Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns .38 Special

I really like those sight modifications. That silver front blade they put on the first generations of stainless revolvers reflected light badly and made it difficult to get a really precise sight picture. They still do that for fixed sight revolvers but from what I can see they now put a black blade with red ramp insert or some kind of hi-viz front sight on all of their stainless models with adjustable sights.

An example of how it shoots, except for that one pulled shot, of course. Hey, when it happens, might as well own it along with the good ones.

Ex, why do you only load five?

The_Real_Hawkeye,

Cartridge boxes are set up with ten rows of five rounds each, so it’s easy to keep count. Plus, I got my start in Bullseye competition for my Army post pistol team in the early ‘70s, where each target is shot with five rounds twice. And, accuracy standards are usually expressed in terms of the size of five shot groups.

It also translates the performance results to my five-shooters:



It seems there’s always one that gets away.

Got it. Thanks.

But, when it comes to carrying a .38 Special revolver, it’s fully loaded along with a speed-loader or two. I do have some experience shooting six at a time, as well:





This target, scoring 595-34x, was shot at a PPC match forty-five years ago, though I likely can’t duplicate that level of performance anymore.

I’ve had a long and loving relationship with the .38 Special, which really began in earnest during August, 1968, at the CHP Academy.

Nice work and very nice guns.

And, I got paid to do it, too. Hard to beat that!




The .38 Special has done very well for me. If you include a couple of .357s too, I still have ten of them. They seem to follow me home.

Looks like you missed a 600-34X by about a combined total of 2". That is working the double-action.

Did you know Ponch?

No, I didn’t know Ponch. But, I did get to preview the CHiPs pilot episode while I was TDY at the Academy function testing and sighting-in new stainless S&W Model 68s by the truckload. Talk about trigger finger calluses . . .

A truckload of those 68’s would be nice.....

Now, yes. But, at the time, not so nice.

Those 68s were truly excellent revolvers. There were very few rejects (don’t think I had any), which was rather surprising considering the volume. I got to where I could guesstimate and make the necessary sight adjustments as a revolver came out of the box, then skip-load three rounds, pull the trigger six times, have the three rounds in the black at 25 yards, with function testing completed too, then back in the box to be issued. That was certainly a memorable time.

The Colt Officer’s Model Match .38 Special revolvers the CHP issued to my Academy class in ‘68 were trash, to the point of being dangerous. Cylinders would spin past lock as the trigger was cycled. I kept mine the required year, then sold it on my first anniversary without ever firing it - was afraid to.

That looks like a Bill Davis gun, I used to work there.

Actually, Bill Davis was still firearms instructor at the CHP Academy when he built the gun I used to shoot that target, using an Apex multi-groove barrel (the gun pictured is a very recent version I built using a Clark barrel from Brownells). Because I needed a proper gun for an upcoming match, Bill lent me his K38 while he had my Model 15 for the build. Bill’s K38 was absolutely frigging filthy, but he made me promise on pain of death not to clean it (except for surface wiping) because the bore was by then very well seasoned by thousands of greasy wadcutters and he didn’t want to start over.

I once watched Bill giving advice to a new shooter next to him while he, himself, was shooting all Xs from the seven yard line during a PPC match in San Rafael. Bill and Wayne Johnson still hold an unbreakable two man team NRA PPC record for one component event. It has been equaled many times since, but can never be broken because it was the first perfect score.

In more recent years, I visited with Bill at the SHOT Show each January until he was no longer able to attend. He was a remarkable fellow. I miss him.

I never heard of a Model 68 until a few years ago. Great platform for a .38 Special.

A K-38 was my favorite centerfire S&W, sure moved a lot of lead through one.

A model 68 is the perfect .38. Love mine. I sent this back to S&W long ago for the patridge (post) front sight. One of my favorite handguns.
Bob

Is Bill Davis the half of Cake-Davis? I almost had them build me a piece many years ago.

Here's a target shot by a S&W Model 60-4. RJM says I talked him out of it but I'd say he made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Either way you look at it, it's a shooter.

The 60-4 was the original J-frame version with the 3" full underlug barrel and adjustable sights. They later changed that to .357 Magnum but to my way of thinking that's a bit too much of a good thing in such a small package so I always liked the one chambered specifically for the .38. I had bought one for a girlfriend when they first came out and liked it so much I almost didn't want to give it to her (the revolver that is, let's keep the entendres single). It became a grail gun for me but prices rose beyond what I wanted to pay, when you could even find one. So a shout out to RJM for offering this at a good price.

I've put a few hundred rounds through it so far and settled on two loads, the one below at 750 fps and another one using True Blue at 850. 10.0 grains of 2400 will take this 160 grain SWC up to just at 1000 fps but a) recoil and muzzle blast start getting frisky at that speed and b) although the revolver is rated for +P I don't want to push it when 850 fps is all that's needed.


25 rounds at 10 yards offhand. This shoots just a tad above the POA while the 850 fps load prints right on top of the front sight.

Here's mine, posted earlier. I found the addition of a Dawson Precision fiber optic front sight helpful. I also bought a new j frame rear sight and used painters tape and spray paint to make it a white outline rear.