I’ve always been the revolver-less lover of J-Frame revolvers. The history. The feel. As much as I wanted one, I just could never wrap my head around why I’d ever buy one. I use my handguns. I carry my handguns. The J-Frame is a hard sell for a few reasons, but one that stood out was unlike some other handguns, the J-Frame is entwined deeply with the .38 Special caliber.
Carrying a 5 shot revolver that’s an animal to reload is one thing, but clearly, the .38 which is so often touted as the round that’ll “get it done” in a revolver had me confused. A. It’s freaking huge for its abilities, and B. it’s abilities are akin to a .380 ACP. Now you don’t have to be that old to remember that it wasn’t until Ruger started pumping out LCP’s, that the lowly .380 was considered nothing more than a barely effective (if at all) mouse round.
Clearly the J-Frame was nothing more than a nostalgic weapon using a nostalgic round, that was only promoted by old farts because that’s what their dads swore by.
So I forged ahead and went semi crazy fore years. Buying and selling all sorts of handguns. I settled on mostly Glocks and Walther’s. Soulless plastic. But I’m good with em so...
My summer gun for the hot Kansas weather is either my G42, or my G43. Mostly my 42. I love the thing!
The G42 is fantastic, I can unload a mag on target as fast as I can pull the trigger. The muzzle rise is nonexistent for me. It’s confidence inspiring!
Of course like all handgun ammo, .380 has come a long way, and though much of it gives me pause, the Underwood Extreme Defender gives me all the confidence I need that my little 42 is going to get done what I need it to do. Sure the 42 is only a 6 shot. I never said I was a capacity maniac, just that the J-Frame is hard to reload. That’s not a problem with my Glock.
Anyway, I’m getting to the Revolver, but understand that I’ve put insane amounts of ammunition through my 42. I love the gun. I’ve had to change springs in her even, but she’s run reliably. Until about a year and a half ago. That’s when I noted she didn’t like eating Underwood ammo anymore.
To this day, I can’t figure out why. Ramps, springs, everything has been checked, but she still chokes on the ammo. Arg! I’ve got boxes of Underwood in .380.
My only option was to get a new 42 and hope the ammo would feed through it. Or was it? I hate toying around with my guns ammo. Hate it. What if I just bought a revolver I thought, a J-Frame. It’ll eat anything. So I did. A 442, just to see what I thought.
What a great feeling gun! Moreover, the first time I took it out, the first time, I was making consistent hits at 7, 10, 15 & 25 yards. The thing points like a good shotgun! I don’t know why people say it takes so much practice! I liked it!
Of course, I sharpened my teeth on DA SIGs so... maybe that helps eh. I bought a laser grip for her, and it really shows that I’m ok with squeezing a DA trigger. I don’t know if that’ll be the case for everyone or not. To be fair, I did change out the springs.
Now as much as .380acp ammo has improved, it seems .38 has improved even more. I would almost hesitate to say .38 is even better than .380 now, but that war can rage someplace else. What’s key is, the Underwood Extreme Defender, or just about any ammo in the revolver is going to feed! And that’s HUGE. It’s the reason I bought the gun.
Of course reloading is never going to be as fast for me. The speed strips... yeah, nah. Garbage for me. I finally settled on Safarilands preferring the push vs twist load. It’s ok. It’s a hide and reload kind of thing vs a continue to shoot and reload one.
Moreover, I’ll never be shooting Mozambique drills with her like I do with my semi‘s. Its not that I can’t, it’s just that because it’s such a bear to reload (i am getting faster), I’m more particular with each round.
Of course as much as the gun isn’t as fast as my semi’s, it can be used up close. As in pressed next to the body without going out of battery close. That’s seriously huge considering how close things can get. Advantage nostalgic wheel gun.
Overall, the mystique has bitten me large! I love my metal S&W, and I’m carrying it full time now. There’s just very little fear that the gun will go off when I ask it too. What a comfortable feeling! Trust, accuracy and at 15oz, comfort. What a winning combo.
I like it so well I’ll be ordering the J-Frame I originally wanted, but didn’t get for fear it be a waste of money being I like my Glocks a great deal. A .357! But that’s another story.
I’ve bought into the mystique.
Carrying a 5 shot revolver that’s an animal to reload is one thing, but clearly, the .38 which is so often touted as the round that’ll “get it done” in a revolver had me confused. A. It’s freaking huge for its abilities, and B. it’s abilities are akin to a .380 ACP. Now you don’t have to be that old to remember that it wasn’t until Ruger started pumping out LCP’s, that the lowly .380 was considered nothing more than a barely effective (if at all) mouse round.
Clearly the J-Frame was nothing more than a nostalgic weapon using a nostalgic round, that was only promoted by old farts because that’s what their dads swore by.
So I forged ahead and went semi crazy fore years. Buying and selling all sorts of handguns. I settled on mostly Glocks and Walther’s. Soulless plastic. But I’m good with em so...
My summer gun for the hot Kansas weather is either my G42, or my G43. Mostly my 42. I love the thing!
The G42 is fantastic, I can unload a mag on target as fast as I can pull the trigger. The muzzle rise is nonexistent for me. It’s confidence inspiring!
Of course like all handgun ammo, .380 has come a long way, and though much of it gives me pause, the Underwood Extreme Defender gives me all the confidence I need that my little 42 is going to get done what I need it to do. Sure the 42 is only a 6 shot. I never said I was a capacity maniac, just that the J-Frame is hard to reload. That’s not a problem with my Glock.
Anyway, I’m getting to the Revolver, but understand that I’ve put insane amounts of ammunition through my 42. I love the gun. I’ve had to change springs in her even, but she’s run reliably. Until about a year and a half ago. That’s when I noted she didn’t like eating Underwood ammo anymore.
To this day, I can’t figure out why. Ramps, springs, everything has been checked, but she still chokes on the ammo. Arg! I’ve got boxes of Underwood in .380.
My only option was to get a new 42 and hope the ammo would feed through it. Or was it? I hate toying around with my guns ammo. Hate it. What if I just bought a revolver I thought, a J-Frame. It’ll eat anything. So I did. A 442, just to see what I thought.
What a great feeling gun! Moreover, the first time I took it out, the first time, I was making consistent hits at 7, 10, 15 & 25 yards. The thing points like a good shotgun! I don’t know why people say it takes so much practice! I liked it!
Of course, I sharpened my teeth on DA SIGs so... maybe that helps eh. I bought a laser grip for her, and it really shows that I’m ok with squeezing a DA trigger. I don’t know if that’ll be the case for everyone or not. To be fair, I did change out the springs.
Now as much as .380acp ammo has improved, it seems .38 has improved even more. I would almost hesitate to say .38 is even better than .380 now, but that war can rage someplace else. What’s key is, the Underwood Extreme Defender, or just about any ammo in the revolver is going to feed! And that’s HUGE. It’s the reason I bought the gun.
Of course reloading is never going to be as fast for me. The speed strips... yeah, nah. Garbage for me. I finally settled on Safarilands preferring the push vs twist load. It’s ok. It’s a hide and reload kind of thing vs a continue to shoot and reload one.
Moreover, I’ll never be shooting Mozambique drills with her like I do with my semi‘s. Its not that I can’t, it’s just that because it’s such a bear to reload (i am getting faster), I’m more particular with each round.
Of course as much as the gun isn’t as fast as my semi’s, it can be used up close. As in pressed next to the body without going out of battery close. That’s seriously huge considering how close things can get. Advantage nostalgic wheel gun.
Overall, the mystique has bitten me large! I love my metal S&W, and I’m carrying it full time now. There’s just very little fear that the gun will go off when I ask it too. What a comfortable feeling! Trust, accuracy and at 15oz, comfort. What a winning combo.
I like it so well I’ll be ordering the J-Frame I originally wanted, but didn’t get for fear it be a waste of money being I like my Glocks a great deal. A .357! But that’s another story.
I’ve bought into the mystique.
