it was a reload of mine, so weak that I had to shorten both the recoil and mainsprings to get it to cycle the slide reliably. I was 18, could not get powder thru the mail then (1970) I'd run out of Unique, for which the Lee Handloader .45 scoop was intended. I had no powder scale. My .38 Speciall Lee Handloader set had a scoop for 2.7 grs of Bullseye powder. I had no reloading manual. So I made a scoop out of a cut down .38 case, using a twist of baling wire as a handle, throwing about 3.5 grs of BE powder. I used a very soft, pure lead alloy to cast the 230 gr lrn bullet.
a coworker and I (evening shift, Shell station) were shooting primer-only wax ammo. I was reloading more of such ammo and didn't see that he'd grabbed the magful of live ammo that I'd laid aside. He fired a wax load, then cycled the slide and shot me with the lead bulleted load.
I was struck in my large, western style belt buckle. it left a welt that I discovered later. the impact angle was about 45 degrees. The buckled was dented/grooved. the bullet struck a concrete block wall, flattened out like a nickel, passed thru a cardboard box (edgewise, looked like a knife stab) struck a couple of cardboard qt cans of antifreeze right where they touched. dented them both and fell down into the box.
I felt a hard, concentrated blow, but nothing else. Several guys haver repeatedly shot themselves, on video with various loads, while wearing concealable body armor that they sell, and then shoot target to show that they are not disabled (at all). Here's the first such guy, Rich Davis of SecondChance body armor