Federal Punch .38 Special +P HP Ammo - Will It Expand from a 2" Snub Nose Barrel? 3 Gun Test Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ก.ย. 2024
- Will I carry Federal Punch .38 Special ammo in a 2" snub nose revolver? Watch as I test the velocity, expansion and weight retention of this Federal personal defense ammo.
Man, everything on the news is crap lately but knowing that there is a man out west with a cowboy hat that is shooting his revolvers just feels right and puts a little balance back in the world ! Thanks for your video !
Thank you Shaun....you just made my day! 🤠👍🏻
Amen ! Still possible to get a glimpse of simple life .. just getting back to basics
All the touting of the advancements done to the 9mm bullet making it the ultimate man stopper ignores that the same improvements have been done to the .38, 40 S&W, and the .45acp. Thanks for showing us this.
You are very welcome and thank you for the great feedback.
These federal punch 👊 .38 calibur rounds are very nice ☺️
I have that same Marlin! And at around 1450 fps, that 120 grain 38 special is laying down 560 ft/lbs! Absolutely amazing energy output
I have a 2018 vintage 1894 as well! That's a nice velocity gain
@@christophernemeth421 I've always wanted to see the velocity and energy gains for 38 spl and 357 mag with carbine length barrels. Seeing over 425 fps and doubled energy gained over advertised really helps get an idea of the possible performance
@@texasrex2222 just remember these are all 357mag chambered, so even with 38sp+p they're all operating at about 1/2 the pressure of 357
@@beargillium2369 I've been thinking that myself, I want to see what kind of numbers common 357 loads get out of the carbine length barrel. I have some 357 mag Speer Gold Dot short-barrel rounds and would like to know what velocity and energy they get out of my levergun, but I don't have a chrono at the moment
I was thinking about the ft lbs too and wow over 500 is a lot for a 38 special!
One gel cutting trick that saved my shoulder was to use an 8" knife with the micro-serrations. I have tried every type of blade out there but the micro-serrated knives work the best, cuts like butter. Just pull the material to the side so there's less friction on the blade and saw right through it.
Excellent! Thank you for the great suggestion.
Gun Sam!
You've had plenty of practice! It's funny, i came here from one of your vids. Appreciate what both you guys do.
Enjoyed the .38 Special+P Punch video. The final resting place of the revolver rounds you fired into the gel was less than the actual distance they penetrated. They came to rest after having "sucked back" along their wound track. The actual penetration is the distance they traveled before being "sucked back" along their respective would tracks. This phenomenon is typical with gel shots, but not so in living tissue.
Great info Noah 👍👍👍👍
Thanks for the great information, Noah. Much appreciated.
Thanks for the video, enjoyed it very much. Helped me make the choice between the brands I was looking at.
I believe this is the most impressive performance I’ve seen for any 38 special self defense load across the board! 👍
I agree. I was really impressed with the expansion from a 2" barrel.
Too bad the gel wasn’t better protected from the heat. Tends to skew the results, but indeed impressive results none the less.
The Punch looks good. My prefered load has been Gold Dot 135 Short Barrel but it's been getting hard to find. Or Buffalo Bore Wadcutter which drives deep and cuts a full caliber hole all the way in.
@@MonsterHunter267 Have not seen the .38 Special HST for sale in over 2yrs.
Yes and @gunsam channel had great performance albeit out of a 4” 686 revolver today’s video.
For a .38 Special out of any length frankly, for a JHP, these seem to be top tier. Thank you for the test.
'Interesting test. Federal Punch looks like it works well, with consistent penetration and expansion for a snubbie.
What an excellent analysis! I had just picked up two boxes of these before I came across this video and now I am even more happy with my purchase! I love how you measured the caliber of the ammo after expansion. I never considered it being increased to a .5 caliber! Well done! 👏
This is the kind of information I needed. These rounds look like they will perform very well out of my Taurus M85 and my 2.5 inch K frame S&W. Great performance across the board, I was surprised at the speed of close to 1000 fps the weight retention and expansion out of a short bbl. I'll be looking for this load.
That is nice performing ammo. I just purchased a box , and can’t wait to try it out. Thank you
You are very welcome Anthony and thank you for watching my video.
Best scenery of any gun video.
I've never seen other channels weigh the fired bullets or use a micrometer on the expansion. Very nice round. Good work in that heat. Thanks for the information and entertainment.
You are very welcome ShinyPartsUp and I thank you for the great feedback.
Really enjoying your channel and content! I can't stand all those long bearded operator LARPers that are obviously shilling products sent to them. This is so much more wholesome compared to that garbage.
Awesome! Thank you so much for the great feedback....I really appreciate it. Happy Fourth of July!
Thanks, that gives me confidence in that load. I carry a 2" 38spl. revolver. I bought some of these recently.
Excellent choice David 👍😎
Penetration was actually a bit more than measured to bullet location in the block. There appeared to be about an inch or more of "bounce back", fairly common in gel tests.
Several of my viewers have educated me on bullet bounce back and I thank you and my other viewers for the great advice.
I don't know exactly what the gel costs but I've heard it's not cheap. Most of the time when people do the gel tests they just leave the block in its full length and dig the rounds out. This allows you to reuse the block numerous times for different testing and it saves you money. Some people actually melt it down and "reconstruct" it after many tests. I don't know if I would go that far but keeping it whole to reuse several times seems like a good idea. These rounds were really good and I would definitely carry them in my Centennial. Thanks for another great video. Happy Independence Day my friend. 🇺🇸
You're right, the gel is not cheap, but I can thank my Patreon supporters for the purchase of the gel and ammo. In the future I will take your advice and dig the rounds out. Thank you and have a great 4th of July.
@@mixup98
🙏👍
The gel is actually very easy to make 10 percent bloom 250A gelatin 90 percent warm water (keep the water temp below 100 F. If above this temperature, final result will be very different than expected) cool mixture to 40-45 degrees until it hardens. I bought a bunch of plastic cutting boards at wally world. Used 2x2 x .125 angle iron bolted it to outside corners. Put in countersunk bolts from inside to outside. I have used this mold literally 500 times to make the blocks. Easy to remove gel and to clean after. Ymmv
@@JohnGalt-vr3lx Thank you John. I hope to make my own gel in the future and your advice is greatly appreciated.
A large medical hemostat and a narrow knife
So many ppl give revolvers a bad name…they always go bang and in the right situation, they are amazing.
"they mostly always go bang and in the right situation..."
I like the choice of weapons, especially the "ker-chunk" sound from that lever gun, and the echo from that shooting spot, great video 👍
👍😎
I bought a Taurus 605 2" snubby last week and bought this +P ammo today and I'm glad I did, because I came home to look up performance reviews of this round and saw your results, and it looks like I made a good choice!
Good choice on the Taurus 605 revolver. I own several Taurus revolvers and they are very well made, accurate and fun to shoot.
I carry a 605 with this ammo. The weight of the 605 helps with this ammo. Magnums are punishing in the 605.
Perfect timing as I’m looking at a few 38spl +P revolvers. Thanks so much for this review.
God bless 🇺🇸 and have an amazing 4th!
Thank you my friend, and the same to you!
Excellent video
I loves my .38 specials
Thanks for sharing
Best Regards from New Washington
Greetings from Nevada and thank you for watching my video.
You’re welcome
Not enough attention paid to the.38 special but it can rock !
I love that lever marlin. Its beautiful. Now o know what to tell my wife what i want for my birthday next month maby get some punch to go with it.
Love my Marlin 👍😎
I thank you and Greg from lionquest fitness for getting me back into revolvers. You have great content.
Hey Mixup98 Great vid as always! YEP those lighter .38 specials do sometimes tend to be a little shy on penetration. None the less that is impressive out of the snub.
38 special is a very underrated self defense round. Love my S n W model 642
Your video helped me determine what I would carry. I looked at 3 different cartridges and Punch tested a little bit better. Thank you sir.
Impressive performance out of a snubby. Thanks for testing that load
You're welcome and thank you for watching my video.
Ballistics Gel !!!
I love that Marlin.
I'm hoping to find a Henry in 357.
Thanks for another great video.
Put some denim in front of the gel then compare it to Hornady critical defense ammo. See which one comes out the best. Plus you get 25 rounds with Hornady instead of 20.
Thank you for the vid! The debate over whether or not expansion in gel is realistic will never end. I like gel tests as a consistent medium useful for comparisons and the Meat Target (credit Paul Harrell) for more Actual Human Body performance.
Great evaluation of this ammo , you demonstrated how this Federal "Punch"" will perform regardless of barrel length . Based on the results I definitely agree that it's an acceptable carry round for self defense . From the rifle you're basically firing a .357mag . I should've bought that same Marlin a couple of decades ago when my friend offered to sell it to me for cheap .....damn ! They're no where to be found now . Anyhow , really great video & analysis . GOOD JOB !!!
I'm highly impressed with this test. I might get a now as I'm going to do some accuracy and expansion tests on my new Taurus 605 with 2 inch barrel and another in 3 inch barrel,both 357. papa wishing you well
Well Done! Most of the videos I see with 38 special tests are shooting out of a 4 inch barrel thank you for using a 2 inch stubby because that’s what most people carry.👍
That was very interesting, thanks. From the looks of velocity, penetration and expansion I think this round was designed for revolvers in the 2 1/2 to 3" lengths. I will definitely pick some of these up for my 3" Model 65.
Great comparison. I've used the 22lr & 22wmr which are great. Now I may pick up some 38special & 9mm also. Very good video. Thanks. Stay safe. 🇺🇸 🙏 👍
You also stay safe and thanks for always watching my videos.
Great video! You can see why I chose their 124 gr. Punch for my 9mm EDC pistol. The one thing that impressed me as much as the consistency, was how accurate it is out of my 3.75" CZ P01. I can keep some very tight groups with it.
Fed punch is no joke, very consistent
Are you Latigo Smith or Swifty Morgan? you cain't be both
Thanks for sharing your unbiased reviews and keep them coming please.
Nice demonstration. As far as economical ammo goes, an excellent choice is the old school Remington 125 grain SJHP plus p or the same load in 357 magnum. Great performance for a decent price. They also have the same projectile configuration in 158 grain, which is excellent in rifles.
I'm hoping to test Remington ammo in the near future. Thanks for the suggestion with the 125 gr. SJHP +P.
The Federal round worked great out of all weapons. I notice the one from the Ruger seemed to mushroom more completely, because it had a flat face (no depression in the center like the shorter barreled Smith). Also I think the Ruger bullet may have penetrated further and bounced back. Just my two cents.
Today I learned about bullet bounce back from my viewers and it does appear that the Ruger bullet did bounce back about 1.25" As always, thank you for taking the time to watch and comment on my videos.
After the beautiful video on the Remington R51 (one of the best I've seen in recent months) you come up with this other very interesting video! Very good job, man.
Another great video sir! I like how thorough you present everything. Also I've seen on other channels in hot climates they bring a cooler for the gel block, might be worth trying. Looking forward to the next one!
Hi Dan. I will definitely have my gel sitting in an ice chest right up until the time I use it. I might also build some type of shade screen while it is sitting on the table.
Very interesting to see the difference...well done 👏🏻 👏🏻 would love to see more of the gell testing...I had a feeling that Smith and Wesson was going to be strong 🤠👏🏻🇺🇸🇺🇸
Great video thank you for sharing! I’ve found these federals to be extremely accurate in my RIA 2” and pretty pleasant to shoot.
👍😎
This ammo is doing the rounds on quite a few gun channels, and everyone seems to be in agreeance that it is the bee''s knees. BTW, your taste in fire arms is excellent! Great video!
Thank you for the nice compliment Jeff.
It is but I'm not seeing it around on on-line vendors or the couple of places locally that I frequent. Know what is showing back up? Remington 125 grain +P SJHP (on-line anyway) in the 50 count boxes. It's sort of like the world forgot that there's all these snub nosed .38's that are already in existence and oogles of them that have been sold since the scamdemic began and the focal point of production has been largely 9mm. Luger. And then to add to the backlog, they're goofing around with this dog ".30 Super Carry" instead of getting supplied what's already out in the field.
I'm old enough to remember when penetration and expansion tests were conducted using phone books saturated with water or blocks of potter's clay.
but then again , I'm old enough to remember when a 200gr R.N.L. ( soft ) loaded to moderate velocity was considered a great self defense round.
Good times . Good times. Great video. Peace , Be Free.
Love your opening. That is a really good round. Like the sound of your lever action marlin.
I've picked up a pretty good bit of these. I'm very pleased with the entire Punch lineup. Excellent video, thanks much.
I'm hoping to review the Punch 9mm and .45 ammo sometime in the near future. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment on my video.
Mixup. Howdy from Texas, again. I'm glad you did this particular production. I, too, own a snubby that caused me a bit of curiosity about performance with Federal Hydro-Shok rounds. It seems these you are shooting at 120 grains rounds that should compare well with the 125 grain hydro-shoks I carry for self defense. I also have a Smith 586 (AAA serial number) four inch, similar to your Ruger GP-100 and believe these rounds would also exceed 1000 feet/second in a four inch barrel. However, I have to complain that, although I have desired one deeply since the 1980s, I do not yet own a Marlin 1894CL. I will have to, I expect, hold this jealousy motivated fact against you for the foreseeable future. Good luck up there in deeply parched Nevada. Thanks for another great and valuable production. Garza.
Howdy Lauro and greetings from hot southern Nevada. Although I have owned several six inch 586 revolvers in the past, I have never owned a 4", which is on my bucket list, which now makes me the jealous one 😁
@@mixup98 :D
Heck ya! Thank you for sharing. My Ruger will love that too. Great video! Include more of the ballistic gel tests!
I plan on doing a lot of testing with the ballistic gel in future videos 👍😎
I’ve seen videos where this ammo doesn’t expand out of a 2-inch barrel and I’ve seen videos, like this one, where it does. So, for me, that’s unreliable performance out of a 2-inch barrel. I have yet to find a hollowpoint 38 Special that reliably (consistently) expands while still getting adequate penetration out of a snubnose. This Federal Punch is one of the more reliable hollow points out of a 2-inch barrel that I’ve seen but still not reliable enough for me. I demoted my stock of it to small game hunting and pest control ammo for use in my 4-inch barrel Kimber 357 and have replaced it with Underwood Xtreme Defender 38 Special fluted copper solids as my exclusive self-defense ammo for my snubnose 38. Not being dependent upon expansion but doing damage by tumbling and getting around 14 inches of penetration in ballistics gel, it’s the perfect workaround to the challenge of reliably getting expansion velocities out of a 2-inch barrel. As hollow points out of a 380 pocket pistol face the same problem, I’ve likewise switched to 380 Xtreme Defender as my exclusive personal protection ammo for my Ruger LCP.
Nice jelly test and I would not mind carrying this round out of either barrel length. Thanks for the video and I hope you are having a good 4th of July weekend.
Impressive expansion and overall consistency. I will be carrying this in a 4.2-in GP100
Great choice, and great revolver.
I would love to see some more ballistic test with different ammo and calibers. I love this stuff! Very informative.
LOVE your model 60 with the unfluted cylinder.
Me too! 👍😎
I really wish he would start doing this on the regular. With all calibers and different types of projectiles. After tnoutdoors9 and scuba Oz I really miss these ballistic channels. And you really did a good video on that. Great job!!!
Thanks again for another great educational vid. I’ve been wondering what 38spl +p for my 357SP101. Now I know. Thanks very much.
Awesome....glad I could help you, Doug.
Good rounds if you can get them is right. .38 Special and .357 Magnum ammo is a lot more available and affordable than it was in 2020 and thank God for that. But we're a long way from being able to dependably walk into a store or even shop online and get our preferred choice right off the bat.
@Eric DaMAJ.....38special where I'm at in Florida still pretty Scarce since December 2020!!
The shelves at Academy are full. But no 38 or 357. I did find some 357 Critical Defense at one pawn shop, and these Punch rounds at another.
Thank you for proving, beyond a shadow of a doubt, barrel length increases velocity.
Absolutely! There are some rounds that will perform similar out of a 10” barrel to a 14.5” like the 300 blk out but that’s really a rarity and it was purpose built for that.. do that with a 223 or any other rifle round barrel length can make allllll the difference. the twist rate can have a giant impact on how a round will act after it makes contact. Pretty cool!!
FYI Energy foot# calculated by squaring velocity, divide result by 450400, multiply that result by bullet weight in grains.
Interesting
I've seen others test this with very different results
Also, wish I still had my .357 lever, it was great fun
I love the new intro. I have some punch ammo in 9mm. it's decent.
The punch seems to be a very efficient round, I think it would do the trick. Thanks for the video brother.
Stay safe.
Thanks for posting this detailed testing with particular relevance to snubbys. I like how you measured expansion with calipers, and well as weighed the rounds to assess mass retention.
Thanks for watching and I appreciate the feedback.
Great job my friend . I really was wondering about these. I enjoyed your presentation. Thanks much!
God bless all here.
I am glad you enjoyed my video and I thank you for watching it. Have a great day👍🤠
The federal punch in .22 magnum and the +p38 special both seem to do very well. These would be worth waiting for when they arrive in our area. Great video Mixup98!!
Hello Eduardo. I am hoping to review the Federal Punch 9mm ammo sometime in the near future. Stay tuned my friend.
@@mixup98 Yes Sir!! Looking forward to thiat.
Thanks for all you do mixup!!! I ALWAYS enjoy watching your videos, have a great day and God bless 👍👍
I appreciate that Bill. My son and I will get back to making our shooting videos once the weather starts to cool down. We are having an excessive heat wave here in southern Nevada.
Love it when you break the chrony out! So much insight from that info.
Oh wow. And gel! Thanks for all that data Mix.
My Rossi 92, that I bought because of your “ Brazilian Junk” video, is my self defense rifle, truck gun, all round general purpose rifle. Would I feel under gunned in just about any situation with that rifle ? Not likely , unless I was against the large bears or perhaps Sasquatch….other than that, I will stick with it. By the way , some good skinner sights, an action cleanup job, and a loading port smoothing job works wonders on the Rossi. Definitely will try some “ punch” ammo, you haven’t steered me wrong yet in the last decade I have been watching your videos. “ De Oppresso Liber”.
Hello Donald. I'm glad to hear that you bought a Rossi Model 92 because of my video. I used my 92 when I was competing in cowboy action shooting and that Rossi helped me take first place in a lot of those shooting matches. Unfortunately I sold that rifle five or six years ago when I moved. Maybe someday I will run across another one, and I won't hesitate to buy it.
@@mixup98 When I am rich and famous I may buy a second one.
Mixup as always very informative!
Thank you Gary 👍😎
I loved your 357s each one is very unique I don’t own one currently as I mostly have 9s & .22s but I have a lot of different types of self defense ammunition. I’m glad I was here when you shot the new gel block but since everyone else scolded you about the bounce back I’m going to say thanks for buying it sir
Thanks for not scolding me, Robert 👍😁 Have a great July 4th!
Thanks for the vid, just picked some up today after watching!
👍😎
The velocity/energy of the revolver at close range should match what you would get out of the rifle at about 100 yards. At 40 to 100 yards, the bullet probably would not come apart and keep the coyotes and foxes from your domestic animals. In any case, the desire to not loose mass in a handgun round is so you get adequate penetration. Rifle penetration was excellent even while losing a third of the mass.
Great review. Impressive round.
...nice and the Star Trek transporter sound effect us awesome.
Thank you Mr. Baca 👍🤠 👍👽
That was impressive. Your always improving. The ballistic gel was a nice touch and I like how you measured the Bullet afterward. Great Video.
I heard you can melt those Ballistic blocks down again to reuse. Just leave it on your Table in the Sun Haha
I have ordered a mold, which should be here next week, and I will then be able to melt and reshape my ballistics gel. I am anxious to actually test the ammo that I carry in my defensive semiauto pistols.
@@mixup98 That's awesome Man. I hope we get to see it
Just bought a box of this for my snub, glad to see it performs well out of a short barrel.
Love this channel! Also love the .38/.357 cartridges. My SP101 always rides on my hip.
largely enough for self defense ! good test, nice ammo
Much appreciated!
Great video. Just ordered 100 rounds of this ammo for my own testing.
Excellent choice Terrill 👍😎
Thanks for using 2" 4" and rifle. Nice comparison and thumb up. 😎
Another great demonstration. Good video 👍🇬🇧
Thanks for this Mixup98...I bought some of these During Pandemic haven't fired them 38special Ammo where I Live is Pretty Scarce / Non Exsistant...Glad you did this I feel very confident if I had to use in my RIA M-200 or My snub Taurus 856!😃...Thanks for all you do for us and have a Happy 4th!🙂🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲
Awesome video, Ive always been a PUNCH fan
Thanks for the compliment, Rick !!
I love your Marlin! I've been looking for one all year long!! I need one
I picked mine up just before the pandemic. One of the best decisions I ever made.
Interesting that the model 60 got deeper penetration than the 4in Ruger but perhaps the higher velocity created more rapid expansion . Also my model 60 is a .38 not .357 but it is a bit older with no dash or internal lock .
Excellent review. Gonna see if I can lay my hands on a couple boxes of Punch ammo tomorrow!
Hope you find some. I am extremely pleased with the performance of this ammo through a 2" barrel.
Video was well done-very professional
38 spl is no joke. The marlin rifle was very impressive. You could hunt deer with a 38/357 rifle shooting the right bullet. That load would keep the booger man away in the revolvers. Awsome video. God bless.😊 Nevada is beautiful.
Excellent! I've seen many ammo test and some are booooriiiing. You made the test very fun and interesting. Great job!
That's great self defense ammo. I'm impressed. Great video.👍
Thank you Joe!
Thanks for the info and video and greetings from the great state of Alaska. Happy Independence Day.
0:19 love the Star Trek entrance
Thank you James 👍👽
Captain Hot Pistol beams back from the Ammo store. Cool.
Great video..glad to see your videos are becoming more informative in these modern time…
I need to get that Marlin .357/38 special so I'm ready with my .38 special +P 4" Revolver. 2 Firearms 1 Ammo, Winning !
Great performance. Good consistency.
Excellent video and excellent performance especially out of a 2 1/8'' barrel. The bullets show a little bounce back in the gel. This is very common, especially in clear gel. The bullet travels "X" amount but for some reason bounces back up the channel it created. Sometimes you'll get minimum bounce back that's only fractions of an inch and sometimes it can be up to 4''. I like to measure the entire travel as the bullet actually went this far. If we add this to your readings most will be about an inch or so more than recorded. All in all, I think the load did very well in all barrel lengths. I would like to see a couple layers of clothing in front of the gel to see if the bullet will still open up well or if it will clog with clothing and not expand. Nothing crazy like the FBI uses. IMO there's no need to have 4 layers of heavy denim. Maybe 1 layer of denim and 1 layer of T-shirt and/or fleece. In the rifle length barrel the 38 basically becomes a 357 mag load with a velocity nearly the same as a 357 mag from a 4'' barrel. + this is a nice low recoil load in the snubbie. I also have a S&W mod 60 2 1/8'' and a S&W mod 60 3'' Pro Series. I find them both to be a whole lot of fun. However, for me the 2 1/8'' gun with 125 gr (my carry load) is quick shooting and pretty controllable while a heavily loaded 158 gr or 180 gr bullet is right on the edge of controllable for rapid fire. This 120 gr 38 +P has to be really easy to shoot quickly. If you spend a couple bucks for a spring kit from Wolf Springs and do a little polishing of the lockwork and trigger components, you can get a tremendous trigger pull and slick action on the model 60. My double and single action provide 100% reliable primer ignition while providing a butter smooth 7 1/2lb double action and a "Think Bang" crisp 2lb single action pull
Hello Frank. In the last 24 hours I have learned a lot from my viewers about bullet bounce back and I thank everyone who has brought this to my attention. Various types of clothing will definitely be used in future videos when testing hollow point ammo. I have used Wolff spring kits for many, many years and almost all of my revolvers have the springs installed. Back when I was shooting competition with a revolver I used a very slick and polished S&W Model 586 that won me a lot of trophies. It is always good to hear from you and I hope you have a wonderful July 4th.
@@mixup98 Thanks. Hope you and yours have a great 4th as well.
Excellent analysis video sir. That is some great ammo for self defense and I’ll keep an eye out for it. Currently use hornaday FTX in my revolvers staged for defense. Would you be interested in doing a gel video with those in .38, .38+p, or .357? I’d like to see how they perform after I’ve been relying on them for almost 20 years already.