k38 Masterpiece 8 3/8": How do you like this barrel length?

[westcoast362]

I think the long barrel looks great. I've had a few 8 3/8" S&W's and have liked them all. I also have a Colt Python in .38spl with an eight inch barrel, they are fun to shoot.

 

[BUFF]

Over time, I have had some experience with the longer barreled S&W revolvers in several chamberings. My good shooter buddies and I all shoot each others guns a bit and it has been interesting to hear the reasons given for liking or not liking a particular barrel length.

Value of the 8-3/8 inch barrel is the remarkable long sighting plane. One shooter loves it because it provides him with more precision due to the sighting distance. Another shooter finds that the front sight on the 8-3/8 incher seems to wobble a lot more. He finds he holds a better, more steady sight picture with 4 or 6 inch barrel.

In all reality, both shooters seem to be holding the short and long revolvers steady to the about the same degree steady, but the longer barrel has the front sight leveraged way out there so movement of the grip makes the muzzle appear to move around more than the short gun held and moved the same amount.

So a lot of the results are heavily induced by psychology. The short barrel displays less movement, and the sight picture looks more stable, so the shooter is more confident of the shot. The long barrel with it's longer sight radius allows more precision and if the shooter can hold it well, he can more fine tune his sight picture and get smaller groups of shots. The first shooter may find the muzzle wobble of the longer gun unsettling and gets worse hits.

Yes, the shooter has to shoot both choices and determine which manner his brain processes what he sees and how it interprets things for him.

I have owned and shot both K-22's and K-38's with 4, 6 and 8-3/8 inch barrels. I found that it took more work to take advantage of the long guns' extra sight radius, but on good days they gave me better hits on fixed targets than the 6 inchers.

If the targets were moving, such as small game, the longer barrel seemed more difficult for me to get a good sight picture as quickly on a running, bouncing target than did the 6 incher. Others with a higher level of physical dexterity, had less of a problem.

If the k-38 is to be a range gun, the longer barrel has few shortcomings and the finer sight picture possibly will help one score higher. if the gun is to be carrie afield, going after game, to me the longer barrel doesn't aid me much in the more dynamic game shooting, certainly not enough to offset the degree of difficulty encountered in carrying the long gun.

i have tried belt holsters on good belts for K and N frame guns with 4, 6, 6-1/2 and 8-3/8 inch barrels. The 8-3/8 inch guns didn't carry well for me that way. A shoulder holster worked better but good ones are expensive and hard to locate a suitable model and get it adjusted to fit you well.

So, it's all just a matter of what the shooter will use the gun for and what are his personal preferences. The shooter needs to try both lengths and see which works best for him.

Nice thing about the K frame Masterpieces, with their non-lugged lighter barrels is that there isn't all that much weight difference between a pair of K-38's, one with a 6 inch and the other with an 8-38 inch barrel.

I still end up with most of my woods guns being barreled from 5 inches to 6-1/2 inches. It is all personal preference and compromise.

 

[bigun]

Over time, I have had some experience with the longer barreled S&W revolvers in several chamberings. My good shooter buddies and I all shoot each others guns a bit and it has been interesting to hear the reasons given for liking or not liking a particular barrel length.

Value of the 8-3/8 inch barrel is the remarkable long sighting plane. One shooter loves it because it provides him with more precision due to the sighting distance. Another shooter finds that the front sight on the 8-3/8 incher seems to wobble a lot more. He finds he holds a better, more steady sight picture with 4 or 6 inch barrel.

In all reality, both shooters seem to be holding the short and long revolvers steady to the about the same degree steady, but the longer barrel has the front sight leveraged way out there so movement of the grip makes the muzzle appear to move around more than the short gun held and moved the same amount.

So a lot of the results are heavily induced by psychology. The short barrel displays less movement, and the sight picture looks more stable, so the shooter is more confident of the shot. The long barrel with it's longer sight radius allows more precision and if the shooter can hold it well, he can more fine tune his sight picture and get smaller groups of shots. The first shooter may find the muzzle wobble of the longer gun unsettling and gets worse hits.

Yes, the shooter has to shoot both choices and determine which manner his brain processes what he sees and how it interprets things for him.

I have owned and shot both K-22's and K-38's with 4, 6 and 8-3/8 inch barrels. I found that it took more work to take advantage of the long guns' extra sight radius, but on good days they gave me better hits on fixed targets than the 6 inchers.

If the targets were moving, such as small game, the longer barrel seemed more difficult for me to get a good sight picture as quickly on a running, bouncing target than did the 6 incher. Others with a higher level of physical dexterity, had less of a problem.

If the k-38 is to be a range gun, the longer barrel has few shortcomings and the finer sight picture possibly will help one score higher. if the gun is to be carrie afield, going after game, to me the longer barrel doesn't aid me much in the more dynamic game shooting, certainly not enough to offset the degree of difficulty encountered in carrying the long gun.

i have tried belt holsters on good belts for K and N frame guns with 4, 6, 6-1/2 and 8-3/8 inch barrels. The 8-3/8 inch guns didn't carry well for me that way. A shoulder holster worked better but good ones are expensive and hard to locate a suitable model and get it adjusted to fit you well.

So, it's all just a matter of what the shooter will use the gun for and what are his personal preferences. The shooter needs to try both lengths and see which works best for him.

Nice thing about the K frame Masterpieces, with their non-lugged lighter barrels is that there isn't all that much weight difference between a pair of K-38's, one with a 6 inch and the other with an 8-38 inch barrel.

I still end up with most of my woods guns being barreled from 5 inches to 6-1/2 inches. It is all personal preference and compromise.

BUFF:

Thanks for the excellent report! Since up until now, I have not been a shooter-but, just have collected alot of "mechanical art". Haha! I'm going to print out and save your above report for future reference=as I can see that I have much to learn, regarding shooting and selecting guns and their various barrel lengths for the intended purpose.

I'm going to go to a gun range to try out the different barrel lengths to determine which of these I'd prefer. Hopefully, they might have 8" barreled revolvers that I could sample.

At this point, I want to thank all of the above members who had contributed so much in educating me about the Model 14-3 8-3/8" barrel revolver, as well as many other relevant details, that I'd be needing to take into consideration-before deciding to purchase the Model 14-3 in question. This is truly a great forum and, I'm proud to be a member here!

 

[petemacmahon]

I guess I should have given it a better shake down, but the only long barreled K38 I had didn't stay with me for more than a year or two. Just didn't care for the feel. I think the perfect field gun is a 5 inch, but they are harder to come by then hens teeth! So, most of my field guns have 4-6 inch barrels + my 3 inch 696. For combat shooting, it's four or three for me. For target work, it's 6 inch for me.