The Humpbacks: Info and Help Requested

[MajorD]

When it comes to J's in general I have a little story for you. I was acquainted with an old school range officer for a medium size city department. He had a desk drawer full of used J frames of every description. When the new hires would ask him about having a back up or off duty gun, he would open that desk drawer and tell them to pick whichever one they wanted for $100. When older guys retired, they would often sell him old worn J's for $50. A lot of cops are not gun people at all, and will stop carrying once retired and often not own a gun at all once off the job.
I got a great deal on a 4" 19 a long time ago - in the early 90's my brothers department decided to move from a bring your own gun to work to a standard duty gun policy.
Many of the cops wanted to dump the privately owned guns, as they felt why have it if the department is going to give me one for free?
I got a heavily holster worn but mechanically perfect 4" 19 with all the associated duty leather 3 speedloaders and the typical two boxes of ammo one 38's one 357 each with 6 rounds missing all for $175. Wish deals like that still came my way.
I am in the market for a lightweight pocket carry J. I do much prefer blued though. Gravitate to older guns, but the M38 frame cracking scares me a bit. I have seen a pretty good number of them with cracked frames

 

[majick47]

MajorD find a nice M-38 pinned barrel example that spent its whole life in a purse or sock drawer and never had more than five wadcutters down the barrel. They are out there with no cracks to the frame.

 

[rockquarry]

MajorD find a nice M-38 pinned barrel example that spent its whole life in a purse or sock drawer and never had more than five wadcutters down the barrel. They are out there with no cracks to the frame.

Yeah, they're out there. I found one (nickel) about fifteen years ago in as new condition. I'm not sure it had been fired outside the factory. After less than 200 rounds of standard pressure cast bullet handloads, the frame cracked.

 

[max503]

I have more S&Ws than any other brand so I'm generally a fan but this idea of 638s cracking and/or wearing out after only 500 rounds is insane. I've been wanting a 638 but this is kind of making me rethink that a bit and I didn't really want to move up to one of the steel versions due to weight vs capacity.

It shocked me. There's no way I could have put 500 rounds through my 638. And I have never shot a +P through it. Almost all mid-range wad cutters.

I sent it in for finish issues. Hopefully to get it covered under warranty. S&W told me it is no longer safe to shoot.
I really don't want to go to a semi-auto but there aren't many other light weight revolvers out there. And just on principle I'm not giving S&W another $500 for a replacement. Been carrying a Taurus 605 until I decide. Glock 42's can be had for $400.

It really sucks when an otherwise reliable company sells you something that doesn't work as expected.

 

[Gearhead Jim]

I carried a Model 38 as a backup/OD gun for about 25 years. Uncle Mike's pocket holster in my right-front pocket. Standard tiny wood grips.
Carried +P in it and practiced with hot reloads. So I shot two of them enough they got kinda loose, and my hand has never fully recovered. But no cracks.

In certain situations I would carry the #38 in the right hand pocket of a topcoat. When the coat got ugly enough to replace, I'd take it to the range and shoot through the pocket. Before firing all 5 rds, there would be a hole in the pocket/jacket big enough that the gun could protrude fully out the front. Sometimes the coat would smolder a bit, but never actually burst into flames.

Now my pocket gun is a Glock 42 .380; much easier to shoot well and no pain, 2 extra rounds and a quick reload. Similar effectiveness from most reports. But prints a little more than the #38, and no "style".

 

[SmithNut]

I've not read every post in this thread.... but...

If it's been said, then I will reinforce the following:

The Bodyguard is the Thinking Man's J frame.....

Had a few at one time....

Been toting a nice old M38 for a couple dozen years, lots of scratches and marks on it, but this old dude - with Spegel boot grips - in a Kramer pocket holster - is a trusted companion and still shoots great with original Nyclad 125 grain loads..... love it....

 

[Cal44]

I have both a 49 and a 649 no dash.

I think my 649 ND is the same size frame as the 49. Later models of the 649 have the larger magnum j frame.

Just responding to comments made earlier in this thread.

 

[Aemsl69]

Here's a few of mine

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[3rdgeargrndrr]

I couldnt be happier with my 638. Just gets better with age.

 

[wrangler5]

Be aware that the 357 Magnum J frames have a 2 1/8" barrel in place of the 1 7/8" barrel on the 38-Special-Only models. This brings a 1/4" longer ejector rod. Neither will fully extract a 38 Special case, but the longer barrel/ejector rod leaves only 1/4" of case in the chamber while the shorter barrel leaves 1/2". I've attached a photo showing the difference.

Sharp action on the ejector rod with the barrel pointed straight up should drive all cases out of the cylinder of either model, but in a hurry and/or under high stress to do a reload, I've always thought I had a better chance of clearing out the old cases with the longer barrel and its longer ejector rod.

I do agree that the longer barrels, which are only in all steel guns, do not carry well in pants pockets, at least not in any of MY pants. But then, I've always been a holster guy anyway, and I've never found the difference in weight between steel and alloy guns to be anything but a statistic.