page_title: .38 Special
section_title: Terminal performance and expansion
hierarchical_section_title: .38 Special / Terminal performance and expansion
caption_attribution_description: A fired .38 Special hollow-point bullet viewed from the side, showing the intended terminal ballistics sometimes referred to as mushrooming.
context_page_description: The .38 Smith & Wesson Special is a rimmed, centerfire cartridge designed by Smith & Wesson. It is most commonly used in revolvers, although some semi-automatic pistols and carbines also use this round. The .38 Special was the standard service cartridge of most police departments in the United States from the 1920s to 1990s, and was also a common sidearm cartridge used by military personnel in World War II. In other parts of the world, it is known by its metric designation of 9×29.5mmR or 9.1×29mmR.
  Known for its accuracy and manageable recoil, the .38 Special remains one of the most popular revolver cartridges in the world more than a century after its introduction. It is used for target shooting, formal target competition, personal defense, and for hunting small game.
context_section_description: There are many companies that manufacture .38 Special ammunition.  It can range from light target loads to more powerful defensive ammunition.  Because of the relatively low pressure that the .38 Special cartridge and even its more powerful +P version can be loaded to, most 38 Special bullets do not expand reliably, even when using hollow-point designs, especially if fired from a short-barreled or 'snub-nose' revolver. In 2004, Speer Bullets introduced the Gold Dot jacketed hollow-point .38 Special cartridge in an attempt to solve this very problem.  Another solution is to use an unjacketed soft lead hollow-point bullet as found in the FBI Load.  The latter's 158-grain soft lead hollow point is loaded to +P pressures and velocity, which ensures more reliable expansion in unprotected flesh, even when fired in a 2-inch short-barreled revolver.
caption: A fired .38 Special hollow-point bullet viewed from the side, showing the intended terminal ballistics sometimes referred to as "mushrooming"
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