Sidearms & Scatterguns .38 Spec Short Barrel Gold Dot

[aus_Rob91]

I feel dumb for even asking this question, but I have seen a few videos showing the performance of the 135gr Gold Dot Short Barrel from 2 inch snub nose revolvers and just wondered what the performance would be like from a 3 inch? What about full size service 4 inch barrels? Would the round open up too much and not penetrate deep enough due to the extra velocity?

I ask simply out of curiosity.

 

[jasonk]

Re: .38 Spec Short Barrel Gold Dot

The bullet wouldn't know any different. All barrels have different speed, so one 2" barrel could shoot faster than another 3" barrel, etc.

Often the short barrel loads have more to do with the muzzle flash and using powders that attempt to reduce the 2" flamethrower effect. If you have barrels of various lengths and it makes sense to buy a lot of one type of ammo then I wouldn't hesitate to use the short barrel loads.