Well, I'm equipping my wife & daughters with sets of S&W 32-1's and 33/33-1's, which are 2" and 4" barreled 5-shot J-frames chambered for .38 S&W. Correct, I said S&W, not S&W Special. (Of course, Dad here is getting a set, too, ahem, just to sorta share in the fun. Somebody find me one more good 33-1, OK?)
Anyway, I have water-filled milk jugs by the bazillion waiting for me to load up some 200g LRNs (358430) and eventually some LSWC Keith-style bullets (from a group buy mold I expect to get sometime this spring) and see how they do. If I can get about 630-650 fps from the 4" and about 600 from the snubbies, I suspect the SWC will get thru about 4-5 jugs and the LRNs thru 3 or 4. I'll also try some 158g LSWC's at low & mid 700s. Time will tell, and I'll write up a report.
I admitted in my other thread & will again in this one--I've never shot anything with this load other than paper & milk jugs, so I don't claim to be an expert. What I do know is that the 200g LSWC-K bullet drilled an arrow-straight line of holes thru 6 jugs and buried itself up to the shoulder in a piece of 2x12 backstop, knocking down the board & then falling out onto the ground. The 200g LRN started veering by about the 3rd jug until it missed the 6th & last jug altogether, and flew off to parts unknown with energy remaining.
Folks, I didn't chrono those individual shots, but I chrono'ed the loads at a blazing 718fps from a 2" barrel for the LSWC-K, and about the same (maybe 723fps or so IIRC) for the LRN.The 4" loads measured about 750fps.
Of course that says nothing about shock effect, stopping power, or anything else except basic penetration characteristics. (And yes, expansion was nil.) The LSWC-K penetration helps me believe that if I ever have to shoot in a crisis situation, that my bullet is very likely to drive thru the leather sofa in my living room (30 ft. from my hallway door), thru the upper arm of a dodging BG, and deep into or thru his chest cavity. I'll have to see if the lower .38 S&W vels promise to achieve anything similar. I like the old British & US military + modern Fackler tests that indicated 200g .38s plow straight through, and that soft lead bullets are likely to deform, smash bone, etc. I suspect that was because they were LFPs (at least the British round was that), and the later US police reports of the 200g tumbling inside the target were a result of the LRN design. . . ? So, maybe the car gun gets tumblers for anti-personnel use, and house guns get LSWC-Ks for drilling thru sofas first? Ah, decisions, decisions!
Actually, my own HD weapon is a 20 gauge pump w/buckshot, backed up by S&W 625-7 .45LC with 255g wide-meplat slugs at about 870fps. My secondary sidearms: 4" .38SPL Mod 67 with 200g LSWC-Ks. A couple of Colts with the same thing. My ladies will have the .38 S&W because the frame fits them, the weight does too, and I can load light for my recoil-averse daughter in hopes I can build her back up to heavier loads, while somewhat heavier for my other daughter & wife. Anyway, the standardization will allow my family to stop worrying about different cylinder releases, speedloaders, etc., and simply train the same way all the time, and their car guns will work the exact same as their house guns. (And yes, the British army felt the same way about sidearm training for average soldiers in the 1920s.) When they shoot each others' guns, it will sustain/improve their skills with their own--you get the picture. If I could get S&W J-frames in both 2" and 4" in .38SPL, I would have, but I can't. A 3" bbl. Chief's Special would have been a fine compromise, but I really want them to have two guns each--one purse/car, another always in the same place in the house.
I'll close by saying I'd never recommend cops or soldiers carry 5-shot .38S&W revolvers these days (except as some sort of BUG). But their tactical requirements, physical characteristics, and discipline/training are quite different than the women in my family. I suspect most BGs we might encounter would be highly dismayed to barge through "Door Number 3" and find themselves the surprise winner of 5 x 200g .38 slugs in center mass. . . .
I look forward to reporting back to you soon! Maybe I can dig up an old leather jacket and/or sweatshirt for my jugs to wear this time. . .