[newbierevolvershooter]

Which do you prefer and why?
I know for sure I want a 4 inch 38 special revolver, but am not sure about adjustable or fixed sights.

[MCgunner]

Kinda depends on what you wanna do with it, but there's really not much need for adjustables on a .38. Now, 13 or 19, I'd get the adjustables on a .357. .38 special usually impacts significantly lower than the magnum and I like to adjust for what load I'm shooting. Don't really have the problem with a .38 special. Fixed sights being easier to carry and harder to damage, I swing to the M10, personally, and I think that's probably why it was always a lot more popular than the M15. The M10 is a heckuva good shootin' revolver.

[SaxonPig]

Do you need or want target sights? You say you don't know but until you do I don't see how you can make up your mind.

What uses? Plinking? Carry? Home defense? Then the 10 is fine. Want to do more serious shooting? The 15 might be best.

I have several examples of both. So cheap you can buy both if you like.

[deputy tom]

Adjustable sights are great for target shooting or when you might change ammo types often.They are also easily knocked out of alignment if carried in a duty style holster.That said,fixed sights are not easily moved by rough service but need to have a specific load/loads picked for poa/poi shooting.I own and prefer fixed sights on my revolvers.I worked up loads to duplicate factory ammo and it all turned out well for me.YMMV.tom.:cool:

[Trebor]

The adjustable sights on the Model 15 give a better, easier to see, sight picture. That is why I prefer them to the fixed sights on the Model 10.

That said, my carry gun is a Model 65 with fixed sights. A carry gun can not have sights that can be easily damaged or knocked out of place.

[newbierevolvershooter]

so most 38's shoot about the same?
I would plan to use it for just about everything, home defense, SHTF sidearm, plinking, maybe a little competition shooting once I get good.
You could say Im a strong believer in K.I.S.S.
EDIT: so open carrying tends to mess up adjustable sights? or is that just concealed.

[Old Fuff]

The model 15 is sort of a deluxe model 10. It was originally thought up by some FBI Agents, who had K-38 Target Masterpiece revolvers cut down to 4 inches and a Baughman quick draw front sight installed. It made a sort of junior edition of their 357 Magnums.

Occasionally a police officer would get into a shoving match with some jerk and a gun would get dropped out of an unsecured holster. That would require a new leaf or even a whole rear sight. Better holster reduced this considerably.

If you are going to go out and wrestle with drunks the model 10 is probably a better choice. If not, and based on over 60 years of experience with both revolvers, I’d pick the Combat Masterpiece (aka Model 15).

[MCgunner]

so most 38's shoot about the same?

Not always exactly to POA for a given load. A +P will be a bit off from a wadcutter, heavier bullets will shoot higher usually, but you can find a carry and a practice load that puts 'em the same place even if you don't reload. Lots of variety out there in .38 ammo.

[spwenger]

...many police departments mandated revolvers with fixed sights, ostensibly due to concern over the relative fragility of adjustable sights. It's worth noting, however, that the last issue revolver of the L.A. Sheriff's Department was the S&W M-15 and that of the LAPD was the stainless-steel version of the same gun, the S&W M-67.

For a gun that may be used at longer ranges, there is an advantage to the adjustable sights - it makes it a lot easier to get the sights adjusted for the combination of shooter and preferred load. It's not that different shooters see the sights differently as much as that the gun may have different recoil arcs in different hands and the gun is already in recoil when the bullet leaves the barrel.

[Ratshooter]

I have a skinny barrel model 10. A model 65 and a model 15.

The model 10 is loaded and used for home defense. The model 65 rides in my truck fairly often and when going to the range the model 15 always goes.

I like 'em all. The model 15 would be the last to leave. This gun knows the peace of a permanent home.

[Starter52]

+1 to Old Fuff. Get the Model 15.

[Otony]

I have a 4" pencil barrel Model 10 with round butt. It is our home defense revolver of choice around here. Also have a Model 15, which is the actual shooting revolver of choice around here. Much easier to see the sights, and of course those same sights can be adjusted for different loads, which seems to me to be the main reason for owning a such a set up.

In the house, the adjustable sights are not really going to make much of a difference for me, so the Model 10 gets the nod, less to go wrong. Out in the field, much different story, I want the better sights for plinking, hunting small game, etc.

The Model 15 does work well for either job, whereas the Model 10 is a bit more limited. If I had to choose just one, Model 15, hands down.

Otony

[Dienekes]

For an all-arounder I would opt for the Model 15. Which is not to say that I could not get along nicely with a Model 10 once I had a load developed for it and either got it to hit dead on at the range I wanted or to learn the required hold-off.

As to the fragility of adjustable sights, I have used both fixed and adjustables as duty guns. Never dropped either but they did get banged around going in and out of jail lock boxes regularly in spite of trying to be careful. I carried Ruger DA revolvers by choice and never had a problem. S&W sights seemed to hold up fine as long as that tiny little screw on the leaf stayed put. I have seen a couple come loose on the range but that can be prevented with a little loc-tite.

The adjustables are nice to zero and usually the front sight is a little taller and easier to pick up in a hurry.

Anything can break, and will sooner or later--but I think adjustables stand up to steady wear a lot better than people credit them for.

I suppose the best solution is a set of big, visible fixed sights with a dovetailed front sight filed in to zero and loc-tited.

[jaholder1971]

You would enjoy either one, it's basically personal preference. I have a Model 12 (alloy framed model 10), a model 65 (.357 version of the 10), a pre-Model 15 K-38 4" and I'm shopping for a NICE Model 15-3 like my father carried working for Topeka PD. I love shooting them all but the K-38 is just classy.

[earplug]

One advantage of the M-15 is the front sight is easier to see then the old rounded fixed sight M-10's.
The later models may be ok for some eyes.

[def4pos8]

Most of my revolvers have adjustable sights, like the Model 15, because I shoot both warm and cool loads. This makes adjustable sights truly handy.

I you find a load of adequate power that shoots to point of aim with a Model 10, simplicity and snag-free draw can be extremely handy.

It's your choice. I have come to love the Model 21 (fixed sight) and am working up point-of-aim loads for it.;):D

[Gordon]

I slaughter livestock with an old model 15, I have model 10s.....I like to hit them behind the ear or right above between the eyes if facing head on. Sometimes they are 50 feet away.The model 17 6" barrel is actually better, but the shorter 15s are handier! I use wadcutter 148 grain midrange mostly but 158grain LSWCHP+p occasionally and the sights are adjusted for the loads.