"37, 38.... whatever it takes."

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Gunner Mike

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I have a very hard time trusting an "Expert" or "Pro" that I've just met and they say something that I know to be untrue.

I went to a "Gunsmith" the other day and he was telling me that .38 SPL +P ammunition is for automatic pistols only. He said, "They won't work in a revolver," looking at me with his "is this guy stupid?" look.

To my knowledge, there has never been and will never be a 38 SPL auto pistol. (Gun nuts might point at the 38 Super, but that's a whole different cartridge.)

Now, I want to buy some 38 ammo for my revolver and this guy is saying this and I want this kind of ammo, but he knows that I have a revolver. Do I go ahead and buy stuff through this guy? Should I order some of that ammo and show him? What else doesn't he know? I'm pretty sure that he'll never get to do any work for me. Really stinks that he's the only gun shop for over 30 miles.

It was like your roofing contractor telling you that bent nails aren't mistakes, they're for nailing around corners.

Or like on "Mr. Mom" when he says "220, 221,... whatever it takes."
 
To my knowledge, there has never been and will never be a 38 SPL auto pistol. (Gun nuts might point at the 38 Super, but that's a whole different cartridge.)
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S&W Model 52 (IIRC) was a SA that fired the .38 Special Wadcutter loads. But I believe that's the only one.

Wyman
 
"Sometimes people think you a fool, and then you open your mouth and prove them correct"..... your local smith to a tee.....

30 miles isn't such a distance to get correct information....
 
Coonan made (and is working on reintroducing) a 1911 in .38/.357...

However, .38+P works just fine in a revolver, assuming it's a revolver capable of safely handling the extra pressure.
 
I went to a "Gunsmith" the other day and he was telling me that .38 SPL +P ammunition is for automatic pistols only. He said, "They won't work in a revolver," looking at me with his "is this guy stupid?" look.
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He's not a gunsmith if he's made such a gross and basic mistake.

As to the "is this guy stupid" look. Yep, looks like he's stupid.

Don't even bother to use him again and recommend that folks stay away.
 
:scrutiny:
Calling that guy a gunsmith, even with quotation marks is an insult to a real gunsmith. That guy is an absolute flippin moron. How could you work in a gunshop and think .38spl+P is only for autos???:eek:

Stay FAR away!
 
S&W 52 fired 38 WC as mentioned above, and the Desert Eagle fired it's big brother the 357 - both semi's. However, the majority of 38/357 guns tend to be revolvers.

I wouldn't allow that "gunsmith" to install a recoil pad, let alone do serious work.

He almost sounds like the "experts" at Gander Mtn here.......
 
Not actually a ".38 Special", but a rimless version of the .38 Special.

Match .38 AMU – Chambering a .38 Special rimless cartridge, this variation was manufactured by Colt from a .38 Super frame and has .38 Super serialization with a .38 AMU conversion kit slide. The Army took .45 frames and assembled their guns using .38 AMU kits with a blued finish.
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There's a guy that visits my local range and has one of those S&W 52s in .38 Special. He hand loads for it. He waltzes around out there with a rake, picking up brass inbetween sessions of one-handed printing of very small groups.
 
This reminds me of the time I went to a gunshop and asked for .40 S&W FMJ. I was shown a stack of .40 S&W JHP boxes. When I asked again for FMJ, the owner opened a box and pointed out the jacket extended all the way to the end of the bullet (to the hollow cavity). Of course I didn't buy them and to this day I don't know if the shopkeep had a stroke or something. It really defied logic being such an uncommon mistake for someone knowledgeable about firearms.
 
Were you telling him "I want 38 Special +P" or were you pointing at a box of ammunition on the shelf?

Curious since 38 Super is marked as a +p round and wouldn't work in your revolver. 38 Super +P and 38 Special +P *could* read similarly from a distance. . .
 
The upper gun is a Giles .38 Special M1911 converted by Giles from a Colt .38 Super. It's the most accurate centerfire semi-auto I've ever owned.

Colts.jpg
 
This reminds me of the time I went to a gunshop and asked for .40 S&W FMJ. I was shown a stack of .40 S&W JHP boxes. When I asked again for FMJ, the owner opened a box and pointed out the jacket extended all the way to the end of the bullet (to the hollow cavity). Of course I didn't buy them and to this day I don't know if the shopkeep had a stroke or something. It really defied logic being such an uncommon mistake for someone knowledgeable about firearms.
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A new indoor range opened in Sheffield Lake, Ohio about eight years ago. They had a 25 yard range which I needed to zero some guns for Camp Perry. I was unloading my gear when the guy at the counter asked me what kind of ammunition I was using. Thinking they prohibited FMJs, or perhaps .30 Carbine, I replied, "Lead wadcutter and semi-wadcutter bullseye loads". He told me that they didn't allow lead, but offered to sell me some +P jacketed hollow points... for my Giles .38 Special M1911. I was tempted to dare him to load a magazine with them, but he probably would have just wrecked a $50 magazine. I took my stuff back out to the car and drove to another range.
 
LOADED ROUND - "Colt also manufactured a Colt Cup pistol in 38 Special to compete with the S&W Mdl 52, This was also flush seated wad cutter handgun also."
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You are correct. I have a good friend who has two of them. One used, the other unfired, in the box, papers, etc. I've fired the used one. He's been offered a great deal of money for the unfired one but won't sell it.

L.W.
 
S&W Model 52 (IIRC) was a SA that fired the .38 Special Wadcutter loads. But I believe that's the only one.
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Well, I should have said, " I don't know of any other.":banghead:

I didn't even think of the DE (should have, but didn't). But how well does it feed .38 special (+P or not). The Colt, on the other hand, I didn't even know about. Thanks for the lesson.

As the others have said... That's a "gunsmith" to stay away from. Good prices, he might be worth tolerating. Other wise, 30 miles is only 2-4 gallons round trip. Well worth the educated salesman.

Wyman
 
Your source was thinking of 38 Super, not 38 Special +P.

It's possible that he's an idiot; it's also possible he or you misunderstood / misheard.
 
Coonan made (and is working on reintroducing) a 1911 in .38/.357...
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Unless they've made some seriuos modifications, the new pistol is the same as the old one, in that it will chamber and fire .38 Spl., but will not feed and cycle correctly.

In the case of the Desert Eagle, it'll only run with hot .357 ammo.
 
There really isnt a "reduced power" load for a DE I dont think
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What I mean is, with both the .357 and .44 DE's, some of the more sedate range and plinking type loads, even though they're "magnum" loads, have insufficient pressure to cycle the DE.
 
What I mean is, with both the .357 and .44 DE's, some of the more sedate range and plinking type loads, even though they're "magnum" loads, have insufficient pressure to cycle the DE.
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Thats what I sayin too. No personal experience with them, just cause they arent my cup of tea, but even the 50 suffers from this. At least thats what I have been told. I have no experience at all with them though, so it could be internet rumor.
 
He may have been having a 'Brain Fart' moment, and was confusing .38 Special +P, with .38 Super.


But regardless, .38 Super will chamber and fire in some .38 Special Revolvers, so the word "can't" would be incorrect, and, "Should not" would be the proper phrase...
 
Sounds like he had one of those match books that had an ad to learn gunsmithing on the inside cover.
 
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