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

Lots of Smiths here. I don't carry this 38, but it's in a very convenient location in my house if needed.
I think it's one of the better ones ever made. Shoots pretty standard ammo, and I do not shoot +P in it.

Diamondbacks are beautifuuuul pistols. Never owned a Diamondback, have owned several Detective Specials which are the same frame and action but 2" barrels. Loved them, great frame size for the .38 Special, not too big, not too small.

I've been a fan of the old Detective Special for 25 years, at least. I still have two of them. Had four at one time. Last year I acquired a Diamondback, too, that's not only a beauty to behold, but shoots really nicely, too.

I carry a Featherweight in my pack while backpacking. Have a little bigger one that is fun to shoot 38's through as well as 357's. Actually considering selling it. PM me if interested.

Lots of great looking old guns here.

A 642 with laser grips is the .38 spl I carry with any regularity, loaded with 158 gr SWC's. I carry it as a backup when I'm down in Dade concrete jungle. I was carrying with the Remington 125 gr SJHP +P load for a time, but those are a bit snappy in the 642 IMHO. The 158's run 900-950 and pack a wallup, but are very smooth and not bad recoil.

I used to have a Dick Special. I loved it. No idea why I ever let it get away

Been using a 1st Model Colts Agent for almost 50 years. I use a handload of 158 gr lswchp over 5 gr. Unique. The idea was to find an effective load that wouldn't penetrate walls (lath & plaster, not sheetrock) in an urban environment. It's about all the recoil one can handle in a 14 ounce gun and stay on target.

Don't carry it, but I have an Astra 960 on the nightstand. Basically Astra's copy of an L frame Smith with a 4 inch barrel. Surplus Spanish police pistols.

Been kicking around getting a 442 or 642 Smith for carry.

Who does not is a good question

10Glocks: One of my several "readily available" firearms is a Smith & Wesson Model 60-0 filled to the brim with "Super-Vel" ammunition!
When I am travelling out of state I carry one of my several Glock pistols in caliber 40 S&W with high capacity magazines and "night sights".
Long live the 38 Special.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Yes. J-frame Smith & Wesson and hardcast wadcutters, full charge, but not +P.

M60 DAO shot lotta different loads in it. Hard to beat #358429 from a Arsenal 5 hole gang mold and Unique...mb

158 LRN 650-750 fps is what I carry

Yessir. And, it shoots where it looks:



Directly behind the center of its XS Sight Systems Standard Tritium Dot.

.38s for all seasons.

Light for Summer:


Heavy for Winter:


Medium for Them Other Times:


Of course, they all fit in the same holsters, too.

Haven’t there been numerous tests showing that the wadcutters are the best load for these guns? I’ve got around 15 subnose revolvers and this thread makes me want to start carrying them again.

I have a '76 Det Special that I carry some... wife has an Airweight that she takes sometimes...

I wouldn't say there's any tests showing that. But...

It has been long known (like, back to the 30's at least) that wadcutter bullets definitely do more damage and can create a more traumatic wound than a round nose bullet can, which tend to just needle their way through, not doing much damage, and the hole kind of closes up behind it. A wadcutter hammers its way through, and the sharp-ish edge around the meplat will cut a hole through, which won't close back up, and tends to bleed quite profusely.

With hollow points, the problem is velocity. Out of the stubby less-than-two-inch long barrels, you usually simply cannot get enough velocity to get them to open up like they should. In four inch guns, this generally is no problem, but it's still a pretty big problem with snub guns. There are now finally some hollow point loads that are supposed to work reliably in 2" guns, but there are still a lot that won't.

I would say a wadcutter (going a little faster than the standard S L O W velocities of target wadcutter loads) would be more reliably effective than a hollowpoint that don't open up.

Buffalo Bore offers hard cast full wadcutter .38 Special loads. They have one that's only slightly faster than target loads and one that's a good bit faster.

I'll pocket carry a J-frame snub.