.38 special

[Show Me]

My three inch SP101 357 is all the 38sp I need . Still a little zingy. I do make 38 44 with 2400 and they zing

 

[vanfunk]

I have “better” carry guns but I love, love, love my Talo Colt Cobra .38. The sights are bigger and more usable than those of a J frame (except one with Ashely sights, etc), the grip is a little more hand-filling, 6 shots of my preferred medicine (158 grain LSWC at 875 fps) and a super-smooth double action. Its weight makes it marginal for a true pocket gun, although it carries easily enough in the right pocket of my field coat when I am out walking the dogs. A speedoalder in the left pocket adds to the confidence. I take my Bodyguard 2.0 .380 everywhere due to its weight and dimensions, but the Colt is just so damn classy and smooth that I just adore having it with me when I can.

 

[vanfunk]

Sorry, double tap!

 

[shoebox1.1]

I remember that scene, seems to me that "If you're going to talk, talk. If you're going to shoot..." was in the conversation.
The notion of submerging that cap and ball, and having it work...maybe with enough grease over the balls, and paraffin dripped on the caps....
Moon

In that movie all the guns were conversions and used normal ammunition. You can see blondie open his loading gate and slide cartridges in

 

[3006Guy]

Ahh, the good ol' 38 Special, still a favorite of mine. I've got three of them these days, two S&W 36's and a Colt.

The 2" blued revolver is a Model 36 with later model grips on it. I carried it a bit as a backup when I was a police officer, usually with shorter grips for better concealment, but worse control over the handgun. I still carry it now and again, mostly out of nostalgia, but am confident that it's as good now as ever. The 3" nickel plated revolver is a 36-1 and belonged to my mother. It's in beautiful condition as Mom didn't do a lot of shooting. Shoots great by the way! That ammo is the standard velocity soft-lead 158 grain ammo from Buffalo Bore.



Also have this nice old Colt Bisley in 38 Special. I believe it was made in 1907 and it too shows little wear. A much younger version of me may have added a few wear marks by shoving it in my belt sans holster, then running around in the hills and on a ranch shooting rabbits and rockchucks...

I've not let my sons treat it so casually.

Typically I'll load either 148 grain hollow base wadcutters or 158 grain semi wadcutters for my 38's. They seldom see jacketed bullets. I don't think the Bisley has ever had jacketed bullets. Used to use a light load of Bullseye, or a middling load of Unique for them but recently Titegroup has been my choice as some was available. Good accuracy and comfortable recoil from all of them.

Regards, Guy

 

[halfmoonclip]

Used to use a light load of Bullseye, or a middling load of Unique for them but recently Titegroup has been my choice as some was available

You've run afoul of the powder goofiness as well? Heck of a note when Bullseye is hard to get...I snagged a 5lb keg (!), some of which my heirs and assigns will scatter on the yard as fertilizer.
That 3" nickel 36 is a real honey, and its provenance makes it far better. Did snag a 2" nickel 36, but that long barrel is great.
Moon

 

[3006Guy]

Thanks. It's nice to have Mom's old revolver and yes the 3" barrel is cool. Somewhere around here I've got an old photo Dad snapped of me shooting that revolver, probably in the early 1980's. Maybe late 1970's?

Bullseye - I had no idea it was going to become near impossible to find. Sigh... Would have bought more when it was available. I did buy an OLD 8# cardboard canister of Unique some years ago, and still have over half of it, but I'm kinda nursing it along, not using much of it these days.

Titegroup has proven to be excellent for my purposes, particularly in the 45 Colt & 44 Mag. I am also using it in the 38 Special now and results are promising on paper. I'll have to shoot some groups and get some fresh chrono data to share.

Guy

 

[skoro]

I would opt for an all-steel Colt D frame over a J frame - a little extra weight to help with recoil and that extra 6th shot is comforting

About 15 years back I had a steel Colt Detective Special. Not an ancient one, but from the late 1980s. It needed a minor repair - replace the firing pin. Gunsmith had to fabricate one since parts were no longer available. While I certainly appreciate the 6th round, that's a deal breaker for me.

 

[jstert]

Also have this nice old Colt Bisley in 38 Special.

very nice 38sp-only single-action revolver, it must be rather lightweight and easily carried, eh. i love my ruger blackhawks but don’t need or enjoy 357mag. i wish that ruger would expand its less expensive, wrangler single-action revolver lineup to include a 38sp only six-shooter similar to your colt bisley.

 

[stonebuster]

I like the pre-Model 10 sixguns really well but the narrow front sight doesn't work for me. I had a shooter & I thought of milling the blade off, cutting a dovetail & install a large white bead but didn't.

I have a hard time seeing the narrow front sight on my Pre Model 10 snub too but the trigger is incredible. The Peruvian 10-7 is much wider and easy to see.

 

[Walkalong]

but the narrow front sight doesn't work for me

I actually like narrow front sights, but I think I am in the minority.

 

[Walkalong]

View attachment 1246226

I have “better” carry guns but I love, love, love my Talo Colt Cobra .38. T......................................................................

Sweeet!

 

[stonebuster]

I actually like narrow front sights, but I think I am in the minority.

In my case it's aging sun damaged eyes & one scarred cornea that makes it difficult to focus on the sight. Fifty years ago used to shoot pennies off a tree at 60ft but now can't hardly see the tree.

 

[Walkalong]

I know that feeling.

 

[Riomouse911]

I loves me some .38 Special! It is, by far, the revolver round I shoot the most.

I bought my first .357 in 1988, a Taurus Model 66, and my first dedicated .38 in 1991, a S&W 640 Centennial. The 640 was my back up gun for many years on patrol.

The Taurus was sold in 1990, the 640 I traded off years later for a model 19 .357. Other than the short period in 1990, I haven’t been without a revolver to shoot .38’s since.

I now have a bunch of .38’s, and .357’s to play with, and load for, and even as I age and the kids grow up I don’t plan on being without one again.

Stay safe.

 

[Gork10]

My favorite 38 is this pre 10 from about 1947. Best shooting revolver I've ever used.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

I can't not post in a .38 Special thread. It's my favorite handgun cartridge by far.

My mid-1920s vintage S&W Model 1905, 4th Change Target:





I bought it back in 1998, the night before my 30th birthday. I'd gone to a LGS to pick up some .38 Special ammo because I was taking my birthday off to go shooting, and I needed some ammo for my Model 15. A widow had recently brought her late husband's collection in and I had to choose between this and a .22/32 Bekeart model.

I kind of wish I'd been irresponsible and bought both of them.

 

[GooseGestapo]

JSTERT,

NOTE, I said I would not recommend the TAURUS revolvers because of their rough, gritty triggers. Are you saying they are not rough and gritty?

If you do not care about the poor trigger, that is fine, but it does not change anything that I said.

I gave my Dad a TAURUS model 85, but he did not like it and preferred my CHARTER ARMS Undercover. I think it was the wooden grip on the TAURUS and the PACHMAYR grip on the CHARTER ARMS that made the difference. So we traded. I used the TAURUS as a carry gun for a very short time, it was too heavy and went back to my S&W model 38 for a while.
The model 85 had a rough trigger, which was like revolvers everywhere at the time, unless you bought a PYTHON. Twenty years later, I have a lot more choices, but the TAURUS revolvers have if anything, a rougher trigger. I tried a 6 inch .357 and a 4 inch model at my local gun shop, both had gritty, rough triggers. They were much, much cheaper than my King Cobra Target and had the advantage of being ported, but passed and went with the COLT.

That my be ok to you, but compared to my very smooth, old K-frames, tuned L-frames or COLT King Cobra Target, it is not acceptable to me.

I have become a COLT fan now because of the triggers coming out of the box. You cannot compare a TAURUS to the COLT trigger unless you have shot it often enough to smoother it out or found someone to tune it.
Since i have the time and I can now afford it, I will go with a COLT or maybe a RUGER Match Champion, which is also pretty good. I wish all RUGER'S had trigger's that smooth.

Jim

I have a Stainless Steel Taurus M856. Bought about a year ago. It’s anything BUT rough and gritty! It’s better out of the box than ANY S&W I’ve ever owned. It also hits POI/POA at 25yds with a 148gr WC.
I’ve also got a M76 Taurus that besides being slick as snot, is as accurate or more so than several of my match tuned S&W’s that I’ve Won PPC regional matches with.

 

[Walkalong]

I have a Stainless Steel Taurus M856. Bought about a year ago. It’s anything BUT rough and gritty! It’s better out of the box

I have both, gritty and superb.

 

[Tallball]

"I have a Stainless Steel Taurus M856. Bought about a year ago. It’s anything BUT rough and gritty! It’s better out of the box than ANY S&W I’ve ever owned."

I've had some very good ones, too. Most of the triggers are mediocre, but sometimes Taurus gets everything right.

Smith and Taurus and all of the others are similar in that the handguns aren't actually identical. Every Smith doesn't have a great trigger. Every Taurus doesn't have a horrible trigger. They vary.

 

[Tinman357]

"I have a Stainless Steel Taurus M856. Bought about a year ago. It’s anything BUT rough and gritty! It’s better out of the box than ANY S&W I’ve ever owned."

I thought I was the only one!!

 

[golden]

GOOSE,

You are lucky if you got a nice trigger on a TAURUS or a S&W or RUGER these days. Same for CHARTER ARMS and the other makers.

OK, but tell me with a straight face that if you go into a gunshop and try the TAURUS revolvers they have in stock, that you expect to get a trigger that is smoother or as smooth as the one on my COLT King Cobra Target.
It is not going to happen unless you got really lucky or the gun was worked over by a competent gunsmith. I have half a dozen S&W revolvers with terrific triggers. Two were just from being shot a lot (they were LEO trade-ins) and the others were the work of good gunsmiths.
I have 3 RUGERS that are not as smooth as the S&W'S, but 1 of them is acceptable, a limited edition model and the other was worked on by a local gunsmith and did a good job. That one is my car gun. I also have owned several RUGER Security Six revolvers that had very good triggers, but I suspect they were all worked on by competent people. I bought them used, so I do not know. I just enjoy the results.

RUGER can do a good job if they want to, just like S&W and TAURUS, but they have to want to do it. I will trade in my 3rd GP-100 for a RUGER Match Champion when I get the time. That gun is how RUGER aught to be making the GP-100's.

Right now, only COLT is doing a really good job on their triggers across the board. I hope they continue too as I plan to buy a few more.

As always, you are free to disagree with me.

Jim

 

[ThomasT]

If this video doesn't make you want to buy a 38 Special model 10 or M&P then there is no hope for you.

S&W Model 10 .38 Special

What a classic! This mid-size S&W frame and caliber has been around well over a hundred years. It's still a great caliber and firearm. ------------------- ...

www.youtube.com

 

[golden]

NOPE,

I will gleefully pick up another S&W model 15! With HOGUE grips and a trigger job, this is my ideal .38 Special.

Jim

 

[PapaG]

Still a few in the stable. 442. 3" 36 heavy barrel. 4" 15. 4" M&P. Each for a different purpose. Carry, wife's, fun, and stories to tell. That last one I got from an older gentleman (probably younger than I am now) as he was walking in foto a gun show and I was leaving. He was carrying a paper sack. I asked him what he had. "My old duty gun. I'm selling it but won't take less than I paid". It was a little rough. I told him I'd give him ten bucks more than he paid. He said I was nuts. I said, " You paid about sixty five dollars, I'll give you seventy-five". He took it and said again that I was nuts.
At the time it might have been worth about one fifty. I got his number and he told me a few stories about his time as a small town constable.