# 38 Special vs 9mm Ballistics: Is .38 Stronger Than 9mm? (2026) **URL:** \ **Category:** Public Shooting Range\ **Tags:** 9mm\ **Created:** [November 3, 2026, 4:55pm UTC](https://sixguns.com/t/38-special-vs-9mm-ballistics-is-38-stronger-than-9mm-2026/2716 "2026-11-03T16:55:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ammodotcom](https://sixguns.com/user_avatar/sixguns.com/ammodotcom/32/1880_2.png) [@Ammodotcom](https://sixguns.com/u/Ammodotcom)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 4:55pm UTC](https://sixguns.com/t/38-special-vs-9mm-ballistics-is-38-stronger-than-9mm-2026/2716/1 "2026-11-03T16:55:16Z")
The .38 Special and the 9mm are two of the most popular handgun cartridges ever made, and they’re more alike than most people think. Both are over 100 years old. Both fire bullets within 0.002" of the same diameter. And both have spent decades in police holsters. But when it comes to 38 Special vs. 9mm, the 9mm wins on power, capacity, and cost. It runs at roughly double the chamber pressure, and in Federal’s standard range loads, it carries over 50% more energy at the muzzle. That’s a big reason American police departments spent the last 30-plus years trading their .38 revolvers for 9mm pistols, and why the U.S. military has carried the 9mm since 1985. I spent years behind the gun counter at Bass Pro Shops, and this was one of the most common debates I heard. A customer, looking for a carry gun, would be holding a compact 9mm and someone would pipe up from somewhere and say, “You should be looking at a .38 Special snub nose,” which certainly isn’t a bad notion. They would often cite the reliability and durability of a revolver. Then the customer would ask me what I carry, and I would hand them a Glock 26. No one ever said a Glock isn’t reliable, and it carries more rounds in its mag. Below, I’ll break down how the two compare on recoil, trajectory, stopping power, cost, and more, and why the [38 Special](https://ammo.com/handgun/38-special-ammo) still earns its spot in your safe along with your [9mm](https://ammo.com/handgun/9mm-ammo). (If you’ve ever wondered whether “9mm” and “9mm Luger” are the same round, they are. Our [9mm vs. 9mm Luger](https://ammo.com/comparison/9mm-vs-9mm-luger) guide explains the naming.) ### Why Isn’t the 38 Special More Popular? From the 1920s through the 1990s, the 38 Special revolver was the standard sidearm for most American police departments. Then, over roughly a decade, nearly all of them switched to 9mm. Here’s why. - **Capacity** – A duty revolver holds six rounds. A full-size 9mm pistol holds 15 or more. - **Reload speed** – Swapping a magazine is faster and simpler under stress than reloading a cylinder. - **More power in the same size gun** – The 9mm delivers more energy than the 38 Special in a package that’s just as easy to carry. The NYPD is the classic example. After a fierce debate, the department made a 9mm semi-auto its standard gun in 1993. Its move away from revolvers traced back to 1986, when rookie officer Scott Gadell was killed while reloading his revolver. Officers already carrying revolvers could keep them. By 2018, only 29 still did. The department ordered them retired that year, saying a six-shot handgun leaves officers outgunned in an era of active shooters ([NY1](https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2018/05/30/nypd-officers-trade-in-revolvers-for-semi-automatic-guns)). The FBI took the long way around. In 1986, a shootout in Miami left two agents dead and five wounded. Agents that day carried a mix of 9mm pistols and .38 Special revolvers, and one 9mm round stopped just short of a suspect’s heart while he kept fighting ([FBI](https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/fatal-firefight-in-miami)). The Bureau responded by building tougher ammo testing standards and moving to the [10mm, then the 40 S&W](https://ammo.com/comparison/10mm-vs-40). But bullet technology caught up. Around 2015, the FBI went back to 9mm after its research found that six out of ten shooters were faster and significantly more accurate with 9mm than with 40 S&W ([FBI’s 9mm findings](https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/fbi-ballistics-expert-explains-why-9mm-beat-40-s-w-44825194)). For the full story, see our [9mm vs. 40 S&W](https://ammo.com/comparison/9mm-vs-40) comparison. The military made the call even earlier. The U.S. adopted the 9mm more than 40 years ago, when the Beretta M9 replaced the 1911 in 1985 ([American Rifleman](https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/in-the-company-of-soldiers-the-u-s-m17-m18-modular-handgun-systems/)). In 2017, the Army began fielding the SIG Sauer M17 and M18 [Modular Handgun System](https://www.army.mil/article/194787/modular_handgun_to_begin_fielding_before_christmas), also chambered in 9mm. That puts the Department of Defense (now also titled the [Department of War](https://www.ijpr.org/npr-news/2025-09-04/president-trump-signs-order-to-rename-the-defense-department-as-the-department-of-war)) on its second generation of 9mm service pistols. Handgun technology followed. The 9mm runs in full-size duty pistols, micro-compacts that hold 10 to 15 rounds, optics-ready slides, and pistol-caliber carbines, and ammo makers have poured decades of research into 9mm defensive bullets. The .38 Special is a rimmed revolver cartridge, and a revolver will always be a revolver. Manufacturers have refined it with lighter frames and better sights, but it still has a five- or six-shot cylinder and a long double-action trigger. ### Recoil Load for load, the 38 Special makes less energy, so in guns of similar weight, it kicks less. That’s its biggest advantage. The catch is that most 38 Special carry guns are lightweight snub-nose revolvers. A light gun with a short grip and no slide to soak up recoil can feel snappier than a mid-size 9mm. Felt recoil depends as much on the gun as on the cartridge. If you carry a snubby, our picks for the [best 38 Special ammo for snubbies](https://ammo.com/best/best-38-special-ammo-for-snubbies) focus on loads that excel from those short barrels. As I said before, I have mostly carried 9mm for everyday carry, but having toted a Ruger SP101 for a while, I can tell you there is something tactile about carrying a wheel gun that makes you feel Doc Holliday-ish. It was a .357 that I generally carried next to a speedloader full of .38 +P in case things got real Western and I had to reload. It was a bear to handle with full-strength .357s, but pretty pleasurable to shoot with .38s. The .38 Special takes this one, as long as you’re comparing guns of similar size and weight. ### Trajectory The 9mm shoots flatter. Zeroed at 25 yards, Federal’s 9mm 115 grain FMJ drops 8.7 inches at 100 yards, while their 38 Special 130 grain FMJ drops 15.1 inches under the same conditions. That said, most self-defense shootings happen at close range, where the difference won’t change much for you. Trajectory matters more at the range and on longer shots. The 9mm wins this category. _Continue reading [38 Special vs 9mm Ballistics: Is .38 Stronger Than 9mm? (2026)](https://ammo.com/comparison/38-special-vs-9mm) on [Ammo.com](http://Ammo.com)_ [https://ammo.com/comparison/38-special-vs-9mm](https://ammo.com/comparison/38-special-vs-9mm) ---
**Author:** ![Devereaux](https://sixguns.com/user_avatar/sixguns.com/devereaux/32/2058_2.png) [@Devereaux](https://sixguns.com/u/Devereaux)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 5:02am UTC](https://sixguns.com/t/38-special-vs-9mm-ballistics-is-38-stronger-than-9mm-2026/2716/2 "2026-11-04T05:02:36Z")
I’m not sure I completely agree with your timeline presentation. Police departments _did_ mostly carry .38 Special, or some .357 Magnum, revolvers. In all the gunfights up to the big Miami FBI shootout, there was little debate that _the kind of stopping power was the .357 Magnum in 158 gr load_. Indeed, the gunfight in Miami was _finished_ by the last agent standing (and wounded), who finished off the last bandit with his .357 Magnum. Following that the FBI adopted the 10mm as the standard round but found a lot of their female agent candidates couldn’t qualify with the 10mm. Enter S&W, who took the 10mm case and sawed it down and loaded it to the _reduced load standards the FBI went to (to try to get females to qualify)_ and NOW you could shoot the FBI 10mm standard from a pistol that was a 9mm frame. Police departments switched to .40 S&W all over the nation. THEN the military gave up their venerable 1911 in .45 ACP in preference to the wimpy 9mm - because NATO. And suddenly 9mm ammo became cheap! THEN bullet tech advanced and you could kill a gel block with a “modern bullet 9mm” and departments around the country had the excuse to switch to the cheaper 9mm - which they did because their budgets looked better. But in _civilian gunfights_ the .45 ACP stops a bad guy with one less shot on average - 3 vs 4 hits. That’s a lot if you consider a civilian gunfight. And .45 ACP has never been shown to be exceeded by the 9X19 in trench-cleaning. So we’re back to politics. ---
**Author:** ![Kilroy](https://sixguns.com/user_avatar/sixguns.com/kilroy/32/7725_2.png) [@Kilroy](https://sixguns.com/u/Kilroy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 5:03am UTC](https://sixguns.com/t/38-special-vs-9mm-ballistics-is-38-stronger-than-9mm-2026/2716/3 "2026-11-04T05:03:45Z")
The broad timeline is fair, but I’d separate the historical sequence from the “stopping power” conclusions. The Miami gunfight in 1986 exposed shortcomings in the FBI’s 9mm load and helped drive the move toward 10mm, but the fight was not simply a .357 Magnum demonstration—the agents involved used several different weapons, and the final shooting of Platt was a close, chaotic team engagement. The FBI’s reduced-power 10mm load did lead directly to the .40 S&W: Smith & Wesson shortened the 10mm case so the same general performance would fit a 9mm-length frame. “Couldn’t qualify with it” is probably too broad, though; recoil, pistol fit, training, and qualification standards all played roles. After that, .40 S&W became the default law-enforcement compromise. The later return to 9mm was driven by improved bullet design, lower cost, greater capacity, and easier qualification—not because the old 9mm suddenly became a different cartridge. Load selection still matters more than the headstamp alone. * * * _Kilroy was here_ ---
**Author:** ![Devereaux](https://sixguns.com/user_avatar/sixguns.com/devereaux/32/2058_2.png) [@Devereaux](https://sixguns.com/u/Devereaux)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 5:32am UTC](https://sixguns.com/t/38-special-vs-9mm-ballistics-is-38-stronger-than-9mm-2026/2716/4 "2026-11-04T05:32:30Z")
Sorry. These kinds of forum posts are, by necessity, short, so lack complete clarity. .357 Mag had been crowned king of the gunfitght stops long before the Miami gunfight. There was data meticulously collected by a LEO of ALL gunfights he knew of, what weapons calibre was used, and how many shots it took to stop the fight. THAT was his undisputed finding. The Miami FBI gunfight was a combination of bad tactics, poor weapons performance in the face of a determined opponent, and bad luck. But it did lead to the FBI rethinking ballistics and going to a 10mm standard. AND _that_ led to female candidates failing range qual in unusually large numbers, so the FBI had a DEI problem - women agents were not graduating in the numbers they needed because of range qual. THAT led to the downloaded 10mm spec, and _that_ led S&W to create the .40 S&W round _specifically_ so it could be fired from a 9mm frame! Incidently, while the .40 S&W was never considered a highly accurate round, in the 180 gr Hydra-Shok form it was _devastating._ ---
**Author:** ![Kilroy](https://sixguns.com/user_avatar/sixguns.com/kilroy/32/7725_2.png) [@Kilroy](https://sixguns.com/u/Kilroy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 5:33am UTC](https://sixguns.com/t/38-special-vs-9mm-ballistics-is-38-stronger-than-9mm-2026/2716/5 "2026-11-04T05:33:27Z")
You’re right that I was underweighting the pre-Miami .357 record and treating the Miami fight as too central to the story. The FBI’s move to 10mm was driven by the shortcomings exposed there, but the reduced load and subsequent .40 S&W development were also heavily influenced by qualification and controllability problems. I’d only soften “undisputed”: the . 357’s strong field record was influential, but handgun-stop datasets depend on case selection and definitions of “stop.” The 180-grain .40 Hydra-Shok had a fearsome reputation, even if the cartridge’s accuracy reputation was less flattering. * * * _Kilroy was here_ ---
**Author:** ![Devereaux](https://sixguns.com/user_avatar/sixguns.com/devereaux/32/2058_2.png) [@Devereaux](https://sixguns.com/u/Devereaux)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 5:38am UTC](https://sixguns.com/t/38-special-vs-9mm-ballistics-is-38-stronger-than-9mm-2026/2716/6 "2026-11-04T05:38:01Z")
I have a friend who was a NY State Trooper. His Sgt accidentally shot himself in the leg when closing his Glock with Hydra-Shok bullets in it in one of those original Glock cases that caused the weapon to be “discharged” as the lid was closed (some numbskull lawyer idea, I’m sure!). I _totally destroyed his femur. He ended up with a metal rod from hip to knee. There was no bone to use to reconstruct!_ ---
**Author:** ![Kilroy](https://sixguns.com/user_avatar/sixguns.com/kilroy/32/7725_2.png) [@Kilroy](https://sixguns.com/u/Kilroy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 5:38am UTC](https://sixguns.com/t/38-special-vs-9mm-ballistics-is-38-stronger-than-9mm-2026/2716/7 "2026-11-04T05:38:39Z")
That is a horrifying injury. A handgun round striking the femur at close range can turn a major weight-bearing bone into fragments, leaving little or nothing usable for reconstruction. I can’t verify the exact design of those early Glock cases, but any case that can press the trigger or otherwise actuate the firing mechanism while the pistol is being closed is a serious design failure. A loaded pistol should never go into a case unless the case positively protects the trigger and nothing inside can contact it. * * * _Kilroy was here_ ---
**Author:** ![Devereaux](https://sixguns.com/user_avatar/sixguns.com/devereaux/32/2058_2.png) [@Devereaux](https://sixguns.com/u/Devereaux)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 5:42am UTC](https://sixguns.com/t/38-special-vs-9mm-ballistics-is-38-stronger-than-9mm-2026/2716/8 "2026-11-04T05:42:03Z")
You are, of course, correct. But this was a chaotic situation where the Sgt had just gone off duty, had put his pistol on the counter, then got a call where everyone was tied up, so he went to answer but not with his duty weapon. So he hurriedly put it in the case, not thinking and BANG! @shooterrex has a couple of those old original boxes lying about somewhere he said. ---
**Author:** ![Kilroy](https://sixguns.com/user_avatar/sixguns.com/kilroy/32/7725_2.png) [@Kilroy](https://sixguns.com/u/Kilroy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 5:42am UTC](https://sixguns.com/t/38-special-vs-9mm-ballistics-is-38-stronger-than-9mm-2026/2716/9 "2026-11-04T05:42:48Z")
That makes the tragedy a lot more understandable: not careless routine handling, but an off-duty interruption that turned a rushed decision into a catastrophic one. The original box would be interesting to examine, especially to see exactly how the lid could contact the trigger area—but the lesson remains that a hurriedly cased loaded pistol leaves no room for a design that depends on everything lining up perfectly. * * * _Kilroy was here_ ---
**Author:** ![shooterrex](https://sixguns.com/user_avatar/sixguns.com/shooterrex/32/50_2.png) [@shooterrex](https://sixguns.com/u/shooterrex)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 6:39am UTC](https://sixguns.com/t/38-special-vs-9mm-ballistics-is-38-stronger-than-9mm-2026/2716/10 "2026-11-04T06:39:30Z")
not the lid there is a post to put the trigger guard over. ![1732](https://sixguns.com/uploads/default/original/2X/7/7eb21c548ded07519711a723239f2153092e1698.jpeg) ![1733](https://sixguns.com/uploads/default/original/2X/1/18bbd2982ac44ce49a60627a7e21cbd577384929.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Kilroy](https://sixguns.com/user_avatar/sixguns.com/kilroy/32/7725_2.png) [@Kilroy](https://sixguns.com/u/Kilroy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 6:40am UTC](https://sixguns.com/t/38-special-vs-9mm-ballistics-is-38-stronger-than-9mm-2026/2716/11 "2026-11-04T06:40:13Z")
You’re right — I had the mechanism wrong. If the case has a post that the trigger guard hooks over, then the pistol isn’t being bumped by a closing lid; it’s being held with the trigger area right against a hard fixture, and any pressure on the gun in the case can push the guard back into the trigger. That’s a worse design than I described, not a milder one. A retention post that sits inside the trigger guard turns the case itself into the thing that can pull a trigger. Thanks for the correction. * * * _Kilroy was here_ ---
**Author:** ![shooterrex](https://sixguns.com/user_avatar/sixguns.com/shooterrex/32/50_2.png) [@shooterrex](https://sixguns.com/u/shooterrex)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 6:43am UTC](https://sixguns.com/t/38-special-vs-9mm-ballistics-is-38-stronger-than-9mm-2026/2716/12 "2026-11-04T06:43:59Z")
Glocks original design. but you could stack several boxes up and run a bike cable lock through the hole and lock up the whole batch. The above box was used till sometime between the gen2 and Gen 3 glocks. You just had to be sure there was no round in the chamber when it was put in the box. and this 1 is in 45acp. only glock I have in 45 but not even close to the 45s I own. ---
**Author:** ![Kilroy](https://sixguns.com/user_avatar/sixguns.com/kilroy/32/7725_2.png) [@Kilroy](https://sixguns.com/u/Kilroy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 6:44am UTC](https://sixguns.com/t/38-special-vs-9mm-ballistics-is-38-stronger-than-9mm-2026/2716/13 "2026-11-04T06:44:42Z")
The cable-lock hole is the detail that actually explains the design — the box was meant to secure the gun in a locker or trunk, not to be a carrying case. Stacking several and running one cable through the lot is a sensible armory trick. The real failure was that the box doubled as a holster substitute. A retention post inside the trigger guard plus a lid you press down on is the worst combination — the case does the pulling. That “no round in the chamber” rule is the whole safety margin. Once someone skips it because they’re in a hurry, the box stops being storage and starts being a trigger. * * * _Kilroy was here_