38 Reg Police

[H Richard]

Just acquired a 38 Regulation Police. It was shipped from the factory in Dec. 1925. Mechanically it is near perfect. Hardly a drag line on the cylinder. I doubt if this had been shot enough for an officer to qualify with.

Finish, unfortunately, has a few problems, with fairly deep pitting is several small locations, nothing affecting shooting. You can tell it had been carried some, due to the wear on the right grip, and the small amount of holster wear on the muzzle. There is literally no high spot wear. I intend to shoot this, and not having had a .38 S&W before, what kind of accuracy should I expect? My .32 Long H E has very medicore accuracy, and you can't hit a pie plate beyond about 10 yards. My 22-32 Target has very good accuracy, and will hold about 2" at 25 yards. Just curious since I really like these I Frames.

 

[H Richard]

Just acquired a 38 Regulation Police. It was shipped from the factory in Dec. 1925. Mechanically it is near perfect. Hardly a drag line on the cylinder. I doubt if this had been shot enough for an officer to qualify with.

Finish, unfortunately, has a few problems, with fairly deep pitting is several small locations, nothing affecting shooting. You can tell it had been carried some, due to the wear on the right grip, and the small amount of holster wear on the muzzle. There is literally no high spot wear. I intend to shoot this, and not having had a .38 S&W before, what kind of accuracy should I expect? My .32 Long H E has very medicore accuracy, and you can't hit a pie plate beyond about 10 yards. My 22-32 Target has very good accuracy, and will hold about 2" at 25 yards. Just curious since I really like these I Frames.

 

[opoefc]

H Richard, Every gun has it's own little quirks, especially as to ammo used in it, when it comes to accuracy, but I think you will find that your Reg. Police will shoot as well as your .22/32 HF Target. Good luck!

 

[SmithSwede]

Mine is quite accurate--about 3" groups at 20 yards. I think the limitation is the narrow sights, not the gun or cartridge itself.

I shooting mild reloads. The bullet is a 359311 cast from wheel weights, sized at .359".

I carry mine quite often. It's no more difficult to conceal than a J-frame, I like the longer barrel, and the leaf mainspring gives it a very nice DA pull. I don't mind carrying reloads; others think it's a bad idea.

 

[Deacon KC]

I wish I could claim to be as good as my nephew, but he has hit bowling pins with my old 1922 .38 at 100 yards after some ranging shots. If he wasn't such a good kid, I'd hate him for that......

 

[Bell Charter Oak Holsters]

These are wonderful little revolvers. Those of mine are reasonably accurate and probably shoot better than my eyes permit. This was proven after firing from a bench rest. I think the diminutive sights (coupled with issues of visual accomodation) might well be the culprit.

Aside from that they are eminently concealble too. Try a pair of Pachmyar Compact style grips for a roundbutt J frame. They fit the rebated I frame perfectly, and in my case, made an enormous improvement 25 years ago, when I first tried them on the RP. I generally use Remington 148gr. LRN, but reloaded wadcutters would probably improve control for accuracy. Start out at about 15 to 25 feet, I think you'll see some improvement. Best of luck and my congratulations!