This is a problem that has plagued short-barreled revolvers for many years with standard ammunition. The short barrel drops velocity to the point the bullet will not properly expand. The result is a narrow wound cavity and excessive penetration. Those problems do not exist with this Short Barrel load from Speer, which penetrated relatively deep and expanded to 1.65 times its original diameter with manageable recoil.
| Load | MV (fps) | PEN (inches) | EXP (inches) | RW (grains) |
| 135-grain Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel .38 Spl. | 895 | 14.50 | .58 | 134 |
