{"id":4717,"date":"2022-02-08T06:13:15","date_gmt":"2022-02-08T06:13:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/?p=4717"},"modified":"2022-02-14T17:31:54","modified_gmt":"2022-02-14T17:31:54","slug":"38-special-vs-9mm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/38-special-vs-9mm\/","title":{"rendered":"38 Special vs 9mm"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Testing.38 Special vs 9mm\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not so long ago, when you talked about self-defense firearms, especially for law enforcement officers, you were talking about some sort of revolver. More often than not, those revolvers were chambered in .38 Special. Times change, however, and now 9mm is the cartridge of choice for defensive handguns. These two cartridges have dominated the American handgun market for almost a century, so a comparison of .38 Special vs 9mm is probably in order.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the interesting things about .38 Special vs 9mm is that they both hit the shooting world within ten years of each other. .38 Special was a response to the experience of the U.S. Army using revolvers slightly the shorter .38 Long Colt cartridge in the Spanish-American war. The ineffectiveness of that round versus the Mora tribe in the Philippines drove the Army to seek a replacement sidearm. If you\u2019re thinking \u201cHey, isn\u2019t that why the Army went with the .45ACP round and the 1911?,\u201d you\u2019re right, it was. However, the revolver was still a big part of the firearms world back then, and the Navy (and others) still needed their wheelguns.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Origins Of .38 Special and 9mm<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 1899, Smith and Wesson rolled out the .38 Special cartridge with their Military &amp; Police revolver. Two years after that, Georg Luger took his 7.65x21mm cartridge and turned it into the 9x19mm cartridge we know and love today. With the introduction of the \u201cwonder nine,\u201d 9mm really took off, and it replaced the .38 Special round as the caliber of choice for law enforcement agencies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4698\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/shooting_a_38.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-0\" data-magnific_type=\"image\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4698\" class=\"wp-image-4698 size-medium\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/shooting_a_38-300x222.jpg\" alt=\"Shooting a 38\" width=\"300\" height=\"222\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/shooting_a_38-300x222.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/shooting_a_38-1024x757.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/shooting_a_38-768x568.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/shooting_a_38-1536x1136.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/shooting_a_38-610x451.jpg 610w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/shooting_a_38-1080x799.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/shooting_a_38-627x464.jpg 627w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/shooting_a_38.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4698\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Revolvers chambered in 38 Special were and are quite effective in their day<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recently, though, there\u2019s been a renewed interest in revolvers, especially when used as a pocket pistol or in deep concealment situations. There are advantages to using a wheelgun for pocket carry. The lumpy shape of a revolver means your pistol won\u2019t scream \u201cgun\u201d\u00a0 as it rests inside a holster in your pocket. The operation of a revolver isn\u2019t affected if it makes contact with your clothing or the bad guy when fired, a useful feature in a pocket gun. Lastly, the lower round count of a revolver isn\u2019t that big of a deal in a gun that\u2019s meant to be used as a backup or in extreme situations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All of these factors have sparked a renewed interest in .38 Special and the advantages of .38 Special vs. 9mm. Let\u2019s begin by looking at some of the upfront differences between .38 Special vs 9mm.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">9mm Is Less Expensive<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">9mm is undoubtedly the least-expensive centerfire cartridge out there. This means, dollar for dollar, you\u2019ll send fewer rounds downrange with .38 Special vs 9mm, which can affect your practice regimen and training time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both Are Available Almost Everywhere<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Granted, it\u2019s a bit harder to find 9mm ammo since the Walmart ammo ban of 2019, but you get the idea. Every self-respecting gun shop is going to have some sort of 9mm ammo on their shelves, and there\u2019s a wide variety of bullet sizes, weights and types for sale on our site as I type this. .38 Special is very popular as well. However, the sheer demand for 9mm ammo means that you\u2019ll see fewer varieties of .38 Special vs 9mm either online or in-person.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both Are Used In Revolvers\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fun fact: 9mm is a popular choice in the revolver-specific divisions of practical shooting sports such as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/idpa-vs-uspsa\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">USPSA<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/lets-look-at-idpa-divisions\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IDPA<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Both sports have minimums placed on handgun power, and a typical 115 grain 9mm FMJ is powerful enough to qualify. This is not true of .38 Special, as the standard 130 or 135 grain FMJ round falls a bit short, leading a competitor to shoot <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/p-ammo-more-power-or-more-hot-air\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">+P ammo<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, trade in their .38 revolver for something in .357 Magnum or shoot a 9mm revolver and reload using <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/s?k=9mm+moon+clip&amp;ref=sr_gnr_aps\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">moon clips<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both Are Used In Rifles<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Okay technically, these might be considered carbines and not rifles, but we\u2019ll leave that hair to be split some other day. AR-pattern guns chambered in 9mm are the de facto standard in the\u00a0 Pistol Caliber Carbine (PCC) division of USPSA, and lever-action rifles chambered in .38 Special are very common in the sport of Cowboy Action Shooting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They\u2019re Both Terrific Defensive Cartridges<\/span><\/h4>\n<div id=\"attachment_4699\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/test_guns-1.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-1\" data-magnific_type=\"image\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4699\" class=\"wp-image-4699 size-medium\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/test_guns-1-300x173.jpg\" alt=\"Test Guns\" width=\"300\" height=\"173\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/test_guns-1-300x173.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/test_guns-1-1024x589.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/test_guns-1-768x442.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/test_guns-1-1536x884.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/test_guns-1-610x351.jpg 610w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/test_guns-1-1080x622.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/test_guns-1-627x361.jpg 627w, https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/test_guns-1.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4699\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two service guns and two small carry guns, one of each is chambered in 38 Special and 9mm<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.38 Special stopped many a felon in its day, and 9mm is the current defensive round of choice for armed citizens, law enforcement and the military. But is 9mm that much better? To find out the effectiveness of .38 Special vs 9mm as a defensive round, we\u2019ll shoot five rounds each from four different guns into blocks of clear ballistics gel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ammo we\u2019ll use in this test is Speer Gold Dots, a very common defensive round for both calibers. We\u2019ll use the 130 grain version in .38 Special, and the 147 grain version in our 9mm guns. These days, .38 Special is a common round for snub-nosed revolvers as well as guns with longer barrels. To test this, we\u2019ll use a Ruger LCR with a 1.87 inch barrel, and our comparison gun will be a Sccy CPX-2 with a 3.1 inch barrel. We\u2019ll also shoot the same ammo from a S&amp;W M+P with a 4 inch barrel and a Glock 19 with a 4.02 inch barrel as our test service-sized pistols.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Test results<\/span><\/h4>\n<p>\n<table id=\"tablepress-49\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-49\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><\/td><th class=\"column-2\">Barrel Length<\/th><th class=\"column-3\">Avg Vel (FPS)<\/th><th class=\"column-4\"><strong>Muzzle Energy (ft\/lbs)<\/strong><\/th><th class=\"column-5\"><strong>Avg Penetration (in)<\/strong><\/th><th class=\"column-6\"><strong>Bullet Width (inches)<\/strong><\/th><td class=\"column-7\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><strong>.38 Special Ruger LCR<\/strong><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">1.87<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">854<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">202<\/td><td class=\"column-5\">13.8<\/td><td class=\"column-6\">0.46<\/td><td class=\"column-7\"><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/lcr.jpg\" data-rl_title=\"LCR Gold Dot\"  data-rel=\"lightbox-image-2\" data-magnific_type=\"image\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/lcr_sm.jpg\" alt=\"LCR Gold Dot\" title=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"62\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-3901\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><strong>.38 Special S&amp;W M+P<\/strong><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">4<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">909<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">229<\/td><td class=\"column-5\">13.5<\/td><td class=\"column-6\">.047<\/td><td class=\"column-7\"><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/m_p.jpg\" data-rl_title=\"M+P Gold Dot\"  data-rel=\"lightbox-image-3\" data-magnific_type=\"image\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/m_p_sm.jpg\" alt=\"M+P Gold Dot\" title=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"62\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-3901\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><strong>9mm Sccy CPX-3<\/strong><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">3.1<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">902<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">266<\/td><td class=\"column-5\">14.5<\/td><td class=\"column-6\">0.58<\/td><td class=\"column-7\"><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/sccy.jpg\" data-rl_title=\"Sccy Gold Dot\"  data-rel=\"lightbox-image-4\" data-magnific_type=\"image\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/sccy_sm.jpg\" alt=\"Sccy Gold Dot\" title=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"62\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-3901\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><strong>9mm Glock 19<\/strong><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">4.02<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">992<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">321<\/td><td class=\"column-5\">16.9<\/td><td class=\"column-6\">0.56<\/td><td class=\"column-7\"><a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/glock.jpg\" data-rl_title=\"Glock 19 Gold Dot\"  data-rel=\"lightbox-image-5\" data-magnific_type=\"image\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/media\/glcok_sm.jpg\" alt=\"Glock 19 Gold Dot\" title=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"62\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-3901\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-49 from cache --><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two of the biggest differences between the .38 Special vs 9mm defensive ammo we tested was the expansion of the round in the testing medium and the penetration of the round in the target. To be clear, all of the rounds we tested met or exceeded the FBI standard for penetration into gel. This means all of them are very suitable for use as a defensive pistol. The 9mm may have penetrated further, but all the rounds met the 12 inches minimum needed to pass the FBI standard.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the expansion of the bullet differed with 38 Special vs. 9mm. The 147 grain 9mm rounds, on average, opened up 0.1 inches more than the 130 grain .38 Special rounds. The larger expansion means there\u2019s more opportunity for each bullet to cause tissue damage as it makes its way through the body towards the vital areas that can stop a threat. This extra damage is useful, but real-world experience has shown that hits which penetrate into the ocular or thoracic cavities are the ones that stop the threat. The bottom line is, bullet expansion is nice, but expansion that doesn\u2019t have sufficient penetration won\u2019t be enough to stop a threat to your life. This could have been a problem with the lower-powered .38 Special cartridge, but all the rounds in our test passed the penetration test, at the expense of their overall expansion<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Final Word on 38 Special vs 9mm<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ultimately both 9mm and .38 Special are reliable rounds with over a century each of proven results. Therefore, the choice of .38 Special vs 9mm becomes more about the guns they are used in than the cartridges themselves. If you\u2019re more comfortable running a semi-auto, 9mm should be your choice. If you prefer the simplicity of a revolver and are willing to put up with fewer rounds, carry a .38 Special, and carry it with confidence. Either way, the 1-2 punch of a modern, reliable firearm and the consistent performance of modern ammunition means you\u2019ll have a gun and ammo combination that will be ready for you when you need it the most. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Testing.38 Special vs 9mm\u00a0 Not so long ago, when you talked about self-defense firearms, especially for law enforcement officers, you were talking about some sort of revolver. More often than not, those revolvers were chambered in .38 Special. Times change, however, and now 9mm is the cartridge of choice for defensive handguns. These two cartridges [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5,3,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guns-101","category-guns-201","category-intro-to-guns","category-pistol-shooting-tips","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>38 Special vs 9mm - AmmoMan School of Guns Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoman.com\/blog\/38-special-vs-9mm\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"38 Special vs 9mm - AmmoMan School of Guns Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Testing.38 Special vs 9mm\u00a0 Not so long ago, when you talked about self-defense firearms, especially for law enforcement officers, you were talking about some sort of revolver. More often than not, those revolvers were chambered in .38 Special. Times change, however, and now 9mm is the cartridge of choice for defensive handguns. 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Kevin has been a gun writer since 2006, writing articles on the new reality of gun ownership in the U.S. for publications such as American Hunter, Shooting Illustrated, BearingArms.com, Beretta.com and also Downrange TV. He is an active competitor in USPSA, IDPA and 3 Gun and is an NRA-licensed firearms instructor. 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