HRNDY 38SPL 158GR JHP/XTP 25/250

Description

Hornady’s Custom line in .38 Special is aimed at shooters who want a single load that handles personal defense, duty carry, and close-range hunting without compromise. The 158-grain XTP bullet is the core of what makes this load useful across those roles: the hollow-point cavity is engineered to expand to roughly one to one-and-a-half times its original diameter on impact, which controls penetration depth rather than sacrificing it for rapid expansion. That balance matters in a defensive or duty context where overpenetration and underpenetration are equally problematic.

The XTP design achieves that controlled expansion through a series of serrations around the hollow-point cavity that direct petal separation uniformly as the bullet decelerates through tissue. The result is a predictable, reproducible wound channel rather than the inconsistent fragmentation you can get from designs optimized purely for speed of expansion. At 158 grains, this load also runs subsonic relative to many lighter defensive offerings, which affects felt recoil in lighter-framed revolvers and keeps muzzle rise manageable for follow-up shots.

Brass casings make this load reloadable, which is worth noting for shooters who practice seriously with their carry ammunition. Factory quality control on Hornady Custom ammunition includes hand-inspection of finished rounds, so dimensional consistency is tight enough that feeding from both revolvers and semi-automatic pistols chambered in .38 Special is reliable. Each box contains 25 rounds, with cases of 250 available for range training and load development.