Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Can a 38 Special defend against an attacker?

Launcher of big lumps of properly shaped soft plumber's lead at mach .9. It'll punch six nickel sized holes plumb through a fat man.

If the fat man has his Adreline mojo in gear, he might fug you up anyway. But if that's the case, nothing you can hold in one hand is going to fix it,....maybe a baseball bat,....I dunno.

38 special has been around for over 100 years and has been primary arm of law enforcement for a century. We used it in the 1980's shooting +P ammo in law enforcement and it did the job. Just like anything else shot placement is the key. So yes 38 Special is an excellent home defense caliber. They key with any caliber is practice.

My 38 Special is a S&W 586 so chambered. I picked it up years ago, new, for a very good price at a Jumbo Sports. I mostly shoot mild fun loads in it, and in this revolver "standard +P" (if that makes sense) still fit into that category. I used to shoot a lot of the 90's vintage Hornady swaged SWC HP bullets. One of those in the center of the chest probably wouldn't do a perp much good.

It wasn't all that long ago when most people simply did not have the large amount of disposable income that so many do today. They simply could not afford to shoot ANYWHERE NEAR as much as many people do today. Many people could not, and did not, practice shooting all that much, even if they wanted to, and it takes practice to get used to heavier recoiling guns.

This is why it was common to describe the kick of a .45acp as being "like a mule!" .357 magnum was considered brutal (hey, it still ain't all that pleasant...). Gun people today do a LOT more shooting, and get used to much more powerful guns.

I casted up a bunch of 148g tl Lee soup cans that I'm getting ready to load up. I'd like to find a load that will get me 850 from a 1&7/8 lcr and 360pd without pushing the pressure up too high. Any ideas what powders will do that. I'll probably start with 5g of universal.

Bb

I just got some Ramshot Silhouette powder (haven't done anything with it yet) that is supposed to give good velocities with pretty low pressure (within a certain window), and looks to be just right for .38 Special. Might want to take a look at it.

craigster: YOU.... being the "expert" I will advise (NO promise!) YOU that YOU do NOT want ME shooting at YOU with any of my 38 Special revolvers!
PERIOD!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I come from a different school of thought. I keep 12 gauge pumps with extended magazines around. Magazine loaded, chamber empty, safety off and dry fired. All I need to do is stroke the slide once and I am ready to go to work. Everyone knows that sound so that is the "warning shot". Middle of the night, dark, no glasses (likely slightly intoxicated) A 12 gauge is my "go to", not a handgun.

Agree with 160 here.

There is no reason to deliberately handicap yourself by intentionally choosing a marginal cartridge/platform over something that would be considered optimal. A person generally does not get to choose the circumstances of a lethal force incident, but in the context of home protection, as stated above, I would choose a shotgun or rifle/carbine over a handgun. If the long gun was not an option I would choose a semi auto handgun with a significant on board capacity that allowed me to deal with situations and not worry about reloading initially, as my hands may be occupied doing other tasks.

Ive investigated a fair number of shootings. One thing I have noted is that in the distances where most fights take place, people who get hit with shotguns and rifles, I end up examining those people at an autopsy. People shot with handguns usually go to the hospital. A good part of that reason is that many of the people who get shot with handguns get shot with cheap FMJ type ammunition and their wounds are less than impressive. Many get treated and released withing hours. People who get shot with other types of ammo, often do not do as well.

Shotguns, when loaded with traditional buck and slug, simply are devastating. Same can be said for some heavy field loads. One case I worked was a triple. A double murder, then suicide where the scumbag used a shotgun. He shot the mom and young daughter with goose loads at less than 10 feet, before he put the barrel under his chin and painted the ceiling and surrounding area with bone, brain and blood matter.

Long story short. Shotguns at very close range are completely devastating.

These are mostly for fun, taking the wife, daughter, grandkids out to the desert tomorrow morning. They have their place...

but in the house it gets serious...

Never said I was an expert. But judging from your self proclamation, you must be. Am I supposed to be impressed ?

For all these /\ /\ /\ reasons, I chose the 20GA.

Youth Model Mossberg. Short barrel, short stock, 6 rounds 2 3/4” #3 Buck. No doubt in my mind about across a room damage.

Not to say handguns aren’t available.

I hunt deer with a 9mm Glock 17. No pig or deer I"ve shot at has ever gone more than 30 or 40 steps..

It depends on how determined a defender the particular member of the band happens to be.

I fall into this school of thought...

being a high level trained military corpsman, and trained to treat all sorts of wounds on the battle field...

its easily to learn, that just by reverse engineering a wound in your head.... you can figure out shot placement location and what kind of bullet to use.
easy to do if you are taught about A & P....

I like XTPs... a LOT... if disabling the attacker is what you need to do to defend yourself or your family and loved ones.

I hope so, I have one by the door and one in the nightstand

Thousands would tell you “yes, it’s effective”, but they be dead.

Jim Cirrillo was a NYPD stakeout squad cop back in the 60s. Was involved in more than 250 shootouts and survived, killed more people than any other cop.

His main weapon was a Smith Model 10, 38 Special. Not sure what loads but back then issue ammo was pretty anemic. I think he rolled his own but not sure.

Are the 158 polymer coated bullets homemade or factory stuff?