Is .38 Special Enough For Self Defense?

[ca2pa]

I read info on a website (I can't find it now) from the FBI ballistics and gun shot wounding.
Basically "stopping power" is somewhat a myth, anyone ever in combat can attest to this. Being hit with a 7.62mm, .223, .45 or .38 caliber will not knock a person off his feet like in the movies. (Maybe a .50 cal?) If a person drops after being shot, it is normally psychological ("Oh crap! I've been shot!") not physiological. Even a shot directly through the heart won't drop someone for a few minutes/seconds. (Time enough for them to finish their attack.) Only if the hit "turns off the switch" severs the nervous system, i.e. brain stem, spinal cord will they physically be sure to drop.
The study was about tissue destroyed, tissue pushed out of the way and bouncing back into position and impact shock waves effect on surrounding tissues.
I carry a 5 shot .38 snubby that I have trained with using a simple wadcutter or jacketed ball projectile.

i can see how this is true, i mean, if i here gunshots and i know they are headed my way, im droppin too, of course to find my target and engage (hopefully this never happens).

[TonyF]

I read info on a website (I can't find it now) from the FBI ballistics and gun shot wounding.
Basically "stopping power" is somewhat a myth, anyone ever in combat can attest to this. Being hit with a 7.62mm, .223, .45 or .38 caliber will not knock a person off his feet like in the movies. (Maybe a .50 cal?) If a person drops after being shot, it is normally psychological ("Oh crap! I've been shot!") not physiological. Even a shot directly through the heart won't drop someone for a few minutes/seconds. (Time enough for them to finish their attack.) Only if the hit "turns off the switch" severs the nervous system, i.e. brain stem, spinal cord will they physically be sure to drop.

The study was about tissue destroyed, tissue pushed out of the way and bouncing back into position and impact shock waves effect on surrounding tissues.
I carry a 5 shot .38 snubby that I have trained with using a simple wadcutter or jacketed ball projectile.

One instructor we know says that if it doesn't hang off the wing of an aircraft or isn't launched from the deck of a ship, don't count on it having much stopping power.

[Lycanthrope]

...Ditto

Copy that.

Lycanit'senoughthrope

[fultonCoShooter]

I read info on a website (I can't find it now) from the FBI ballistics and gun shot wounding.
Basically "stopping power" is somewhat a myth, anyone ever in combat can attest to this. Being hit with a 7.62mm, .223, .45 or .38 caliber will not knock a person off his feet like in the movies. (Maybe a .50 cal?) If a person drops after being shot, it is normally psychological ("Oh crap! I've been shot!") not physiological. Even a shot directly through the heart won't drop someone for a few minutes/seconds. (Time enough for them to finish their attack.) Only if the hit "turns off the switch" severs the nervous system, i.e. brain stem, spinal cord will they physically be sure to drop.
The study was about tissue destroyed, tissue pushed out of the way and bouncing back into position and impact shock waves effect on surrounding tissues.
I carry a 5 shot .38 snubby that I have trained with using a simple wadcutter or jacketed ball projectile.

Yes this is true i have shot deer with high powered rifles 30-06 7mm Rem Mag. Hit a buck right threw major vitals and he ran another 35-45 yards.

The only thing is deer are wild animals and animals think by primeval instincts.
a wild animal will run until its dead or can not due to the wound. Human beings tend to give up to the pain, we as humans are so comfortable in our society we have lost the instinct to survive. You can see this alot in people who have become lost in the wild they just give up, some do not. take for instance the guy who got his arm pinned in a bolder while climbing. he cut his own arm off to live. he could have given up. But not he copped that arm off and walked out. Mind over matter or the pure instinct to live.

and with Halloween right around the corner

a great twisted movie about the natural instinct to live.. SAW 1 2 3 and now 4

with that said.......... shot placement is key

i have a photo im not going to post because it is very graphic and i dont wish to offend anyone.....In the photo it shows a man in a car who was shot in the dome by a USMC sniper in Iraq.

the guys death was instant

[LastManOut]

One instructor we know says that if it doesn't hang off the wing of an aircraft or isn't launched from the deck of a ship, don't count on it having much stopping power.

..and don't forget us tanker's. A 152 mm, Beehive round, a point blank range will stop ya.

[96D]

.38 is fine for self defense! lookin to get one myself! S&W 442, SHOT PLACEMENT!

[Michele]

Geez, I hope its enough.
Thats what I carry.

[Lycanthrope]

Geez, I hope its enough.
Thats what I carry.

So shoot twice and no one will argue that a .76 is too little.......

Lycanbegenerousthrope

[Charlie B]

As they say on Wall Street, past performance may not indicate future results.

In a defensive weapon, "stopping power" doesn't necessarily have to equate to "killing power". Any round can impose a painfully traumatic wound without fatal penetration and may be an effective deterrent that I can live with. Pitching five or eight - 90 to 140 grain shots at roughly a thousand feet-per-second, in ten seconds or so, are going to have some disaster potential whether they are solid or hollow-point.
The likelihood of stopping a human or animal attack (assuming accurate shot placement) is frequently the dominant concern, but it must be balanced with other factors. The shooter has to be able to control recoil for accurate rapid fire at what might be multiple threats, or a single highly determined one.

As most of you know, we have an ongoing caliber argument. The "45 group" is all about "knockdown power" and that magical "one shot stop". "Knockdown power" and "one shot stop" should not be in the same conversation as handgun ammunition. As far as effectiveness, one needs to get at least one shot in the thoracic triangle to ensure effectiveness.

That said, my most carried handgun is either my .38 snub or my P3AT – plenty of deterrence under normal circumstances.

[Mtbkski]

I carry a 38 in a pocket holster. I spent a few extra bucks on the best ammo I could find for it. Here is a great article on the ammo I carry. http://www.handgunsmag.com/ammunitio...507/index.html

I got some very good marks. I loved the penetration and expansion this round gets. I'm confident it will do what I need it to do. Note, no lead. It is a solid brass bullet.