.38 Special is Really Special

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I have several S&W revolvers chambered for the 38 S&W Special cartridge. Rapidly becoming my favorite is a 1950 version of the Heavy Duty. For those of you who don’t know, the Heavy Duty and the Outdoorsman’s revolvers were N frames with fixed (HD) and adjustable sights. Built hell for stout, they were chambered for the 38/44 cartridge which was the 38 S&W Special upgraded.


I feel the 38 S&W Special is the ultimate 36 caliber cartridge. It does everything I need from a 36 caliber barrel.

Kevin
 
It's the centerfire cartridge I've shot the most of, that's for sure.

I carry a snub hammerless 38 special more often than any other handgun.

It's fun to shoot light range loads, and good +P hollowpoints are effective enough for SD, imho.
 
I'm a big fan of the 38 Special and always have been. I started off with a model 19 and the first box of ammo I shot was Federal WC loads. I was strapped for money back then but saw right off to shoot I would have to reload. So I bought a Rock Chucker press I still use today, borrowed dies from my uncle and bought a Speed #10 manual when I bought the press.

I read the instructions in the manual and decided I needed Bullseye powder and bought the first of many pounds. I scrounged some more brass, bought a 500ct box of lead 158gr bullets and I was off to the races. I really took to reloading and you couldn't start with a better round to reload. I would shoot at least twice a week and really went through the lead. Back then powder was $10 a pound and so were 1000 primers. 38 brass was all over the ground at the range.

I slowly built my reloading kit and am now well outfitted and darn glad to have it. I have more 38 Special brass than any other. About 6 bullet molds and lots of lead. I can keep shooting my 38s for along time. I will buy about any 38 revolver I see if the price is right. My favorite 38 Special is a model 15 with 4" barrel. Those are the best 38 Specials ever made as far as I am concerned.
 
ThomasT said:
I'm a big fan of the 38 Special and always have been. I started off with a model 19 and the first box of ammo I shot was Federal WC loads. I was strapped for money back then but saw right off to shoot I would have to reload. So I bought a Rock Chucker press I still use today, borrowed dies from my uncle and bought a Speed #10 manual when I bought the press.

I read the instructions in the manual and decided I needed Bullseye powder and bought the first of many pounds. I scrounged some more brass, bought a 500ct box of lead 158gr bullets and I was off to the races. I really took to reloading and you couldn't start with a better round to reload. I would shoot at least twice a week and really went through the lead. Back then powder was $10 a pound and so were 1000 primers. 38 brass was all over the ground at the range.

I slowly built my reloading kit and am now well outfitted and darn glad to have it. I have more 38 Special brass than any other. About 6 bullet molds and lots of lead. I can keep shooting my 38s for along time. I will buy about any 38 revolver I see if the price is right. My favorite 38 Special is a model 15 with 4" barrel. Those are the best 38 Specials ever made as far as I am concerned.
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I started reloading 38/357 13 months ago but saved 10k brass for 5 years prior. I hoarded Wal-Mart 250 Mega packs of Remington 38spl for close out price of $13.50/250ct before they stopped selling handgun ammo so have enough brass for the rest of my days. I enjoy reloading almost as much as shooting it. It's a perfect retirement hobby especially on a cold winter day in New England.
 
ThomasT
I was strapped for money back then but saw right off to shoot I would have to reload.
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I was very much in the same boat as you when I bought my first .38 Special, a Charter Arms Undercover. A box of Federal 148 grain wadcutters back then wasn't all that expensive but reloading would make it even more affordable so I could go to the range more often. So I bought a Lee Loader Kit, (you know the one where you supply you own mallet and elbow grease to resize the cartridge cases), got a set of powder measure dippers and spent many a night down in the basement hammering out those reloads of mine!

It was a bit of work but I had fun with it and then one year for Christmas I got an RCBS Rock Chucker press, along with dies, a powder measuring scale, and a priming tool and I was in business cranking out more .38 Specials than I ever had before!
 
The good ole' 38 special will do all its work with simple, cheap lead bullets. Jacketed bullets really aren't needed. Find a supply of wheel weight lead and a couple of the easy to use Lee bullet molds and the .358 sizer that fits in your press. The two molds I would recommend are the 158gr SWC and the 148gr WC molds in the tumble lube design. Cast and drop your new bullets in a bucket of cold water. Remove and after they are dry lube with Lee Alox cut with Mineral Spirits. Then size.

Using around 3.5grs of Bullseye with the SWC and 3.2grs of BE with the WC bullets and you have a good standard pressure 38 load. Those will do for 90% of what you bought a 38 Special for. You can use Unique and do the same thing. You will need to look up the charge weight. About any fast to medium fast powder will work with the 38. Its kind of like the 30-06 when it comes to powders. They are both pretty even-tempered when it comes to powder selection. And a pound of powder goes a long way.
 
I just so happened to grab my 6” Model 14-3 and a box of DEWC over 3.0 BE and hit the range between a couple of medical appointments I had set for today.

At 15 yards I put 18 in the black… which, for a lousy bullseye shooter like I am, made me feel pretty good. :)

973E582C-23C3-4D54-B3C8-4DA329587A87.jpeg

There is something special about shooting these K-frame revolvers (Colt E & I frames, too.) with a load just tailor made to shoot through it. :thumbup:

Stay safe.
 
QUOTE="ThomasT, post: 12173866, member: 53544"]Good shooting. What grips are those? I really want a model 14.[/QUOTE]

They’re the grips from Thailand, you can find them on eBay or Amazon. They originally had more of a reddish color, I stripped off the finish with acetone and then reoiled them with boiled linseed oil. They’re still showing a hint of a reddish tint rather than a walnut, but I’m thinking that may be the actual color of the wood that was used more than it is the original finish.

Stay safe.
 
I’m late to the revolver game but I came to love the 357 while picking up brass at the range. Now after shooting and reloading a lot of 38 Special, it’s my favorite. I have 6 revolvers chambered for 357 and haven’t found a 38 that I like. I like several but haven’t had the opertunity to purchase one. Only once, after hundreds of 38 rounds did I have to deal with a carbon ring in the cylinder. I mainly shoot Extreme plated 158 RNFP and get as good accuracy as any pistol round that I‘ve shot a lot of ; 9mm, 45 auto, 22 LR.

Is there any harm or disadvantage to keep shooting the 38s in my 357s?
 
Riomouse911 said:
QUOTE="ThomasT, post: 12173866, member: 53544"]Good shooting. What grips are those? I really want a model 14.
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They’re the grips from Thailand, you can find them on eBay or Amazon. They originally had more of a reddish color, I stripped off the finish with acetone and then reoiled them with boiled linseed oil. They’re still showing a hint of a reddish tint rather than a walnut, but I’m thinking that may be the actual color of the wood that was used more than it is the original finish.

Stay safe.[/QUOTE]

Thats what thought you were going to say. I have looked all over ebay for those grips from those eastern sellers and have never been able to find them. Do you by chance have a link? Thanks in advance.

Never mind. I found them.:)


heyboy said:
Is there any harm or disadvantage to keep shooting the 38s in my 357s?
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No you won't hurt your gun shooting the shorter 38s in a 357 chamber. But it may build a fouling ring in front of the 38 case that makes it hard to insert a 357 round. Just clean your gun when you get home and scrub out the chambers with a brush until the fouling is gone. If the fouling is already burnt on wet it with solvent or WD-40 and let it soak. Then it should brush clean.
 
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Riomouse I found the grips from Thailand. I just googled them. Its true, I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer but sometimes I do find an acorn.
 
Hooda Thunkit said:
I get the feeling that them two Rugers have had a bit of work done on 'em...
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They both were special contract runs for the NYCPD and came from the factory that way except the Police Service Six which I changed the grips from OE wood to Pachmayr. The Speed Six DAO 38 3" made it to NYCPD and was stamped by the NYPD armorer and the Service Six was a NYCPD contract factory over run shipped to Davidsons in Arizona. By 1987-1988 NYCPD only allowed new recruits to carry DAO 38spl.
 
Paul7 said:
Agreed on the S&W 19, I may never shoot a .357 round out of mine.
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Yes, my Model 19's, a 6" 4" and a 2-1/2", rarely see a full power magnum load these days. I cracked the forcing cone on my 6" Model 19 after a steady diet of 158 grain full power loads. S&W replaced the barrel, circa 1980 or so, but that option is not available today.

For most of my 357 Magnum shooting, I load a 158 grain SWC at about 950-1000 fps from a 4" barrel. A bit harder hitting than 38 Special loads, but not objectionable recoil even from a 3" Model 60 J-frame. I use 357 Magnum cases.

I have number of 38 Special revolvers so I save the 38 Special cases for them.

After all, there is something special about shooting 38 Special ammunition in a gun chambered for 38 Special.
 
I do like .38 special and don't feel undergunned at all. My guns themselves are .357s and reload everything in 357 cases from powder puff 38 loads to the more stout 357. Makes it simple just using one case and I can load and shoot how I feel that day.
 
Always enjoy well-written articles about 38 special revolvers and the cartridge. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
The only downside is I will be spending a LOT of time reading that site. As a revolver fan it is going to be fun reading.

Jeff
 
BullRunBear said:
Always enjoy well-written articles about 38 special revolvers and the cartridge.
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You missed the Hey Day of 38 Special articles. When I really started getting in to guns around 1982 the gun mags had good articles in every issue about 38 Specials and other revolvers before the rise of the auto loader. There was no internet so if you wanted to learn about revolvers in general and 38s in particular you bought gun magazines.

Back then you had Terry Murback, Jan Liborel, Dave Arnold and a whole host of gun writers who beat the drum for revolvers and all the rounds we now consider classics. And guns were cheaper simply because gunbroker hadn't came along yet and inflated the prices and made people think their guns were worth more than they really are. But maybe I'm wrong. It sure seemed like it was easier to find a deal on a gun back then. And WE had ammo on the shelves too.

Sorry. I forgot to mention Skeeter Skelton. What a story teller he was. You can't forget Elmer Keith even though he wasn't all that big on 38s.
 
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ThomasT said:
And guns were cheaper simply because gunbroker hadn't came along yet and inflated the prices and made people think their guns were worth more than they really are. But maybe I'm wrong. It sure seemed like it was easier to find a deal on a gun back then. And WE had ammo on the shelves too.
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I was looking at various receipts from "back in the day." I bought a brand new S&W Model 627-0 back in 1989 for $490. Adjusting for inflation that revolver would cost me $1,087.58 in December 2021.
 
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