If it is power and penetration one wants, one could - and should - just say �Screw both the .38 Spl +P and 9mm Luger and give me a LCR chambered for .357 Mag�. No way the 9mm is going to keep up.
The highest energy 9mm +P load listed on the link you provided (
http://www.ballistics101.com/9mm_vs_.38special.php) is a Double Tap load pushing a 124g to 1310 fps and 473 fpe.
While that is a potent 9mm load, it is a weak sister to Buffalo Bore�s .38 Spl +P load that pushes a 158g hardcast Keith bullet to 1250fps and 588 fpe (Buffalo Bore SKU 20H/20). That is 24% more energy than the Double Tap 9mm +P load can deliver and the hardcast Keith bullet will penetrate much further than the HP in the Double Tap 9mm +P load.
Too bad the Buffalo Bore .38 Spl +P ammo is available everywhere except Kingwood, TX.
[Edited to add�]
One should also not that in the link you provided, the author does not state what barrel lengths are used for the 9mm and .38 velocities. The Federal and Fiocchi web sites do not state barrel length, either. In the case of Double Tap ammo, the 9mm +P barrel was from a 4� barrel while the .38 Spl +P velocity was from a 1.875� barrel. Cor-Bon also uses 4� and 1.875� barrels for their tests.
Buffalo Bore uses 9mm barrels of 4� and up and a variety .38 Spl +P barrel s from 2� and up. Buffalo Bore�s data thus allows one to make more direct comparisons than is possible with the other products mentioned in the link and the comparison is telling � at equal barrel lengths the .38 Spl +P can equal or exceed the 9mm +P.
If more is better, get a .357 Mag.
