The .38 Special

[Doug.38PR]

"The .38 Special" | Classic Guns Today

Remember the real .38 Special?

 

[dabney]

Excellent post/write-up there Doug. Thank you for the knowledge that you share with us. Your devotion to the classic .38 Special cartridge/handgun is appreciated by many here. Great work!

David

 

[midwesternmutt]

I do like the old K-frames. They sure don't cost $275 anymore around these parts. Good stuff!

 

[Inusuit]

My first centerfire handgun was a S&W Model 15 purchased used in 1961. I currently have 8 or 9 .38 Specials and love them all. EDC is usually a 2nd model Detective Special or a S&W Model 38.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

I shoot a lot of calibers & guages.....But I burn through more .38 specials & 45 long colts than anything else.

 

[cherrypointmarine]

I love my M64-3 and my M64 no dash. Whenever I let someone shoot them, I say, if you can't hit with these, get a shotgun. The .38 is by far my favorite.

 

[medic15al]

My first centerfire my dad got me for my High School Graduation gift (1990) was a 6 in S&W M-14 K-38. I lost it to my first wife in a divorce :{

Love the .38 Special as a shooter ever since. Lot of Bullseye has been burned by me.

 

[RobertJ.]

Excellent post/write-up there Doug. Thank you for the knowledge that you share with us. Your devotion to the classic .38 Special cartridge/handgun is appreciated by many here. Great work!

David

I agree completely, and I couldn't have stated it better than this. That was an excellent article.

Over the years, my top 5 favorite cartridges have remained the same, but the .38 Special is now at the top of the list, just ahead of the .44 Magnum. I'm chalking it up to age!

 

[Otreb]

I have over a dozen .38sp revolvers from S&W, Colt and a Taurus, it's easily my favorite cartridge.

 

[bronco45]

Very accurate, reasonably powerful, and adaptable to many firing platforms, even 38 Spl Model 52s, semi-autos. Very versatile cartridge. Always have one around the place.

 

[Old cop]

I have a few: Colt Cobra, Model 10 HB, Model 10 snub, Model 14, Model 37, & Model 38. Sorry but before I get taken to the wood shed I don't know how to post pictures. All of my guns go to the range, no safe queens here.

 

[BC38]

38's are over-represented in my safe also. I even included it - after my initials - in my screen name...

 

[DocB]

My safe is pretty full of pre-war Smith 38 Specials too. Likely because they were available in the $250-$350 range in 2014. Best looking guns Smith ever made. Here's a pair. . .one from the 1920's and one from the 1930's. They have completely vanished from the market around here, and I thought they made so many. I guess everybody is wanting them now. One million guns don't last that long when everybody is looking for and buying them.

 

[federali]

My first gun was a used S&W Mod 15, nickel finish. Paid $50.00. The .38 was and still remains a great gun for many purposes. I also owned a Model 19 for a time. Several Model 36s passed through my hands, even an S&W Victory model. Today My .38s are a Model 37 and a Model 65 3" RB. Yes, the latter gun is actually a .357 Magnum but why bother? I don't think my Mod. 65 has ever seen anything but .38s.

Great write up and thanks much.

 

[les.b]

Nice write up. I have a few.... well, a lot, of .38 Specials. Here is one you would like: an Army Special. That's what later was renamed the Official Police. This one was made in the twenties, if I remember correctly.



Regards, Les

 

[bmcgilvray]

Always thought of myself more as a .44 Special kind of guy, but have been joined at the hip to the .38 Special ... the real .38 Special, since I was a kid. I do love the cartridge. It's been in on "life" as I know it.

There are more around here than when I took this photo of what was suppose to be a .38 Special "wheel of revolvers" that turned into a carefully constructed pile of 20-something. Several .38 Specials from each decade of the 20th century are represented. My old favorite Model 10 Heavy Barrel crowns the pile.

 

[TRE]

I've owned and used most handgun cartridges known to man, from the common to the hard to get ammo for. But I've always had, and always will have, some sort of 38 Special. It was the first revolver cartridge that I reloaded for, and in the ensuing 25+ years, I have loaded a METRIC TON of 38's to feed a variety of guns.

I love the 38 Special, one will always live where I live. Is it even possible to be a gun guy and NOT have a 38 Special (or more than one)???

TRE

 

[GyMac]

I love the .38 special! Just got back from the range with my 5 inch Model 10.

 

[Soren]

I've got a few .38spl's myself....M10HB, M10 snubby, M64, M15 (lnib), and a Ruger LCR.