I have one of those cute little 32-1 Terriers.
The .38 S&W cartridge is admittedly weak but I bought a couple of boxes of Buffalo Bore 125 gr hard cast for it.
They advertise it at 1050fps and 306 ft lb.
That is probably out of a 4" barrel, not sure. Still, I think it puts the gun back in the useful category for a BUG since it's so small.
I reckon I'm just looking to justify the thing because I do like it!

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The 32-1 Terrier is on a J-Frame and will handle the Buffalo Bore loads fine! But the original Terriers were on the I-Frame (Very similar but 3/8"ish shorter cylinder and overall length). Dose BB say anything about the pressure? And will the sights matter? Beyond 15 yards will you need to aim high or low?

If it is safe to use this ammo can you afford to practice with it? I assume it is $1.25- $1.75 around!

Ivan

Buck a round. Not cheap but on a par with many other premium rounds. My research said that it was ok in non-topbreak models only.
It would be a close up and personal BUG so changes in impact point would have to be extreme to matter much. I will be checking that out, though.
In answer to your last question, it should shoot low, if there's a change.

I always figured that if I ever needed to use a bug I would keep firing until it went click. Should be effective.

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Hue 68 noli me tangere

Nice. I would think it should do some damage.

Beautiful gun!
.38 S&W is "underpowered" by today's standard but you can bet it will definitely make any BG want to be somewhere else, fast.

It also is an accurate round and very fun to shoot at the range!

I have/had a holster like that. I think it was made in Italy , but don't recall the importer.


Unless you handload, that BB load is probably your only good ammo bet.


What possessed you to buy this gun instead of a Model 36, better a Model 60?

Any .38 bullet you can land inside the 8-ring will have noticeable effect.

I suppose its nice that the Terrier has "sights."
At least for cosmetic reasons, if nothing else.
Truthfully, if you ever have to shoot something with a Terrier, it probably will be so close, and will be in motion, that if you can't land the shot inside the 8 ring simply by pointing, you probably won't get the round off in time.

My theory on snubnose training is you need to spend 80% of your time training to get it out of the holster/pocket/whatever as quickly as possible.

The other 19% of the training should be firing at arms-length distance.

The remainng 1% should be spent firing at more distant targets, just to remind yourself why you don't want to take that shot with a snubnose. All Jerry Miculek videos aside, a regular guy is going to miss a moving target a 5 yards with a snubnose more times than he will hit it. You only have 5 shots, so you need to be sure they aren't wasted.

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WWSSD?
What would Skeeter do?

Back when 38's were usually nickel plated and hinged in the middle, they made many lengths and some were hammerless. In my younger days would take hammerless 4" 32's & 38's, and place the barrel in the index finger of a cotton work gloves (that were white with a blue cuff). These were then placed in plain sight, on the dash or tool tray. When in peril, the gun was close at hand, otherwise it didn't offend housewives or any other paying customer!

The gun/glove was/is grasp with the right hand, and the trigger was pulled right through the cloth. This stile of glove has plenty of room. But after the first use, it is pretty obvious what is going on!

I wish that the BB ammo were usable in those top breaks, it was a great system!

Ivan

That was my thinking 10 to 15 years ago when I passed on an excellent condition J frame Terrier for $100 or $150, I forget which. Lately I've bought knives that I do not need in that price range just because I like them. Call it collecting. I wish that I'd bought the Terrier. One of my odd ball bullet molds was cut to drop an over size and heavy .38 bullet. I'll bet I could hand load it fast enough to make you say ouch. Regardless, at this point Terriers are long discontinued historical artifacts or collector items. If you had one wouldn't you shoot it?

By the way, the Queen's army thought .38 S&W was a better choice than .455 Webley. Are we really more expert than the Queen's generals?

I was at Walmart today looking at ammo. I saw Remington .38 Special 125 gr SJHP listed on the box at 945fps. Sounds like the BB beats it.

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A Snider squibbed n the Jungle

That's .38 SPECIAL PLUS P ammo, not .38 S&W.

Don't blame the Queen or her generals. At the time of adoption, 1927, King George V was the Monarch.


Queen Elizabeth II ascended the Throne in 1952 or '53. The Browning 9mm soon followed as the offical British handgun.


But she's now the longest-reigning Monarch in history and they're issuing Glocks.


Not her fault: the Royals don't choose the military guns. If you see them with a gun at all today, it's while on military duty with the usual issued weapons or out shootng birds with very expensive double-barelled shotguns or stalking deer with a .275 Rigby.

I bought the Terrier for my wife. I figured it's small, very little recoil and with the BBs, will work.
It's grown on me since. Fun to shoot gun!
The holster came from a Karma here and I don't know where it was made.
And it wasn't instead of a 36, it's in addition TO a 36.

The Terrier's cylinder is still shorter in the J frame and the forcing cone is longer to compensate.
I've noticed that it is a slightly looser fit in my Don Hume holster, also.

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Jessie, not to be negative, but the change (with the -1) to J frame is probably what killed the Terrier. Until that time it was the smallest 38 that S&W made, but as a J frame it was just like the Chief Special but with less power and less choice of ammo. As a collectible, however, it is becoming more desirable because it's waning popularity when current held down production numbers. Hope you and your wife will both enjoy yours though, and with a little judicious handloading or ammo purchasing you can get it to do well for you.

Regards,
Froggie

You're right, except there is still the reduction in recoil with the Terrier.
That's of no concern to me, but my wife and some others? It matters.
Of course, there is that pesky price you must pay for that reduction and there is no appreciable market for S&W to have continued it.

I know that. I was comparing the "stronger" .38 special to the "weaker" .38S&W and commenting how it appears the Buffalo Boar .38 S&W at 1,000 FPS +- may be a more powerful load than the Remington .38 Special SJHP P+ as it was listed at 945 FPS on the box , Which would probably be even slower out of a 2" barrel

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A Snider squibbed n the Jungle