The 38 is Great!

S&W K14, produced in 1960 and still shooting great. These revolvers were intended for formal target competition but were also used in police work and in the field by hunters. The 6” barrel helps some 38 Special ammunition achieve 1,000 fps which isn’t far off from what a short barreled 357 magnum produces. Standard ammunition demonstrates excellent accuracy and mild recoil from this revolver.

The 38 Special was introduced long ago and still does a fine job in target shooting, hunting, and self-defense.

Target Shooting: For target shooting it’s hard to beat the 148 grain wadcutter over a modest charge of fast-burning pistol powder such as Bullseye, Titegroup, W231 or similar. That bullet should be seated flush with the case mouth, with a mild roll crimp applied. The long bullet seated so deeply uses up a lot of space in the cartridge case. Coupled with fast burning powder and a moderate crimp, this cartridge is capable of amazing accuracy and offers gentle recoil. Load to roughly the 700 - 800 fps range.

Firing double-action, strong hand at 7 yards. This is typical accuracy for me with that 38 Special revolver. Note the clean holes cut by the wadcutter bullets.

Interestingly in addition to the 38 Special revolvers, Smith and Wesson produced a very accurate semi-automatic pistol specifically for the 38 Special wadcutter ammunition. Sadly that pistol has been out of production for many years.

Hunting: Small game is easily handled by 38 target loads. The full diameter 148 grain wadcutter at modest velocity does a fine job on rabbits and other small game or pests. Accuracy is vital when hunting small game and the 38 excels at accuracy! For more punch downrange consider a 150 - 158 grain semi-wadcutter and bumped up to about 1000 fps. Either the wadcutter or the semi-wadcutter slaps game much harder than the traditional round nose 38 bullets. The modest velocity of this cartridge typically punches a nice clean hole through without causing a lot of meat damage.

Can larger game be taken with the 38 Special? Yes, with due caution. An old friend of mine has used the 38 successfully to take deer several times. The cartridge isn’t particularly powerful. Shot placement is always important, and that applies equally to the 38 Special. Given modest range I’d confidently use my Model 14 for deer or smaller hogs for instance. I’ve not yet done so, but seeing the penetration, and with an appropriate bullet, the expansion possible from a 38 at about 1,000 fps should work very well on deer.

Self Defense: Long used by police, military and private citizens for self-defense the 38 Special has an interesting and mixed record. Much of the mixed record is due to the use of mild round-nose ammunition which tended to inflict very little damage on the tissue penetrated. Improved ammunition with better bullets and often with pumped up pressure and velocity produce far more impressive results.

It’s great that revolvers in 38 Special are readily available in small, medium and large formats. Also great that 357 magnum revolvers can utilize 38 Special ammunition. For some revolvers, such as S&W K-frames, it’s a good idea to practice mostly with mild 38’s and feed them a very limited diet of hot 357 magnum ammunition. The K-frames are known for having forcing cone issues and other problems when magnum ammunition is used extensively.

Practicing self-defense shooting with the 2.5” Model 19 357 magnum. Typically I use this o

lder revolver with 38 and 38+P ammo. Photo by Ultimate Reloader.

Concealed Carry: The most popular 38’s today are the compact revolvers from S&W, Ruger, Kimber and more. These diminutive revolvers have traditionally not been easy to shoot well because of their short sight radius, tiny sights and small grips. The guns usually have good accuracy potential, but it’s hard for users to shoot them accurately.

My personal 2” S&W Model 36 which served as my backup gun for several years when I was a police officer. I treated it to a set of nice walnut grips from Tylers. Pictured with Federal 125 grain JHP +P ammunition which has a loud bark! +P ammo is simply loaded to higher pressure for increased velocity.

A sample of 38 Special ammunition. Left to right: Speer 130 gr JHP, Federal +P 125 gr JHP, Cast 150 gr LSWC, and 148 gr wadcutter ammo on the far right.

I like traditional 148 grain wadcutter ammo for these little guns. The recoil is mild, helping the shooter stay on target and place the shots properly. Expansion is nil, but they hit with the full caliber and penetrate quite well. As with paper targets and small game, they tend to cut a deep 38 caliber hole. Wadcutter ammo can be more difficult to reload via speed loader because if it’s blunt shape but shoots wonderfully.

If you have a 38 revolver that you like, take heart! It’s just as good now as ever, yes even better with today’s great ammunition. I find that it’s still the revolver cartridge I rely on most often, and yes I often carry a compact 38 or 357 revolver for self-defense.

I’m a law enforcement and NRA handgun and rifle instructor, a USMC veteran and a retired police officer with 12 years of SWAT experience. Catch my firearms and ammunition videos on Ultimate Reloader on Rumble and YouTube. Photos in this article are a combination of mine and those taken by Ultimate Reloader.

Shoot well, Guy Miner