Give these a try: 38 Special 90 gr FTX® Critical Defense® Lite - Hornady Manufacturing, Inc
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It’s not just recoil that rattles a shooter—it’s muzzle blast as well.
The new shooter certainly doesn’t need to learn to flinch.
A longer barrel will mitigate muzzle blast. A longer barrel will also increase velocity which contributes to reliable expansion, if that’s what you’re looking for. A larger steel frame revolver with well-fitting stocks (even rubber Pachmayrs or Hogues) can often mitigate recoil, up to a point.
+P in a 6" barrel isn’t the beast it’s made out to be, in fact it’s nowhere near a .357.
In a long barrel, full size steel revolver with the right stocks, +P might even be considered a pussycat.
Speer makes or used to make) plastic cases with reusable plastic wadcutter bullets driven by a small pistol primer. That’s the mildest .38 revolver round going. Useless for protection but very good for what it does offer----recoil and muzzle blast free training, even indoors. If a new shooter can learn with those, move them up to a LHBWC “match” round. If they can handle that with confidence, move on to a LSWC.
That will give them the same defensive capabilities as the Adam Twelve crowd.
If they can handle the LSWC with confidence, maybe maybe try out the Winchester +P LSWCHP (Lead Semi Wadcutter Hollow Point FBI load) if they’re after expanding projectiles, but don’t push them.
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I’ll grant you that the 130 gr FMJ are useful as lower cost practice rounds to stand in for 130 gr-ish hollow points as they should register close to the same POI on a paper target, but for a defensive round I think they are a huge step below even the 158gr LRN widow makers which will at least penetrate if they aren’t deflected, but the 130 FMJ is as notorious for deflecting as it is for lack of penetration. But for a lightweight jacketed hollow point projectile to reliably 'shroom out of a 2" barrel and offer enough penetration to reach the engine room in one piece, that’s kind of “iffy” in my book. Maybe out of a 4" or 6" barrel but I sold mine off when I left the SO, so I’m not able to offer any definitive comment.
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I have two .38 caliber revolvers: 1) a Colt Diamondback with 2 3/4”barrel, and the other was my dad’s carry (most everyday) a S&W 2” Chief’s Special. And, PLEASE, if I got something wrong, detail-wise feel free to correct me. The Colt I use Hornady Critical Defense loads, or Federal Defense loads….I TRY to stay away from the +P’s, if possible; and the S&W, the same, but that thing is NO FUN to shoot with the Hot +P’s, I assure you…and I’m probably older than most of you!! (My carry is a Wilson Combat CQB 4” Elite Pro lightrail in.45APC, . It weighs about 38-40 Oz’s, and I’m still experimenting on my defense “go-to. but, I think I’ll use something in a 200-230gr. in a HP. Hell, we aren’t exactly trying to make new friends here, right?
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Sorry, I just remembered something. (And at my age, that is a good thing)!! A fellow shooter friend and I had been shooting 148gr hollo-based wadcutters (reloads) in my Colt .38, and tried loading those HB wadcutters into the cases backwards! We shot some gallon jugs with
warm H20 and Jello (in dbl strength Jello (it got pretty stiff-poor man’s
ballistic jell) and never had a misfire! Sorry, I don’t remember the load, I believe we used about 5gr of Bullseye. It was HOT but had some real potential at say 20yds or less! I am not necessarily suggesting anyone doing that, you understand.
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And Enzo’s reply was absolutely spot ON!! You can’t give a beginner, or someone who is hesitant a “Hand Cannon w/+P’s” and expect anything but a traumatized, gun-hating fearful human being, who possibly might never want to hold the weapon again! AND NOW YOU DO HAVE TROUBLE!
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The only revolver I have personally owned is Ruger LCR .357, I have this little pestering part of me that says to buy a Chiappa.
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I’ve never shot one but with the low barrel, high grip and heavier weight it should handle recoil a lot better than your little LCR:) Though I hear LCRs handle reasonably well for their light weight and small size.
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Here’s an update after doing a bunch of research on the ammo mentioned in here (big THANKS to all who replied), reading some other forums, and down a long path of youtube gel tests. This just narrows the list, it will be up to the end-user to try these out for accuracy, reliability, etc.
Remember, this is for a very recoil sensitive shooter using a full-size revolver.
The first thing I noticed when researching is there aren’t a lot of reviews using a 6" barrel. Actually, I don’t think I saw a single one with a 6", but a few using 4" barrels. The overwhelming majority of gel test reviews are with snubbies of 2" or less. I believe the industry is thinking of using 38spl in Conceal Carry (CC) use-case, not for a home-defense or similar use-case where you might use a full-size barrel. I think this contributes to the overall impression that 38spl is “weak” because everyone seems to be only considering the CC use-case with a short barrel. And indeed 38spl out of a 2" snubbie is generally speaking… not great. But out of a longer barrel I think you can get sufficient velocity to be pretty effective.
The two levers available to control recoil/power are velocity and weight. Generally you have 3 choices… light and fast, heavy and slow, and a few right in the middle. Recoil seems fairly subjective and watching the reviewers it was hard to determine how much recoil there was if they didn’t explicitly mention it.
In regards to projectile construction… Wadcutters are the “old tried & true” choice, and you can definitely do worse. It seems to have a “crushing” effect on tissue, deep penetration, and no expansion but it may tumble. Hollow-points (HP) are a good option when they work, and they need a certain amount of velocity to work correctly. The ones I’ll list below seem to work appropriately at the expected velocities. Semi-Wadcutters mostly behaved like wadcutters and didn’t really expand much (if any) in the reviews I watched, so I think the choice is between HP or a WC. The other entry in here is the monolithic copper projectiles (made by Lehigh?) loaded by Underwood which have “flutes” milled into them which (in theory) help behave like a HP in reducing penetration and increasing cavity while also being pretty much barrier blind and achieving good penetration.
For overall “power” there is a wide-range of results. From down near 150ft/lbs (which is .22lr territory) up to almost 400ft/lbs in some of the +P options (which is between 9mm and .45ACP territory). Most of the ones I saw the math on were in the 200-300ft/lbs range. Considering this specific use-case (recoil sensitive shooter), I think a lower muzzle-energy level is OK as long as they can get good follow-ups.
This is not an exhaustive list, just the ones where I could find reviews/gel tests, ideally out of longer 4-6" barrels, were available(ish) for purchase, and seemed like they would do the job while having low-recoil.
- These are first choice
– Hornady 90gr FTX Critical Defense Lite
– Hornady 110gr FTX Critical Defense
– Underwood 100gr Xtreme Defender - These are a little spicier, worth a shot though…
– Winchester 130gr +P Defender PDX1
– Speer 135gr +P Gold Dot (not currently available) - When all else fails…
– (pretty much) Any wadcutter in the 148-158gr range, specifically “target” loads seem to be milder
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Nice summary of options.
I would add a couple considerations…
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Porting makes a significant difference in felt recoil in my experience. Below is my Model 60 3" barrel with Magnaport ports. Jerry Miculek ports all of his firearms, so it’s impact on muzzle rise and recoil is not my imagination. Some will argue that porting reduces velocity, but tests don’t support that there’s a significant difference, and a slow moving 38 SPL is better than a 22 any day.
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Bullet choice matters a lot. Unlike semi-autos that rely on velocities greater than 1,000 for expansion and terminal performance, revolver rounds can produce decent terminal performance without requiring hand thumping speeds. Lehigh loads, wad cutters and semi jacketed hollow points are a couple examples.
.38 Special Ammo - Lehigh Defense
- Revolver triggers can and should be worked for a trigger press the owner is comfortable with. All sorts of spring kits are available to do that and any gunsmith worth his salt can do an S&W trigger job. 22 cal revolvers are another matter as they rely on a fairly heavy trigger spring to ignite rim-fire cartridges reliably. So, ironically, one can have a 38 SPL/357 mag with a lighter, smoother trigger pull than a 22 LR.
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There are also frangible and TUI bullets to consider.
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Nathan 57 SIR CAN I USE 38,special rounds in my 357 colt??? Sir thanks Bobby Jean 
It is safe to use in spec .38 special (including +P of course) rounds in a revolver chambered for .357 magnum.
That’s one the big appeals to a revolver in .357 magnum. It will generally be heavier and built more strongly than a comparable gun only chambered in .38spl…but you can get tons of use and value out of a .357 mag revolver without ever shooting .357 magnum in it
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Nathan57. Thanks truly it’s a colt cowboy pistol 357 magnum and I think it would work better for my aiming it’s a six shooter six I got it for 6, hundred dollars and it’s new I always wanted a cowboy six it’s not too long maybe six ench barrel long I never used it yet it’s heavy like my super ruger back hawk 44 magnum but it feels more balanced I can trurrel it like a old school gun fighter I just love the old school revolvers the push rod is the same length as the barrel that makes it look really kool thanks again for the information I bought some DUBBEL TAP AMMUNITION 357 magnum hollow points and they were 30 dollars for twenty rounds 158 grains. I have a box of rementon that word 38 special for my derangierter gambler gun and that ammunition is lots cheaper so that’s great I can save money at the range SIR LOVE Bobby Jean SIR. REMMENTON AMMUNITION IS THAT KIND OF WORD THEY MAKE GUNS THEM PEOPLE I SPELL TREABLE SORRY 
Yes. They make a nice Critical Defense in .38 spcl, .38 spcl +p.
I’ve also been impressed with Federal’s Punch Line, which is designed to maximize short barrel performance.
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Depends on the barrel length. It also depends on your tolerance for muzzle blast and recoil, especially when it comes to delivering back up shots with a snubbie.
I’ve been carrying PPU 158gr SWC now for a few years—a little more oomph than standard velocity but not +P.
Nothing high tech, but It’s accurate and dependable in my S&W Centennial Roscoe, and that’s all I’ll ask from a pocket pistol.
The old FBI load—Winchester 158 gr LSWCHP +P has a legendary reputation, but a steady diet of that stuff will shorten the life of anything less han a .357 Magnum
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Very true…sounds to me they need to get a pistol or handgun with less recoil.
My wife had a Ruger 38 special with a 2" barrel…lots of recoil. Then switched to a 9mm S&W She has since switched to a 380, easier recoil and she can shoot it faster and more on target. Now I know she can unload the 10+1 mag with no problems.
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Yes, it is very odd the idea of one fits all. Nope, as we all know. You shoot what feels most comfortable or you won’t shoot at all, and or carry it.
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another option is 38spl. HBWC only loaded backwards [nicknamed the ‘‘ashtray’’] wen fired into ballistic gel it doubles in size and as for tumbling
you should not shoot at long distance any wayse with this load … its for ‘‘up close and personal’’ shooting. it will function well at lo velocity down to 600 fps and little to no recoil 
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Woody, our Range Officer, experimented with handloading reversed HBWCs back in the 80s and gave me a few to test fire. They could be pretty impressive if they hit the target squarely but not so much if they hit at an angle. It might make a gnarly looking wound but not much penetration in wet phone books (there were still phone books in the 80s)
I personally didn’t see this, but when loaded to max velocities Woody found they’d break apart in the gun barrel—conventional HBWC have been known to do the same when loaded to the max, btw—which ended Woody’s reversed HBWC experiments.
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