In the spirit of our Awesome .44 Magnum thread, and at the suggestion of Steelhead, this is the place to discuss all things related to the .38.

My only "38" is a Dan Wesson 357; can I still play?

Shirley!

My collection of .38s is fairly meager compared to many.

That said, here is one that is a seriously great shooter. The Model 15. Combat Masterpiece.





A Master as rolling Jacks too!

You can call me Elsie but not Shirley!
Larry Carroll

[quote=Mackay_Sagebrush]My collection of .38s is fairly meager compared to many.

That said, here is one that is a seriously great shooter. The Model 15. Combat Masterpiece.

Cool post; the image saved me from figuring out how to post images.

My only .38 at the moment, but it's an old and much carried friend.

Wife and I both have lcr's in 38 +p's. We like them a lot, I pocket carry mine all the time .

given how long that round has been in production, there are certainly enough revolvers around that you couldn't possibly own all of them.
but one could try.
some of those ol revolvers from the 20's and 30's would put to shame most of the stuff made today.

Got to like those grips. Rosewood, source?

I have a number of 'em. These are two of my favorites. Model 60 factory DAO, and an elderly Model 10

My 2 Cobra's, duty 4" and BUG/off duty 2" and the bonus of a Commander .38 super. These are what I carried for my whole active career.



My daughters duty 66, my dads duty K-38 and my daughters 9mm M39.



My favorite .38 is really a .32 H&R magnum.

I have an old pre model 10 nickel , and a much carried 442, that is often my pocket carry

An old set of Herretts I believe.

A bit if a challenge with a J Frame:

Smith & Wesson Model 10-5

2 inch, 4 inch, 5 inch & 6 inch






Smith & Wesson Model 64 (no dash, only version with pencil barrel)






Smith & Wesson Model 64-3





Smith & Wesson Model 15-2 (made the year I was born)




Ruger Speed Six




Smith & Wesson Regulation Police. This is a mid-50's on an I-frame. 5 shot 38 S&W, so it's close enough

They look exactly like a set of Herretts. I have a few.

Iver Johnson Safety, 3rd Model in 38 S&W, with the American Railway Express Company stamp. So I'm assuming it rode the rails during the teens of the 20th century









Ruger LCRx







Smith & Wesson 642

I shot almost entirely 158-160gr cast bullets. Lots of the Lee RNFP that drop at 160 and of course lots of 158gr SWC's.

4.5 to 5grs of Unique is my go to load, or about half the amount of Unique I dump for the 44. Funny that.

Especially with a double-action-only J-Frame.

Nice, what brand of knife is that?

That is an Emerson.

GREAT collection Steelhead.

Here's my collection. Don't have enough yet, but it's a start

My 27-2



My 686 Pro SSR (have the laminate grips in the box.



S&W 36 (no dash)



Colt Diamondback



Colt Detective Special. This is actually my favorite because my grandfather bought it in 1936, the year he went into the FBI, and carried it through his career before giving it to me.

Love the old Dick Special. Quite an heirloom, too.

PS For many years I carried one just like it.

Nice collections fellas. That 15-2 is stunning Steelhead.

I need less "table" pics and more "critter" pics with mine.

I went full pimp for the Model 15

I like that. Isn't that the holster from the "undisclosed maker"? I think that's the first one I've ever seen with the contrast like that. Very cool. Everybody needs to have a "birth-year" gun.

Negative, I got that one through Simply Rugged. The guy that does the carving for them also made the holster. I just got in touch with Rob about what I wanted and he passed it on to the carver (he lives in AK).

From my Iron sights VS laser on a cloudy/rainy day a couple months ago:




The irons are tough to see, especially with eyes that are pushing the mid century mark.









What I noted was that at 7 yards there was not a big difference in group size, but due to the fact I can zero the laser, my placement was better when I used the CT laser.

At 10 yards was really where the difference was notable. Both in the size of the group, and the ability shooting to POA/POI. The laser really came into its own as the distance increased.

That said, even at 10 yards, the gun was easily capable of shooting fist sized group, which for my purposes will work.

I think my wife has shot the 642 more than me. To date it's accounted for a possum (me), a couple of armadillos (wife) and the SOB copperhead that bit my pooch.

Noted!

I'm not a 'handgun' hunter, more of a target of opportunity guy. That said. I'd not mind flaming a deer with the 15.

There is still one 38 special that I do not own and I dearly want, a 38/44. I came close to an ex Washington State Police one with a 6 1/2 barrel, but I just missed it.

Picked this 15-4 up about 6 mos. ago.

There's just something about a Combat Masterpiece.

Did you carry the 38 Super when I would have known you? I remember Kenny was carrying either a 586 or 686 at the time.

I picked up this 10-8 a couple of months ago.
I'm having a ball shooting it.

I now run photoless but, excluding a number of 357's, I own two 38 Specials. A Colt Officers Model Target and a Colt Official Police. I was out shooting the former today. Dead tight lock-up, glass smooth action and accurate as hell. Just a fun gun.

Great stuff here!!

I've got an Official Police, too. Great shooter.

EdM,

Try Imgur.

I am not exactly high speed when it comes to tech stuff. PhotoB pulling the nonsense they did made me switch.

It was far easier than I thought, and in fact I am slowing finding it may have been better all along.



As far as I am concerned PhotoB cut their own throats.

Love that 10-8.

No dash 14 in the hizzy!

Have to cheat a smidge...

Model 19-2:

Stelhead, you've got a sweet pile of metal there but I really like the 15. Holster is pimped up nicely too.

Me too.......it's rejuvenated my interest in handguns

Nice thread!

I'm with EdM and not up to speed with pics again, but my current favorite gun is a S&W Model 15. Love the thing. So much fun to shoot and such a classic looking revolver.

I bought a pile of cast bullets and some Unique but haven't even gotten around to loading them yet. Found a great deal on 150gr lead RN target loads and bought a bunch.

Only one...1984... Got it for a song a few years back, and put recoil absorbing pachmayers on it.

That is P-I-M-P!




Clark

Think I was still toting the Cobra, I went to the Commander in '84.
Yeah Kenny went from a 19 to a 686.

I remember Kenny blasting an armadillo in someones front lawn with the 686.

I remember doing a lot of stuff with Kenny and Andy Kolba that would get you instantly fired today and maybe even locked up. Those were my "good old days" never to be seen again. One night I popped a Great horned owl with my 1911 when out with Andy, didn't hit the bird but the branch right between his talons.

JFC....only for Scott. I [bleep] hate photo media websites...

Top down by muzzle:
14-3, 38/44 Outdoorsman (pre-23), 14-3 SA only, Officers Model Match, 67-1, 15-3, 15-4, Cobra, 36 no dash, Diamondback, 38 Hand Ejector/pre10, Dick Special.

Braggart.

He loves me.


I like the 2" pre-10

Yeah, I got a few stories too. Andy was a crazy bastard.

My most recent .38 Special acquisition, one I had searched for quite awhile. S&W M15-2, 2":

Nice little rocket. Those are hard to come by here and always have a premium attached.

I rarely run across one of those, i.e., in the 2" barrel. When I was trained in double action revolvers back in 1980, that was my instructor's favorite, and the one he used to introduce students to shooting double action revolvers. He was a retired Deputy Sheriff, and an NRA Certified Instructor.

The manager of a local gun store called me a few years ago about a pristine one (2" Combat Masterpiece) that he just got in, and he knew I'd be interested. I was. I came in and looked at it, but the price was just a bit high. Now I wish I'd picked it up.

It is a sweet shooting gun, so much so that my wife has claimed it as her own! She carries a J-frame 38 but much prefers this 2" K-frame for shooting at the range.

Not anymore since the Dept. screwed him on his pension.

Who wouldn't? The J-Frame is no fun to shoot. K-Frames are sweet shooters, especially with those nice sights.

Smith pre-20, 38/44 heavy duty:

What the heck happened?

If you ever talk to him, ask him if he's still friends with Mike Lang.

Pretty cool. Would be even cooler if it was in .44 Special, though. Way over built for what amounts to a hot loaded .38 Special.

I'm photo challenged also, so there's that. My .38 is an older,but, new model Ruger Blackhawk .357/.38spl.
Pretty much all I shot out of it are my 158gr L-swc's and 5.0gr Unique. Love that handgun. Almost as much as my 1911!

My wife had this Police Positive when we married.

Mike

Sweet!

An Official Police and a Police Positive.



Another Official Police.

I know very little about the older Colt DA revolvers, what are the differences between the two models besides what looks like a longer ejector rod?

You mean like this one?...

I'd rather have the 38.

Pair of Smith 36 "Chief's Special Target" .38s:

Well, both those S&Ws are useless with fixed sights.

The Official Police is made on a much bigger frame, called their .41 frame, from when they came in .41 Long Colt. The Police Positive is built on the same frame as the Detective Special.

They only look the same size in that picture due to an optical illusion.

Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout! Very nice.

PS Is that a pinned on front sight?

Nah. That's the way I like them. Made for rough handling.

That heavy duty .44 special is a Bowen conversion from a .38, so yes, it is a pinned on front sight.

These are fantastic, DO.

thanks for posting.

A worthy conversion, although I guess it ruined collector value.

I'm assuming that is sarcasm

He had a back and leg problem that was resolving but they made him take the PAT before he was ready, he failed and they pulled him from certified to an offer of a civilian position. That screwed him from the "high risk" pension by 2 months.. Cost him near $20,000 a year in retirement!

Have not seen him in over a year, nor have I heard anything about him.

My all time favorite .38 Special is the S&W Model 15 Combat Masterpiece. It just doesn’t get any better than that!

I don't have a lot of straight 38's, I've got a 4" Ruger Speed Six, Ruger LCW and a Colt Detective Special. Got a few 357mags that I run 38's through. I really like the Remington HTP's (High Terminal Perfornance) 158 grain HP's. I haven't seen those for a while. I hope Remington is still making them, anyone know. I've got some SP101 3" guns that shoot 38s pretty well. I like my model 66 as well. I need to figure out where the rabbits are around here. Love shooting at rabbits with a handgun. Been a while. Gun Geek, I wouldn't mind finding a nice Model 15 also. They are really nice. If I had Steelheads and he had a feather up his rear, we'd both be tickeled.

I've shot the target .38's from S&W and Colt, and I have to say; they really don't shoot any better than a model 15. Little longer sight radius, but really they were no more accurate. The model 15 is balanced as perfectly as any DA revolver I've ever handled. The cartridge leaves a bit to be desired when it comes to versatility. In it's early days, the .38 Special wasn't much of a stopping round. These days out of a 4" barrel I consider the .38 Special the equal of any 9mm.

Beyond defensive and target use, the Model 15 is more versatile than you'd think, but it will never be a .44. The Model 15 has always been made with the same steel and heat treating as the model 19's, so you can push .38 special loads in the M15 to do most anything a .357 will do. The only limiting factors are the length of the cylinder, and real heavy loads in the M15 tend to shoot rather high since the front sight height is really for .38 special only.

And honestly, when I look at all the revolvers that S&W has made over the decades, I don't know that any were ever made any better than the M15.