In terms of cost, you do come out ahead with 9mm as well, with it typically running at about half the cost per round of. Even micro-compacts like the SIG P365 have at least 10 rounds of 9mm in the smallest magazine size. It’s easy to find compact 9mm pistols with a 15 or more round capacity. Semi-autos are also available in significantly higher capacities. 9mm has greater power and velocity and a flatter trajectory. Self-Defenseĩmm is certainly the more popular round for self-defense for a few different reasons.įor one, there’s the ballistics. 38 Spl, it does limit you to a small niche in the competition shooting world. While there are dozens of models built for. This basically means you’re entirely limited to revolvers to fire it. 38 Spl is the fact that it is a rimmed cartridge. Besides, at the short ranges most of us are shooting handguns at, bullet drop is still relatively minimal with either of these rounds.Ī huge disadvantage of. This means new shooters who aren’t used to recoil may be more successful with. 38 Special has lower recoil, and bullet drop can be accounted for. The higher velocity and generally lighter bullet helps 9mm hold onto a flatter trajectory, making it easier to shoot accurately. Target Shootingĩmm has, without question, the superior ballistics, giving it an edge on target shooting. 9mm Specs CartridgeĪll these numbers are all well and good, but what do they mean about the real-world applications of these two rounds? Let’s find out. By The Numbers: Ballistic Comparison 38 Spl Vs. 38 certainly won’t become serious competition for 9mm, maybe it will have something of a resurgence. To their credit, there has been an uptick in revolver popularity in the last few years because of these guns’ reliability and concealability. 38 Special still only takes up a tiny portion of the overall market. Unfortunately, revolvers aren’t nearly as popular as they used to be, so despite being the most popular revolver round. It’s favored for its low recoil, especially since revolvers tend to kick more than semi-auto pistols. 38 Special, for its part, has managed to hold on as the most popular revolver round and is still used by law enforcement agencies that use revolvers.

This video compares the recoil of common handguns including the 22LR. Bothe these cartridges have lesser recoil as compared to other cartridges like. 38mm Special offers low recoil when compared to the 9mm Luger. The 115gr JHP +p or +P+ is the best of this lot for self-defense. The energy delivered by most 9mm pistols have high penetration and expansion with premium JHP bullets. 38 Special bullets with different weight and type:Ī 9mm fires bullets with velocity ranging between 12 feet per second depending on the model.Ī comparison of velocity of 9mm bullets with different weight and type:Īccuracy of shooting is dependent more on the skill of the shooter than the cartridge or gun. The velocity varies according to barrel length and type of gun.Ī comparison of velocity of. 38 Special fires bullets with velocity between 679-980 feet per second. 38 Special can hold 5 to 6 rounds while a 9mm Luger can hold up to 18 rounds.Ī. It is also a popular self-defense cartridge for civilians where permitted.Īmmunition in 9mm is available in bulk and has many variations than the ammunition for.

38 Special is used for target shooting, formal target competition, personal defense, and for hunting small game.ĩmm Luger has become the popular caliber for US law enforcement agencies due to the availability of compact pistols with large magazine round capacity using this caliber. But their popularity has declined due to the higher capacity and quicker reloading of semi-automatic pistols in the 9mm Parabellum, the. 38 Special were popular among the US police and was used by the US Air force, Navy and the Marines. By 1944, normal copper core cartridges were produced. But during WWII to conserve lead, it was made using iron core jackets. 38 Special was introduced as powder cartridge and then was manufactured as smokeless powder loadings as a result of its popularity. L-R: (1) 3 in 12 ga magnum shotgun shell (for comparison), (2) size 'AA' battery (for comparison), (3). Side-by-side comparison of many common pistol rounds.

Ballistics of 38 special vs 9mm