I worked in Critical Care for over 30 years and i have seen a number of gunshot wounds. The most effective and DOA where with the 38 SPL and from a 4 inch Smith the Va State Police carried and the Winchester 158 Lead SWC or FBI Load . The trauma from this load has to be seen to believe , worst than any 9mm or 45 ACP. That is one load you don't want to be shot with. Most death from shooting in this order were from the 25 Auto, 22 lr and 38 spl. The patients that survived being shot most often was from the 25 Auto and most shot with the 22 lr died later from internal bleeding. Most gunshot in my area were from the 25 Auto and i guess the reason is you could buy one for less than 50 bucks. As with all handgun round bullet placement played a bigger part than the cal or type of pistol used.
I've always had a lot of confidence in the FBI load from a three or four inch barrel, so this doesn't surprise me. I wonder what the wound would look like from one of Buffalo Bore's new .38 Special offerings, i.e., the full meplat, hard cast lead, 150 grain wadcutter, designed for snubbies. I'm betting it's brutal.
