Properly designed JHP bullets do expand reliably at handgun velocities, including the relatively low velocity of a .38 snubby or .380 ACP. I can remember reading articles back in the middle 1960's claiming that only big bore handguns were satisfactory for defense or hunting because bullets could not be made to expand reliably at handgun velocities. At that time I was shooting jack rabbits in the Mojave Desert using my .357 with Speer 146 grain JHP bullets at about 1200 fps--and the bullets were expanding in the jacks! Bullet design has come a long way since those days, and today it would be hard to find a name brand bullet that doesn't expand properly at the velocity for which it was designed.This nonsense about bullets not expanding at handgun velocities has been sold by the big bore guys to a gullible public for decades now, and it simply is not true. JHP bullets are definitely the way to go for defense or hunting in any handgun caliber, including the big bore autos. FMJ bullets are suitable only for practice.

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Handgun safe