38 Caliber K frames

[DesertVet]

Smith and Wesson Model 64 View attachment 789526

 

[DesertVet]

Smith and Wesson Model 66

 

[Hertzer]

I fear I must admit to having a weakness for K framed revolvers. Don't care what model # or pre model # it might be. Have K frames with barrels ranging from 2 to 6 inches. I really need to take a family picture so I can post it.

 

[Comrade Mike]

I guess my answer is "why not"? Usually for virtually the same price, you can buy a .357 Magnum-chambered revolver in the same exact size and configuration as in almost every .38 Special-chambered revolver made but having the added advantage of shooting more powerful loads if so desired. Again, you don't have to shoot Magnum ammunition if you prefer to shoot only .38 Special loads for your own reasons but you can if you ever want to.

I have nothing against .38 Special handguns and I have several myself. But I see no downside to opting for a .357 Magnum revolver over a .38 Special revolver but plenty of potential "upsides".

Only excuse I have is I vastly prefer shooting .38 over .357 and probably shoot them in a 10 or 20 : 1 ratio. Don’t need the extra power to punch paper and don’t want it because I don’t carry revolvers.

If you’re a one gun kind of guy with limited safe space get a .357. I have my dedicated .357 and many .38’s that see much more range time.

 

[cfullgraf]

There is something special about shooting 38 Special ammunition in a revolver chambered for 38 Special.

I like shooting my S&W Model 14 and Model 15 revolvers.

 

[Hondo 60]

Have K frames with barrels ranging from 2 to 6 inches. I really need to take a family picture so I can post it.

Please do, would love to see 'em.
For me, the K-frame is just the perfect size for shooting.
Maybe not so much for concealed carry, but that's a whole other topic.

 

[Sappyg2.0]

Please do, would love to see 'em.
For me, the K-frame is just the perfect size for shooting.

K frames hit the sweet spot for me too. I like them all but the k frame is close to perfect.

 

[Sappyg2.0]

Another 10-5 like Hondo's. Same age as me but it's in better shape.

 

[Jim NE]

I'm not sure what you mean by this. You don't have to shoot Magnum ammunition in a .357 revolver if you're worried about "pressure stresses"; you can still use .38 Specials in a .357 K frame. I'm sure you must know that so what am I missing?

Hi, what I meant was that, if you're buying a used gun, you can never be quite sure whether the previous owners shot lots of heavy .357 loads or .38 cowboy loads. If you're buying the gun new, then of course, it's a different story. It's said that K frames can eventually suffer from heavy .357 use, though it would take a lot to get there. By comparison, it's kind of hard to wear out a .38 K frame. But most used .357 K frames are in decent shape or better.

.357 mag is much more versatile than the .38, and I certainly understand why people want and like them, but I buy my vintage K frame Smiths in .38 Special, mostly because they tend to be less expensive than the .357 versions like the model 19. Same build quality, but generally less money.

 

[Jonesy814]

Didn't have this one when I started this thread, but I do now! Nickel plated 10-7

 

[golden]

I think the real problem with K-frame .357 magnum aside from the issue of older guns not being up to sustained use of .357 magnums, is the recoil. I shoot .357 magnum in K-frame size, L-frame size and used to shoot an N frame .357. I now do not want to use .357 magnum most of the time. In a S&W, the bad reputation among police departments for durability with the S&W K-frame guns in .357 is enough for me.
I have several RUGER Security/Service Six guns and they seems to be able to take the punishment better than the S&W. Still, it is a lot of work to shoot .357 rounds in them. I find my Magna-Ported L-frame guns much preferable.
I love the K-frame and RUREG Security Six guns when shooting .38 Special, but as a rule, I will limit them to .38 Special +P. I do not want to beat up my guns anymore than I want to be beaten up by them.

Jim

 

[I6turbo]

Driftwood Johnson, thanks for taking the time to make all the posts you make. Not just in this thread, but all of the expert posts you make on Smith & Wesson guns. You are a wealth of knowledge and apparently have an amazing collection of these great revolvers.

 

[Homerboy]

Swampwolf,

But why buy a .357 in the first place? My recent experience with RUGER Service Six and Security Six plus my poor experience with the issued model13 lead me to believe that anything smaller than an L frame or GP 100 size gun, is to small for a 6 shot .357.

Jim

What was your issues with those guns and .357? Especially the Rugers. They were designed from the ground up to shoot .357, unlike the K frame being modified to shoot .357.

Forget it. Saw your above post. Yeah, the recoil is a bit softer in an L or N frame Smith or GP, but those guns are much heavier and don’t point nearly as well. I shoot mayne 30 rounds of .357 a year, just for refamiliarization and giggles. I’ve owned L frames and GP’s. I much prefer a K or Six series revolver.

 

[Bo]

K-fames I currently have.
Mod. 19-3 Bought from a co-worker for $260.00. Said he paid $225.00 for it so, he was more than happy.


Mod. 10-6, bought from my neighbor for $200.00. He'd won it in a raffle.


Mod. 10-5 Left to me by my late Father, this one will never be sold.

 

[jdavis123]

10-6 with factory PC magnas and Tyler-T grip adapter

 

[tubeshooter]

Just picked up what I believe is a model 10-5 that I am told was manufactured in 1975. Looks just like Hondo 60's, but not quite as clean and nice.

I think this is the first K-frame I have bought. It is definitely the first non-snub .38 Special I ever bought.


I inherited a no-dash model 64 from my late parents. I don't shoot that one at all.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

I used to board cargo ships for a living. We were agents for an American flagged vessel which was a car carrier (ro/ro). Anyway the owners gave us instructions to take a S&W .38 from the Captain & ship it to a gun shop which we did. It was a never fired model 10 2" square but with all the paperwork, box. About 2 years later I got a call from my lgs telling me that he had received a call from the gun shop we sent that gun to & they wanted to know what to do with the gun. He told them to ship it back to him & I bought it for the storage & shipping fees which was $125. Apparently the owners/operators of the ship never paid the storage.

 

[bannockburn]

Bo

Nice trio (especially the nickel plated Model 19), of K frames!

 

[ThomasT]

Sorry, but I'll take "The King of the Street" (.357 Magnum) over "The Widomaker" (.38 SPL) any day of the week!!

My uncle was a Ft Worth cop and used a model 15 loaded with round nose lead bullets to defend himself when a man fired two shots at him and missed. One bullet did go through his cop hat. One shot from my uncles gun and there was a new widow in town. There have been way too many people stopped or killed by a 38 Special for me to buy in to that quaint old saying. Like one sheriffs deputy stated, "Anyone who says the 38 special is a weak round has never been shot by one".

 

[Kendal Black]

The K-frame S&W's just feel right to me. I'm not sure whether the reason is my long familiarity with the type or something inherently excellent in the design.

The L-frames seem blocky and top-heavy somehow, and the J frames like miniature revolvers (which of course they are, that's the idea), but the K size is just right.

 

[golden]

When I started shooting K-frame revolvers, I noticed that they did seem just right and I think the reason is that the guns were sized to the average person. The grip, balance and overall weight combined with a mild recoiling round made them easy to shoot.
That's fine for target shooting. The problem is that the .38 Special round nose was just a mild upgrade of a round that had FAILED in military use in the Philippines, the .38 Long Colt. The bullet was made a little heavier and the powder charge increased, but the stopping power increase was small, if any.
There were simply too many stories of criminals soaking up .38 round nose bullets too deny there was a stopping power problem.
Some departments tried to get around a hollow point bullet by using semi wad-cutters without hollow points and they worked no better than the round nose lead ammo in actual shootings.
Note, that many police departments had complaints from officers working the streets, of FAILURE TO STOP incidents when using the .38 Special round nose lead bullet. These complaints mostly went away when the departments adopted the .38 Special +P 158 LSWHP round which did not zip through the target with an ice pick effect, but expanded and damaged internal organs and arteries.
The price was harder recoil and wear on the guns. Chambering a K-frame for .357 magnum exacerbated this problem.
When RUGER produced the SIX series, they were nearly identical in size, but a more modern design that could take the punishment of the +P rounds and even some .357 magnum use, but I think if you want to shoot .357 magnum ammo on a regular basis, you should go to a larger, heavier and much stronger design like the L-frame which has the same grip as the K-frame (S&W figured that one right) or the GP-100.
Note: RUGER introduced the Match Champion revolver with the heavier GP-100 frame for strength, but a half length barrel lug with flat sides to rebalance the gun more like the SIX series. They lose 3 ounces compared to the GP-100, but the balance changes as well. S&W tried this with a short lived revolved series meant to replace the model ten and model 19, but it coincided with the switchover to semi-auto pistols by law enforcement and died a quiet and barely noticed death. Hopefully RUGER will do better and mid size .357 revolvers will make a comeback.

Jim

 

[Sistema1927]

When RUGER produced the SIX series, they were nearly identical in size, but a more modern design that could take the punishment of the +P rounds and even some .357 magnum use, but I think if you want to shoot .357 magnum ammo on a regular basis, you should go to a larger, heavier and much stronger design....

I don't know about other Six-series revolvers, but my Speed-Six is built like a tank and hasn't had any problem digesting a steady diet of .357 magnum ammo.

 

[SwampWolf]

but the K size is just right.

Goldilocks would understand-but then there's those nagging adages, "Neither fish nor fowl" and "Jack of all trades; master of none..."

 

[WestKentucky]

I shoot my model 10 for the first time next weekend. Haven’t touched a trigger since about Christmas other than under the house into a bucket of sand with the little Colt I accidentally bought on gunbroker with a laughable max bid.

L frames are nice and I have had them, N frames are nice too but I didn’t care for the one I traded into as much as I liked the money I got for it. So far I am thinking that a K might just fit the GOAT category.

 

[golden]

Sistema

My RUGER Service Six was bought used, but in like new condition. The cylinder rod keeps coming loose. I took it to a gunsmith who is familiar and he said that the only solution that would not hurt the gun it just to keep screwing it back between groups. I really like the gun, but this is a problem that can lock up the action and it has. So even though the Six series is stronger than the K-frame in my opinion, it is still not strong enough for steady .357 shooting. As recently as 20 years ago, my agency was still handing out boxes of wad-cutters to use for practice and had gone over to RUGER'S by then.

Jim