Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns And before the 9mm there was the 38 Special

Absolutely one of my fav. cartridges

Hmmmm, Bill said that?

Elmer Keith said that a fresh pineapple was the best toilet paper - it's on the internet so it must be true.

Lots of 9mm duty ammo these days is heavy for caliber and subsonic.

So yes, we have circled back to the .38 Special and for good reason.

Shooting 147’s out of my converted G35 is sweet.

Here in Virginia, it's an essentially illegal handgun hunting cartridge. Centerfire handguns here have to generate at least 350 ft/lbs of muzzle energy by the factory specs. I don't know of any, save one, factory .38 Spl round that has that kind of energy. Buffalo Bore makes a 158 gr LSWCHP +P load that makes 351 ft/lbs. That's a shame. I think it would make a dandy small game round. My GP100 will break stationary clay pidgeons at 50 yards with 130 gr FMJ Federal range loads. I want to use it for squirrels but centerfire handguns with less than 350 ft/lbs of energy are out for hunting here.

Viking: Shooting 147’s out of my converted G35 is sweet.




The only 9mm Handguns I have are "T" model BHP's. I wouldn't shoot the heavies without modifications. which I don't do. I shoot weird .38 bullets in my Model 52 also. I guess I'm fuq'd. Thank god for revolvers.

Yeah, I bought a Lone Wolf alpha conversion barrel, other than using a G17 magazine, no other mods.

Its been decades since I've owned a 9mm, but by far the best was a 92G Centurion. Great reliable pistol which, for some reason,, grouped at 50 yards like a bullseye gun. I was a dumbass for letting a cop buddy talk me out of it.

In the days before widely available ballistic gelatin, we used that Centurion and a 3" S&W to compare Federal's 115 grain 9BPLE load against their 125 grain JHP 357 Magnum. We used water jugs to catch the bullets at 5 and 50 yards. If we hadn't marked the jugs for each load, you would never have been able to tell the difference from the visible impact or the degree of fragmentation or expansion at either distance. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it.

So yeah, even old .40+ guys like me have to admit a good 9mm, especially with todays ammo, is a real decent combination.

Sarge, did y’all test the 357 Sig much?

No sir Viking, I haven't.

10Glocks - can't use a .38 even for small game hunting? That sucks

To deprive a man of the simply joy of seeing a squirrel get punted off a high limb, by a 38 wadcutter, is downright inhuman.

10 Glocks is mistaken

Could he have be referring to deer season?

Idk if ND changed their rules, but a fella couldn’t use a 40 cal for deer.

So true! I’ll have to tell a little story… I was out scouting new spots last year and a target of opportunity squirrel came up. I shot him with a 158 Lrn at sharp angle. After passing through a squirrel the slug ricocheted off of a knot in the tree and then off of a branch and came right for me, passing within inches of me before hitting the ground. I was a bit disappointed I didn’t get hit.

The target load of a 148 gr. .38 wadcutter at about 750 fps from an accurate pistol is great on squirrels and rabbits.

The S&W Model 52 is one of those pistols.

Written and read pre internet.

Not legally.




That's what the law seems to say.


The above law makes no distiction between small and large game. It only states game birds and animals. According to the law, you may hunt with .22 caliber pistols for small game. If you step up above .22, it must be .23 caliber or larger AND generate at least 350 ft/lbs of enery. That leaves a gap in the legal use of pistols and revolvers. According to the law, a .38 special round generating 200 ft/bs of energy is an illegal pistol for any type of hunting except nusiance species.

And any pistol or revolver over .22 is illegal unless rifles over .22 are legal. There is no provision in the law for any pistols between .22 caliber, and pistols of .23 caliber or larger AND generating 350 ft/lbs.

It's dumb, but that's the law. And I confirmed it with a friend who is a hunter and a criminal defense attorney in northern Virginia. He's the one that pointed me to this law when I asked him if it would be legal to use a .44 magnum revolver for deer in a county that had an ordnance that says "No rifles for deer hunting." I also specifically asked if hunting with a pistol or revolver using a cartrtidge greater than .23 caliber and generating less that 350 ft/lbs is legal for small game and he told me the law isn't that ambiguous, and that paragraph G is the reason I probably don't want to chance it and argue my point in court.