38S&W lemon ammo

[gunnut2]

108 yr old lemmon squeezer needs mild ammo.any recomendations for the old 38S&W caliber?gunnut2

 

[Andy Taylor]

Any factory load should be fine. Manufacturers tend to be very leary of blowing up old guns, and in calibers, like .38 S&W, where a lot of old guns exist, they try to load on the conservative side. Take another caliber, .38 Special, that has a lot of old guns, and a lot of newer guns made with better, more modern steel. They will sell the standard pressure stuff for old and new guns. But they will also offer higher presure ammo, +P, for use in the newer guns only. I am not aware of any factory +P .38 S&W.

 

[gunnut2]

The old 38S&W locks up pretty tight.I haven`t fired it yet so hopefully it doesn`t blow up on me.had my gun dealer look at it and he agreed it should be fine to shoot.I just didn`t want to put any xtra stress on it.I hardly ever get rid of anything so I want to be able to shoot it a little for a long time.I appreciate the info.gunnut2

 

[LoboGunLeather]

Back in the 1970's I remember an elderly lady living in my patrol district. Disabled, used a wheelchair, living alone.

When confronted with a burglar inside her house she pulled her father's old S&W top-break .38 S&W and dropped him with one shot.

A few months later she confronted another burglar coming through the kitchen window. He was still draped over the window sill and kitchen counter when I got there.

After her revolver came out of the property room the second time, I made a point of dropping by her house where I cleaned and lubricated it for her. I later took her a box of fresh ammunition.

I stopped by a couple of times per month to visit with her, and always made sure her S&W was in proper condition. It made her feel a lot better, I think.

When she passed away several years later her daughter called me, gave me mom's revolver.

I know it will still do its job if necessary.

 

[gunnut2]

pretty good story.gunnut2

 

[rundownfid]

gunnut2;
The cheapest ammo I've seen is from Magtech, nothing special except the lower price. I believe the box I got had 148? gr LRN bullets and is quite mild, even in the little top break I use in Cowboy side matches.

 

[GatorFarmer]

I think mine is only a 101 years old. Anyway, look for the Winchester factory ammo, which is still made. It comes in nickel cases which both display nicely and tend to eject nicely and smoothly. Remington also offers ammo, though in non nickel cases.

 

[gunnut2]

rundownfid; Always looking to save a buck if it's worth it.If magtech has nickel casings,never used it before,will grab a box this week end.

 

[gunnut2]

GatorFarmer: I have always used brass but never thought about nickel ejecting smoother.I'm sure the nickel casings will also look good as my lemon squeezer is nickel.gunnut2

 

[Lucky Scott]

I just bought two boxes from Midway for my 1940 Victory model S & W.