Erik

I'm coming into this pretty late:

".38 Special, Was There a Conspiracy?"

Not a conspiracy, but many firearms enthusiasts began to believe that faster was better, period, without asking why faster may be better sometimes, and conversely why it may not be. Folks who make and sell such things began to take note, and gave those people, who if not a majority are certainly a sizeable minority, what they wanted.

__________________
God, country, family.

CENTURION1945

Hi all, this is my first post in this forum wich call my atention because in my country, COLOMBIA, the .38 is the most popular caliber, even it is the standard side arm for police and security men. I work in a security company so guns are a tool for me, not a sport, but I love guns and shooting. I have 2 guns: a S&W M19-3 4" barrel in .357 Mag. and a M14-3 6" barrel in .38 Spl. The problem is for work I should carry .38 Spl. ammo only, so as handloader I developed a very hot load some 10 years ago as follow. Case: Indumil (government brand) hand selected and weighted for internal capacity homogenity and wall thick control. Primer: CCI550. Powder: 13 grains of Blue Dot. Bullet: 110 grains Sierra JHC. In the Chrony with the 4" average is 1366 FPS, with the 6" average is 1514 FPS. No flatened primers or extraction problems. Penetration and expansion in water filled bags is very good. By the way, the price of a 50 rounds factory box (government produced) .38 Spl. 158 grains RN is some US $45.oo, so for practice I use 4,3 grains of Winchester 231 with 158 grains Lee mould bullet and standard primers.

bmcgilvray

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

That is some .38 Special handload. Would be ok in your revolvers but might be a bit stiff for some of my ol' wheezer collectable .38 Special revolvers.

I'd say you love guns and shooting. Anyone who has a couple of quality revolvers, handloads, and owns a chronograph is more than a casual shooter.

Glad you're here. Be sure to chime in with your remarks any time the mood strikes you.

sgtD

This is an awesome thread. I want to make a request. If you or anyone else has a vast amount fo knowledge about the "consiracy" behind the failure of the .38 super to ever live up to it's potential. I would love to see a thread on it. Seems like if folks wold have just grabbed onto the super, we may have never had to head down the 10mm/.40 cal road. ??

Again, I too am a lover of revolvers and the 38spl. I carry one, and my wife doesn't even care to shoot any other handgun besides a .38 wheelie, so thanks for this informative thread.

__________________
When you've got 'em by the balls, their hearts & minds will follow. Semper Fi.

bmcgilvray

I've long read and heard that the .38 Super was hamstrung by improper and inconsistently prepared chambers and throats in the Colt barrels which contributed to uneven accuracy performance. I never obtained one to play with and see for myself. I know two other shooters who both have older Colt .38 Supers and the small amount of range time I had behind these pistols was most satisfactory. For flinging .355 bullets the .38 Super is as good as any other reasonable high-performance round of that bore diameter and I've always pulled for it as an underdog round. I hope to get one one of these here days.

Captain Crunch

The .38 Super got a bad rap in the early days because chambers were cut so that the cartridge headspaced on the semi-rim. This caused accuracy problems due to inconsistent case rim thicknesses.

Modern barrels are chambered to allow the cartridge to headspace on the case mouth, which has pretty much eliminated the problem.

__________________


Country First
McCain ♦ Palin 08

Terry

mec

Very interesting chronograph figures. Ive always waned to get hold of some of that stuff and check it out. Your 1979 data is no doubt more trustworthy than I would get with decades old remnants. The velocities you recorded are lower and more sensible than I thought might be the case with that load. Those early jhps without pre-stressed jackets were notable for non-expansion. A local guy shot an edp with the Super Vel. .380 load. Hit him center chest and the bullet exited his back with no sign of expansion. Amazingly, no important organs sustained damage and he was back on the street in a week.

CR2008

First hand gun I purchased over 2 years ago was a .45, then I went 9mm (mainly for price and compact size) then .38special/357mag.... the first gun I ever shot was a S&W 36, and I was 8years old, I noticed that it had less penetration than the 9mms out there when shooting metal drums etc but knocking it makes no sense to me, it's enough for self defence.

__________________
http://www.bloombergfightbackfund.com/
Sig P220R/Sig P239 (9mm)/ S&W 640/ Ruger Single Six Hunter (.22LR/Mag)/ CZ 452 Varmint .22LR/ Lee Enfield No4 MK2 sporterized dated 1959/ Mosin Nagant M90-30 dated 1942/

CR2008

I agree, the best "starter gun" IMHO is a revolver... not much to mess around with and is more reliable.

__________________
http://www.bloombergfightbackfund.com/
Sig P220R/Sig P239 (9mm)/ S&W 640/ Ruger Single Six Hunter (.22LR/Mag)/ CZ 452 Varmint .22LR/ Lee Enfield No4 MK2 sporterized dated 1959/ Mosin Nagant M90-30 dated 1942/

rdoggsilva

I still enjoy shooting my 38spl. And still reload for it, like 158gr SWC, for range use. I use Speer 158gr LSWCHP for my FBI load in +P. The 38spl is a mild load that any one can master and control even in +P. I do not consider it a absolute round.

__________________
John Steinbeck: Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he's too old to fight, he'll just kill you.