Lucky find

[almarz]

I was looking for a S&W .357, for what we Norwegians call field shooting. A competition with (usually) 10 different target groups in the field (forest). In a local ad, I found a guy wanting to sell what he called a "Smith & Wesson K 38 special CTG". When I had a look at the revolver it was a K38 Target Masterpiece that had never been fired. The guy was in his mid seventies and had inherited it from his father when he died. The gun had been given to his father when he was in the US in the early 1960s and since he didn't shoot he just put it in his safe and forgot about it. The guy I bought it from did the same, until he wanted to get rid of it now. I checked with my "Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson" and since the serial number is K 279 5XX I found it to be made in 1956. That's 57 years without being used. It was with a slightly bad concience I took it to the range and put a packet of 38 specials through it. All the tools and the manual were there, sadly not the box, it had been thrown away since it took up too much space in the safe. It's a beautiful gun and is the perfect older sister for my Model 17-3 from 1975 (According to the S&W catalog, but on the warranty card it says 1976??)

 

[bamabiker]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on such a great find.

 

[410bore]

You need to flip flop the stocks. Your 17-3 should wear the non diamond-centered targets and that K38 should wear the diamond centered targets with no cartridge relief cut

nice guns!

 

[Green Frog]

You did well... and welcome to the S&W Forum! Now, come Summertime and those long Northern days, you should really get to enjoy it! Maybe you should start doing some reloading now. You do plan to reload for it, don't you?

Regards,
Froggie

 

[almarz]

You need to flip flop the stocks. Your 17-3 should wear the non diamond-centered targets and that K38 should wear the diamond centered targets with no cartridge relief cut

nice guns!

I know the stocks are switched. These are my shooting guns and switching them made it so much easier to eject the empties from the K38.

 

[loeman]

Congratulations almarz, that is a REALLY nice find. Too bad the box got tossed.

Welcome to the forum. I love reading posts from other countries. It's amazing what turns up in the most unexpected places. Probably doesn't happen too often but it sure is fun to hear about it. Thanks for the post.

 

[almarz]

You did well... and welcome to the S&W Forum! Now, come Summertime and those long Northern days, you should really get to enjoy it! Maybe you should start doing some reloading now. You do plan to reload for it, don't you?

Regards,
Froggie

It's still a long, cold winter between now and summertime - but yes, I'm looking forward to start the outdoor shooting season again. Our indoor shooting range is nice enough, but there's nothing like our "in the woods" field shooting. And yes! I bought dies for 38 spc yesterday. I've been reloading for my 9mm for some time. The ammo prices here is pretty high, have to pay between 12- 15 dollars for a 50-pack of Sellier& Bellot 9mm ammo and around 20 dollars for a 50-pack of 38 spc. The .22 ammo has actually gone down a bit these days. I paid 350 dollars for 5000 CCI standard last week.
Almarz

 

[wbraswell]

Good for you. Glad to see that fine revolver being put to good use.

 

[sophie]

Congratulations on finding a K38 Masterpiece and welcome to the forum.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

OUTSTANDING!!!

Stay warm!!!

***GRJ***

 

[tlay]

Welcome to the forum. You will love shooting your K38. Your ammo prices are not that bad. I have seen prices here that are more than that. I can't even find 22lr.

 

[mkflyfisherman]

Now we finally know where all the CCI .22 is going!!!!!

 

[Doug M.]

A K38 is almost matchless as a fun gun to shoot, and it will make you look better than you are if your experience is like mine. You got really lucky.

 

[Texas Star]

Can you hunt small game there with a revolver? Will you briefly describe the field shooting course?

It is always interesting to hear from our non-US members.

Is the Glock the Norwegian Army sidearm? Which 9mm do you have?

 

[S&W ucla]

Welcome to the forum! I too am interested in the field shooting and how it is done. How is handgun ownership restricted in Norway? Always curious to learn new things!

 

[almarz]

Welcome to the forum! I too am interested in the field shooting and how it is done. How is handgun ownership restricted in Norway? Always curious to learn new things!

To be a European country, Norway has relatively liberal gun laws. But - as in most other European countries, gun ownership is a privilege, not a constitutional right. You have to register all guns, and to apply each time you want to buy another. But - we have somewhere between 1,5 and 2 million guns in a population of 5 millions, so if you compare us to e.g the UK we're lucky. It's relatively easy to get long guns. Rifles and shotguns - including quite a few semi auto rifles and shotguns. You have to be a registered hunter to get hunting guns. To be registered you have to take a 30 hour course in arms safety, how to recognise legal game, how to treat it after it's shot and what the laws and rules are concerning hunting. When you've passed a relatively easy multiple choice exam, you get your hunters license. As a hunter you're allowed to buy 6 hunting guns (basic hunting wardrobe in Norweigan legalese). If you want to hunt game where you need other types of guns, you can apply for that - and if you "need" them you'll probably be issued lisence for it/them as well (within a reasonable limit). To get target guns / skeet shooting etc., you have to be a member of a shooting club/association. You will then be able to buy the guns you need to practice your sport. To get handguns you have to be a member of a pistol club and you have to be a member for at least 6 months before you're allowed to buy your own guns. Before that the club willl let you use theirs. As a registered pistol shooter you can buy a basic start wardrobe of 4 guns e.g a .22 pistol, a .22 revolver, 2 "big" guns of choice 32, 38 , 40S&W 44magnum, 45ACP etc etc. Then if you participate in competitions, you can buy the guns you need to practice your sport (within reason). And - if you are a hunter, shoot target shooting with a rifle and are shooting handguns as well you can add them all together. (Do the math) Let's just say that you need a pretty big gun safe to contain them all.

Almarz

 

[almarz]

Can you hunt small game there with a revolver? Will you briefly describe the field shooting course?

It is always interesting to hear from our non-US members.

Is the Glock the Norwegian Army sidearm? Which 9mm do you have?

The Norwegian army uses Glock 17s (P80s), MP5, MP7, HK417 and the Barrett M82.

I've got a Tanfoglio Witness Match 9mm (beautiful gun - went through all he had in the shop to find the one with the best trigger), I also have a Ruger Mk III and the two S&Ws on the picture. I've got quite a few long guns, mostly Mausers (for hunting and target shooting)- one of them a beautiful old Swedish Carl-Gustaf and an old 1918 Krag-Jorgenson carbine in very nice condition.

And - No - you're not allowed to hunt with handguns in Norway.

Field shooting is a dicipline where you follow a path through the terrain (forest) It's usually 10 different shooting stands with room for 10 competitors on each. The distances vary from 6 meters(18 feet) to 40-50 meters (120-150 feet). The site commander give you from 6 - 14 seconds to fire your 6 shots. Some of the stands have targets on 2-3 different distances. (Then you'll shoot 2 shots at each distance.

 

[Ohsheepdog]

Almarz, your ammo prices are comparable to our prices here in the states!

Sent from somewhere between the Ohio territory and the forbidden zone.

 

[Ohsheepdog]

Thanks for sharing, almarz!

Sent from somewhere between the Ohio territory and the forbidden zone.

 

[almarz]

Thanks for sharing, almarz!

Sent from somewhere between the Ohio territory and the forbidden zone.

What's the forbidden zone? Canada??