Why buy a .38special?

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Why buy a .38special?
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'Cuz some of the most awesome wheelguns of all time only come in 38 Special, including my S&W Model 14 pictured below. The Colt Detective Special is one of the all-time classics.

Then there's the S&W 642. It is one of the smallest (if not the absolute lightest) pocket wheelies around. I'd guess I wouldn't be able to hit the broadside of a barn from inside with a little 357, so there was simply no need for it.

For the record, I have 2 38s and 1 357.


S&W Model 14:

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Won't it damage a .357 revolver if you keep shooting .38 spls on them? I kinda like practicing my 357 revolver using 38 specials. It is such a sweet shooter especially on the long barreled revolvers. Nice on the hands too.
 
Won't it damage a .357 revolver if you keep shooting .38 spls on them?
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No, you just need to clean it more often and pay special attention to the chambers to keep the carbon rings in check.
 
I have both

I enjoy both calibers, but honestly, the Mk3 sees a lot more .38's than .357's.

The OMM I recently purchased in .38 cal is probably the most accurate handgun I own. It is a fairly large gun, so recoil is very mild.

I'm currently in the market for another .38. This time a snubby for CCW - and of course, a Colt. :D - and I don't feel that .38 is "not enough" for SD.

Do I like the .38? You bet! I just placed a mail order for 3500 rounds of ammo! :evil:
 

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Why get a .38 Special revolver instead of a .357 Magnum revolver?

Because a lot of the .38s look better, some have the classic design you just don't find anymore, and they're lighter to carry.
 
Because they are fun to shoot and what's not to like about a .38 snubby.

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Above, two post war M&Ps and a Colt Cobra. All of these can take moderate loads of +P ammo for defensive purposes. All shoot to point of aim with 158 gr. bullets. This is because all fixed sight .38s are sighted in for this bullet weight. As are most fixed sight .357s.

Other than the .22, in a revolver the best round to learn to shoot well with is a .38.

tipoc
 
Concur with most of the reasons already given. There is a lot to be said for the .357/125. Used to fire a qualification course of 60 full power rounds with it plus about another 40 rounds quarterly--plus fairly frequent additional shooting on my own time. Still shoot a lot but the ratio is about 90-95% .38 Spl. now. Still carry the .357 load socially and do OK, but the .38 loads do fine for paper, steel targets, and pop cans.

In my firebreathing youth I sneered at Model 10s and their ilk, but nowadays I kind of like them. With a good load they're sufficient.

Truth be told 99% of the world's handguns needs could still be met with one.
 
Why the 38 special?

Well when I started shooting, 357 magnums were very expensive cartridges and 38 specials were a lot cheaper. Semi auto's were scorned in general (at least where I shot) and anything bigger was too expensive to shoot.

Thus the 38 special became my cartridge. It still is today. As much as I like a good 10mm or 357sig, when I want to just go have fun, I take a 38/44 HD or OD and 500 rnds of 38 special to the range. Nothing like it for just fun!
 
Why buy a .38? They are accurate, inexpensive and fun to shoot, and I don't like cleaning that carbon ring out of my .357's.
 
Because like the Winchester 1894 and Marlin 336 the S&W M10 has been in continuous production for more than 100 years. To me that speaks volumes about a gun and caliber and it has character. And as has been stated I hate cleaning those carbon rings.
 
tipoc summed it up for me. :)

This quote from the book The Snubby Revolver; The ECQ, Backup, and Concealed Carry Standard by Ed Lovette:

"A number of years ago, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) did a study of a 10-year period during which officers of the department were involved in 6,000 armed confrontations. They could not document a single instance in which an officer's revolver failed to fire during one of these confrontations. Given the endless variety of things that can go wrong in a gunfight, I take great comfort in such information."

No doubt they were all .38 Special's. Unfortunately, they didn't have the quality self defense ammo you and I have access too.
 
gandog56 - Do you also belittle folks with arthritis or other medical problems that make it painful to shoot .357 Magnum loads? Your momma must be proud........
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Not especially, when I have two arthritic knees and can only shoot sitting down, the thought never even entered my head. And leave my momma out of the conversation, please.
 
Well, I got my 38 through inheritance, and it was my momma passing that prompted my moslty blind stepfather to give it back to me, after I gave it to him 15 years ago. It shoots straight as a laser, and with the 158gr LSWHP I can expect what I hit to have a good chance of staying down.

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I wouldn't mind carrying this, in the old rig that I bought for it when I gave it to my stepfather so many years ago. Why? Because it works, I trust it to shoot where I aim it, and I trust the ammo to do the job when it get's there.

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my understanding is that with modern materials, if a manufacturer is going to make a revolver in the .38/.357 chambering, assuming the materials are strong enough, it just makes sense to give it the extra chamber length to handle .357 mag.

The reason they say not to feed a .38 +P chambered gun +Ps all the time, or even to feed a .357 mag .357's all the time, is that it just is unnecessary stress on the gun.

I just bought a Smith 642 which is +P max, and the reason I got it over a .357 is that I've owned the 340PD before, but it's too light to shoot .357 comfortably from. I sold it not thinking that I may need a pocket gun. Now that I needed a pocket gun, I just figured for less money I could get a .38 special +P. It is only rated .38 special +P because of the materials, Aluminum and steel, whereas the 340PD uses scandium mixed with the aluminum to achieve a strong alloy capable of handling .357 magnum. You just pay extra for that.

There really is no reason to get JUST a .38 special if you could get the same gun at the same price for .357 mag. That's why you don't see that many guns chambered ONLY for .38 special anymore, because getting back to the first statement - with modern materials, it's easy to make a gun capable of handling .357 magnum.

The only exception is with concealed carry guns like my 642. It's lighter with the aluminum materials than a steel .357 mag. However, even with the lighter gun you can still get a .357 version as I mentioned - if you want to pay considerably more.

Also, of some of the guns still made only in 38, some are classics worth owning despite not being chambered for .357.

I'm going in circles.... I think I made the point.
 
No doubt they were all .38 Special's. Unfortunately, they didn't have the quality self defense ammo you and I have access too.
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I heard the NYPD was using 158 Round Nose Lead bullets in the 38s. The 158 RNL doesn't get much respect as a self-defense round, but I heard they had a very good track record with it (could be wrong about it being NYPD though).
 
Why 38 spl?

I used to wonder that myself until I shot a 357 snub for the first time.

Then there is the ladies and the Girlie men who don't like .357 recoil.
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Whatever dude-you're the man.

For carry, what's not to love in a 38 snub? The 642 is the 'textbook answer' for the OPs question.
 
I own a couple .357's, but I will be getting a 642 soon.. I hate cleaning the carbon rings or getting .357's stuck b/c I forgot to clean them. thats enough reason for me. I shoot the magnums for fun on every range trip but mostly use .38 spl anyway. I used to say why not just get a .357 mag, but I do see where it comes in handy to just have 38 spl.
 
Cosmoline
Senior Member Here's one good reason:
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Now that's what I'm talking about. And it's in almost as good a shape as my 7 1/2' Colt Officers Model Target. I've got 27's 28's, 68's, 19's Pythons, and some other odd balls but it's always the Officers Model that gets the most shooting.
 
I happen to like 357 more than 38 Special, but for home defensive use, a 38 +P leaves nothing to be desired.
 
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