Mike in Virginia: did you make the mistake of saying the 38 spl with a 1&7/8" bbl is a gun with almost no energy. Oh man, what the hay did you go and say something silly like that for. I went and checked out the chuckhawks chart and saw what the 38 spl loads were rated at but did not see my favorite loading, a 200 gn swc over 3.8 of WW231 for only 700'/sec from a 2" bbl that blows on through 6' of water in 1 gallon jugs and keeps on going when hollowpoints and other 'defensive' rounds don't penetrate 3 full jugs. Now I'll tellya what buddy, it takes a fair amount of energy to do that and that isn't something you would want to stand in front of.
I doubt you knew him personally but there once was a fella named Col. Charles Askins. He had two favorite guns: one was the 45 acp firing the 230 gn ball ammo and theother was a 38 Spl firing the 200 gn police load. He once remarked about using a similar load to the 38, the British 38/200, which fired a 200 gn lead round nose at only 600'/sec from a 4" service revolver, on a WWII German soldier as he was jumping over a fence at about 25 yds distant. He said he shot once at the soldier and the after the fight was over went to see what his status was - he was dead, of course, as the slug had penetrated through the soldier's backpack and then through his chest. The 38 spl loading travels only 100'/sec faster but was one of his favorites. All in all, Askins has been described as a cold blooded killer although all his shootings were either military or police related and justified. He once reported in a interview that not including blacks, hispanics (Mexicans) or Chinese (and his terminology for these three groups was purely racial) he recalled shooting and killing 30 some-odd men and I think he often used the 38 spl with the heavy loads.
I think you have managed to find the one group of shooters who completely disagree with you over the effectiveness of the 38 spl, and I'm one of them. having used that cartridge in the past and still carrying it to this day.
