Ammo Inc loads this .38 Special with a 158-grain TMC bullet at 750 fps for 197 ft-lbs at the muzzle. TMC means the lead core is fully enclosed in copper with no exposed base, which is what indoor ranges that restrict bare-lead bullets ask for. The power factor works out to 119, over the 105 floor for an IDPA stock revolver but under the 120 USPSA revolver-minor floor. From a 25-yard zero the bullet drops 3.5 inches at 50 yards and 23.4 inches at 100, and the brass case can be reloaded.

It sits in the slow group of the 158-grain ball loads. Fiocchi Range Dynamics 158 leaves the muzzle 20 fps slower at 730 fps with about 4 percent less recoil energy in the same revolver. Armscor 158 is 141 fps faster and 81 ft-lbs stronger with about 32 percent more recoil energy, and Speer Lawman +P 158-grain TMJ goes further at 900 fps and 284 ft-lbs, about 34 percent more recoil than the Ammo Inc. The lighter bullets change the picture: PMC Bronze 132-grain leaves 167 fps faster at 917 fps yet recoils about 3 percent less, and Winchester USA 130-grain FMJ at 800 fps produces about 25 percent less recoil energy.

Buy it for indoor practice in a standard-pressure revolver when the range wants an enclosed bullet and you want a softer push than the Armscor or the Lawman. Shooters who need to make 120 for USPSA revolver minor should pick Armscor 158 instead, since its 141 leaves margin for a short barrel. If you want this bullet weight in a load built for defense, the Hornady 158-grain XTP runs 50 fps faster at 800 fps and 225 ft-lbs, with about 11 percent more recoil energy in the same revolver, and it is still standard pressure.