38 Special – 125 Grain JHP XTP – Hornady American Gunner – 250 Rounds

We love the 38 Special – and not just because it shares the same name as one of our favorite Southern rock bands. If you’re a stone cold believer in the versatile revolver and lever-action round, then Hornady’s American Gunner series ammo is going to meet your expectations for a carry load.

This cartridge is loaded out with Hornady’s own 125 grain eXtreme Terminal Performance bullet. It’s a jacketed hollow point, but its jacket is drawn instead of plated. That’s important, because only a drawn jacket is able to become progressively thinner the closer it comes to the JHP’s nose cavity. Its jacket’s attenuated rim and surrounding notches both help the XTP to exhibit wider-diameter terminal expansion following lower-velocity impact.

The XTP also features a rotationally stable swaged lead core, cannelure that prevents setback while recoil jerks the cartridge around in the cylinder or magazine, and fully shielded rim which prevents damage on impact that could have impaired terminal expansion. These are Nebraskan-made, brass-cased and fully reloadable self-defense rounds, but you could certainly use them for target shooting or varmint banishing purposes if you so please. Hornady recorded this round’s 900 fps muzzle velocity with a 4” barrel.