.38spl hard to find?

[bangerjim]

I've got ammo cans full of it! No shortage here. All loaded by lil' old me!

I have not bought ammo (execpt 22LR) in over 12+ years.

If I need more, I will just load a bunch. After all, isn't this a "cast boolits and reloading" forum? Not a lack of commercial ammo complaint forum?

banger

[1hole]

It seems to me that good .38spl ammo is very hard to come by these days..........

Not at my house.

[murf205]

Not at my house.

My son used to call me The Fred Sanford of brass scroungers. After pricing factory ammo currently cost and trying to find brass to load, he sees the wisdom of my hoarding. I only wish the political climate that caused all these shortages was not brought about by morons!

[ddixie884]

I've got ammo cans full of it! No shortage here. All loaded by lil' old me!

I have not bought ammo (execpt 22LR) in over 12+ years.

If I need more, I will just load a bunch. After all, isn't this a "cast boolits and reloading" forum? Not a lack of commercial ammo complaint forum?

banger

I'm not complaining. I've got mine and plenty of it, factory and handloads. It is the folks I know asking the question. I just wondered how it was with other folks in other places. Meanwhile I can't load for anyone but close family and I can't afford to give my factory ammo away like chewing gum samples...........

[Soundguy]

Seems easy to me. Every time I want some I load a couple hundred and go shoot.

Same here. Depends what I want. RN, SWC, HP, 90-158gr..GC if needed.

Always easy to find

[Char-Gar]

Not scarce around my house. Who buys factory 38 Special ammo?

[Drm50]

People that only shoot a few boxes a year buy factory ammo. I know guys that hunt that are 80 and they buy a fresh box of ammo every couple of years. They aren’t interested in loading at all.
38sp and 222 were first cartridges I loaded for when I was a kid. Target for 38 and groundhogs for 222.

[bangerjim]

38 is my magic number! I love it in the revolvers and long guns I have.

That is one of my three ammos of choice. I cannot see all the hoop-la over 45 ACP's. Hard to load due to short stubby brass & short seating lengths and most pistols are finicky due to ramp and throat designs all over the map. Until you spend even MORE money getting them throated or by the special reamer. I choose 40 S&W over the 45 ACP every time.

Another favorite is 45LC. I have many revolvers and long guns that just love to eat anything in 45LC I feed them!!!!!! No fuss, no muss, they just work! You can't beat the feel of a good old 45 revolver in your hand fan-firing it at a target!

Today I guess you shoot what you can find! And that is not much, for those of us that did not see the writing on the wall and stockpile our supplies deep and long and high.

Good luck out there finding ammo you need/want.

banger

[johniv]

.38 spl. factory ammo IS hard to find here. The gun shop I frequent has some .45 9 mm and .40, but .38 and 380 seem to be scarce. On the bright side .357 sig and 5 mm rim fire are on the shelf.

[Murphy]

Y'all, this thread most broke my heart in a 1,000 tiny little pieces all over the floor!

I can't remember which took place last. Me buying some factory .38 Specials? Or me and the wife having 'relations'.


Murphy

[GoodOlBoy]

Y'all, this thread most broke my heart in a 1,000 tiny little pieces all over the floor!

I can't remember which took place last. Me buying some factory .38 Specials? Or me and the wife having 'relations'.


Murphy

Mine was certainly the buying of 38 specials, though probably not by much!

God Bless

Richard

[Butzbach]

Mine was certainly the buying of 38 specials, though probably not by much!

God Bless

Richard

We’ll all have to share these quips with the jury as our defense attorneys try to dig us out of the hole our home rolled ammo put us in when we had to use it on the street. There’s a place for factory ammo and that’s in your carry piece and your spare magazine and/or speed loader. You’ll need it for periodic training too.

[poppy42]

We’ll all have to share these quips with the jury as our defense attorneys try to dig us out of the hole our home rolled ammo put us in when we had to use it on the street. There’s a place for factory ammo and that’s in your carry piece and your spare magazine and/or speed loader. You’ll need it for periodic training too.

Show me one instance, documented case, where charges have been brought against an armed citizen Soley because the ammo he used for self-defense we’re handloads! They don’t exist! If the use of deadly force is justified and proved so you cannot be charged because your ammunition was hand loaded! I’ve searched for years and never found one instance of someone being charged solely because they used hand loaded ammunition!

[Soundguy]

..and... How would someone know something was hand loaded.
I have loaded rounds that were made specifically to duplicate factory ammo..be it lswc or lrn or semi jacketed RNFP.

You can set my rounds next to factory loads... I bet only a trained loader with a good eye and/or tearing the ammo down to compare would show what is what.

[Outpost75]

Anybody who didn't either buy it cheap and stack it deep or get set up in bullet casting and reloading before 9/11 has been behind the power curve for decades. When our department changed from revolvers to bottom feeders I bought several 5-gallon buckets of one-fired brass from the academy at $10 a bucket more than the salvage scrap price, and bought a used Star loading machine and hoarded powder and primers. I'm not likely to run out in lifetime. I also hoarded used cop revolvers bought affordably. A better investment than Wall Street.

[poppy42]

..and... How would someone know something was hand loaded.
I have loaded rounds that were made specifically to duplicate factory ammo..be it lswc or lrn or semi jacketed RNFP.

You can set my rounds next to factory loads... I bet only a trained loader with a good eye and/or tearing the ammo down to compare would show what is what.

Even if they could, it wouldn’t make a difference! If the use of deadly force is justified,case closed. Now with all that being said if there wasmitigating circumstances, do use of deadly force was questionable, then all bets are off.

[Jtarm]

Me too he said smugly. I was wondering about the people who don't load. What are they doing for a box or two since they probably can't start loading. It is as hard to find SPP as most ammo.............

I am soooo lucky.

Just before the lockdowns started, an LGS closed out Remington 5 1/2s for $100 per case. I left with 20,000 (now wish I’d bought 50k).

I’m down to about 13,000, so I started rationing myself to 100-150 per week till they (hopefully) become available again.

For once a shortage didn’t catch me flat-footed.

[Soundguy]

Anybody who didn't either buy it cheap and stack it deep or get set up in bullet casting and reloading before 9/11 has been behind the power curve for decades. When our department changed from revolvers to bottom feeders I bought several 5-gallon buckets of one-fired brass from the academy at $10 a bucket more than the salvage scrap price, and bought a used Star loading machine and hoarded powder and primers. I'm not likely to run out in lifetime. I also hoarded used cop revolvers bought affordably. A better investment than Wall Street.

I wish I had been into wheelguns back when police switched from revolvers to semi auto. Probably lots of deals were around on worn finish but barely used 38/357's.

I did however eventually get an ex Leo 70's era python from a FHP's estate. Great gun. Sun bleached grip on the side facing out. Holster/ muzzle wear in the bluing, and the retention grip wore a divot in the trigger guard.

[Jtarm]

Anybody who didn't either buy it cheap and stack it deep or get set up in bullet casting and reloading before 9/11 has been behind the power curve for decades. When our department changed from revolvers to bottom feeders I bought several 5-gallon buckets of one-fired brass from the academy at $10 a bucket more than the salvage scrap price, and bought a used Star loading machine and hoarded powder and primers. I'm not likely to run out in lifetime. I also hoarded used cop revolvers bought affordably. A better investment than Wall Street.

Yeah I wish I’d pounced on the trade-in revolvers a little more. I just wasn’t that into .38/.357 DAs back then.

I remember one mid-90s gun show where a dealer had probably 50 3” GP100s priced $219 apiece. I’m sure there were much better bargains than that.

[Half Dog]

On the plus side, perhaps there will be great sales on firearms that are hard to feed.