a lighter, frostier color. The old R38S12 was always pretty dark. I associate the lighter color of the new load with a harder cast bullet. The old R38S12 was soft as h*ll, and that was its major advantage. It was so soft that the edges would round off if you carried it in a speedloader loose in a pocket. This ensured consistent expansion, even from a snubby, while the heavy bullet weight and +P velocity ensured that it routinely met the 12" penetration standard.
The soft lead on the old version could easily be nicked with a thumbnail or a pocketknife. But I just tried to nick the new, cheaper "High Terminal Performance" rounds with my Kershaw and it wasn't as easy. I don't have hardness testing equipment or anything but I'd say the new bullet is discernibly harder.
I hope someone with some gel or other ballistics equipment tests this stuff soon. Will it still expand strongly from a snubby? If not, it's pretty much useless now. (And I don't care if it will expand from a 4" K-frame barrel. In 2013, most folks who carry or use a .38 for self-defense are carrying 1 7/8" barreled J-frames as BUGs or pocket guns.)
My working theory is that the old FBI Load was a pain in the butt for Remington to manufacture. They probably had to baby those soft lead HPs in the loading and packaging steps. Which would explain why the ammo was always expensive and pretty rare on the shelves, like they didn't care to make much of it. So now Rem has the brilliant idea of hardening up the alloy to ease production, and dropping the price. But hardening the bullet threatens to destroy the ability to expand from a snubby barrel, the very thing that made it such a trusted round for decades!
Yep, that's speculation. I hope I'm wrong. I loved having a 158 gr defense load because it hits hard and shoots to the sights. Most fixed sights on .38s are still set up for 158 gr bullets.
But if I'm right, I'll have to go back to the newfangled 135 gr Speer Gold Dot JHP+P (which I'd been carrying while I searched for more of the Rem FBI Load). Good ammo, for sure. I like everything about the Gold Dots except they hit a bit below POA, because of the lighter bullet.
Insert rant about beancounters cheapening everything down so it doesn't work right anymore...
Would welcome any corrections or independent info on this change.
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