Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Does anyone still carry .38 Special?

Carry....nope, although I still shoot them fairly regularly at the range. I have one of my 357 magnums loaded with Hornady Critical Defense 38 Special +p for my wife here at home.

When I shoot 357 mag rounds out of the 101 it whacks my knuckle pretty good. I've found Hogue grips to work pretty well keeping that from happening. Try it, you might like it.

As far as the OP's question I have a few that I like. My favorites right now is an old Colt Detective Special, an S&W 642, and about 3 different LCR's, not to mention my favorites the Ruger SP101. What's not to like.

I've used the Hogue rubber grip on this gun. They are comfortable, but they are terrible for concealed carry. Tha Galco holster in the picture actually rides very, very close to the body. I found the Hogue a bit longer and fatter than the stock grip, and that the all-over soft rubber catches clothing more. I found the stock grips are better for concealed carry, a good combination of grippiness and less rubbing my side and catching my shirt. YMMV, but of the several grips I've tried, I keep going back to the stock grips.

Same thing on my GP100. I changed out to the Hogue, shot and carried it for awhile, and went back to the stock rubber/wood grips.

I do like them on my Redhawks for open carry.

I sure do, a S&W 337 PD pre-lock because at 12 ounces loaded with +P Hornady 110 gr. FTX Critical Defense it just disappears in a pocket or ankle holster. It isn't as flat as a semi, but at less than half the weight of my .380, 9 or .45 why not? A shot load or two up front in snake country is a real practical alternative too. I didn't know that I needed a Scandium .38 Special until I saw a S&W 360 at a gun show. I wasn't unhappy with an early M60 stainless .38 Special though that 12 verses 22 ounce weight difference to do the same thing sealed the deal for a lighter one.

637 every day carry , with 158 cast +p.

I carry a .357 loaded with +P+ .38 spl rounds on occasion. And I carry it religiously in Texas in the summer with a couple snake shot rounds up first.

Not an everyday carry, but I have a couple 357 revolvers that are almost always fed a 38 Spl handload consisting of 170gr SWC over 5.0 gr of Unique.



The 3" LCRx is a nice lightweight trail gun.





Ruger Security Six,

Depending on how I feel and where I’m gonna be, it’ll be a SIG 938 or a S&W 637 with a CT laser grip. If I’m in town with the Smith, it’s loaded with Speer Gold Dots. If I’m at the hunting lease, it’ll have two shot loads up first for snakes followed by three Gold Dots for the occasional armadillo.

MM - That is an interesting load to me. Do you mind telling me what velocity you are generally getting from a 4” barrel?

Thank you,
Expat

Scott - Think you might be mistaken?


The .357, heavier offering is fairly new

I haven't chrono'd the load. I need to do that.

QuickLOAD predicts around 940 fps, and 19,400 max PSI.

Someone here was saying that load was a favorite of the late Elmer Keith.

I like the looks of those hard cast bullets.

I don't carry a .38 but, sometimes have one in the truck. Usually loaded with 158 gr. swchp loaded with 5.0 gr. Unique.

Thank you. It will be a great general use load in my Model 15 and Security Six.

I don't use my J Frame as a primary gun, outside of every once in a while using it for a pocket piece when taking off my dinner in a fancy restaurant. It is simply the gun that is frequently found riding in my offside front pocket and has been for more than a couple decades.



Always loaded with stout wadcutters

My Mother does, little nickel Colt Cobra with pretty walnut grips, i load a real Keith bullet that weighs around 163gr at 900+ fps, easy for her to shoot and will drill holes and be found in the 4th gallon milk jug, that'll do it, i worry more about barriers and hp bullet performance or lack there of for her, that Keith bullet should be pretty barrier blind, it's going to go deep and break every bone it hits.

In the summer, I carry a 340SC 38 spl in my pocket. So light, I sometimes forget it’s there.
In the winter, when I wear a jacket, I carry an HK P2000SK 40.

Being wishy-washy about what I like at any given moment, I've gone back to the Hogue on my SP101. It's longer than the stock grip, but there's no denying it's more comfortable. I took my wife out to a 10:25PM movie down town and I actually carried it, in lieu of my G19, in my pocket loaded with .38 Spl +P 125 grain SJHPs with another speed loader in the cargo pocket. I like this gun in my pocket. I'll have to carry it more. With the Hogue, its better in my pocket than in my Galco under my shirt.

I also decided to switch back to the Hogue on my GP100 (for now). Now all my .357s are dressed in Hogues. Not pretty, but they function well.

Hogue has wood grips without the finger grooves that feel really good to my hand. But those finger grooves on the rubber grips don't match up with my grip and I dislike them.

The rubber grips feel really good to me. I've even committed the sacrilege of putting rubber monogrips on my Super Blackhawk .44 Mag. Now that gun beat the hell out of my middle knuckle with the stock grip, to the point it left my knuckle raw. And I have one on my Redhawk .44, like the .357 Redhawk above. And a rubber monogrip on my Ruger MkIII target. I guess now all my Ruger revolvers and pistol have a rubber monogrip on them.