.38 Spl is quickly becoming a favorite

Targa said:
I love my .44’s but .38 Spl is becoming very special to me...😀. At any rate, I Have a handful of .357’s but only one .38 Spl and I decided to correct that and picked up this S&W 5-10 today, of course it has to sit in jail for 3 days which is the time Colorado had dictated would be an adequate cooling off period in case I acted in haste to buy the gun to hurt myself or others. But I digress, here’s my major award!

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Like that pencil barrel.
 
mcb said:
This Model 10-11 goes with me every time I am out at the hunting property. About a year or so ago I switched from JHP to the Lead HP you see pictured. Even at modest 38 Special velocities these 148gr Lead HP from Matt's bullets expand. This old model 10 has dealt with rats in the barn, rattlesnake around the cabin, and a few armadillos.

View attachment 1195395
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As easy shooting as a 38 is, be careful not to drop it or those armadillos might "deal" with you.

Nice looking HPs and mushroom.
 
Targa said:
I love my .44’s but .38 Spl is becoming very special to me...😀. At any rate, I Have a handful of .357’s but only one .38 Spl and I decided to correct that and picked up this S&W 5-10 today, of course it has to sit in jail for 3 days which is the time Colorado had dictated would be an adequate cooling off period in case I acted in haste to buy the gun to hurt myself or others. But I digress, here’s my major award!

View attachment 1195353
Click to expand...
I suspect it is a 10-5, not a 5-10. No such thing in S&W land as a Model 5, 10 is as low as model numbers go.

I have oodles of S&W 38s, but this Model 10-5, which probably shipped around 1964, is the best deal I ever got on a Smith. $125 out the door, of course it was a bunch of years ago. I have always suspected the number 54 above the trigger was a police armorer's rack number.

9aWckH.jpg
 
I have three Model 10 variants right now. Very nice revolvers.

38 special is my most preferred SD caliber. It's fine in an aluminum snubby, or a nice big N-frame.

Nice find! :)
 
Another 38 Special fan here. When I was a young fellow, Skeeter Skelton convinced me that a 4", 357 revolver was the best "all around" a handgun a man could want. I don't have any idea how many 38/357's I've owned over the years, but it's been a bunch of them.

This is my BBQ gun. If I ever went to a BBQ that is. A Model 15-2 from about 1966 IIRC. The stocks are Eagles I believe. They were on the gun when I bought it. As you can see the BK didn't fit well on those stocks, so I've taken it off.

image_50405121.JPG


I don't have a Model 10 anymore, so I have to settle for this 1948 Colt Official Police.

OP1.jpg


There are others around here, but these are enough for now. I mostly shoot 38 wadcutters these days. l prepped about 300 cases yesterday watching the Daytona 500 using my Lee hand press. I'll load 'em later this week.
 
Targa said:
I love my .44’s but .38 Spl is becoming very special to me...😀. At any rate, I Have a handful of .357’s but only one .38 Spl and I decided to correct that and picked up this S&W 10-5 today, of course it has to sit in jail for 3 days which is the time Colorado had dictated would be an adequate cooling off period in case I acted in haste to buy the gun to hurt myself or others. But I digress, here’s my major award!

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I also own more .38 caliber handguns than any other; 5 are .357's and 2 are .38Spl. I rarely shoot the .38's, preferring the .357 models loaded with .38+P rounds. One of the .38's is my wife's Taurus, the other is a Rossi my Dad bought back in the 1970's.
non S&W revolvers.jpg

Lately, I've been on a .45 Colt kick, even so far as to buy a lever gun in the caliber. The cartridge shoots about as mild as a .38, just a bigger pill coming out the front.
 
Rodfac said:
Beautiful example of a truly fine revolvers, Targa....and I can't fault your caliber choice either>>>well said. Here's my M-67 Smith....a Louisville Police turn-in from long ago. I particularly like the 'pencil' barrel that helps keep the holster weight down. Rod

​
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Proud model 67 owner myself. The way they gently contoured those are the sweet spot between pencil and bull barrels. Bull barrels look a bit unfinished and the pencil barrels are a bit thin for my liking. I've said it before but I think these are the apex .38 special revolvers.
 
The only revolver I had that was chambered in .38 only was a Kimber K6S - I gave it to my Dad as he is having difficulty racking a slide- he likes it a lot. I have a bunch of .357 revolvers, however .38 special is my most shot cartridge currently— reloading is easy, relatively cheap and allows me to shoot as much as I want in a session. For me, a 158 grain swc loaded up to just above mid rang- @750 - 800 ft/sec gives great feedback without beating you or the gun up.
 
Mike in Western Oregon said:
For me, a 158 grain swc loaded up to just above mid rang- @750 - 800 ft/sec gives great feedback without beating you or the gun up.
Click to expand...
A buddy put us on to 'Full Charge Wadcutters', loaded to about the level of the old 158 RNL; it is a dandy load. As you noted, it's not like kissing your sister, but it doesn't beat you up, either.
SeanSw said:
The way they gently contoured those are the sweet spot between pencil and bull barrels.
Click to expand...
Good explanation of the barrel choices. The bulls are a little too much of a good thing.
bangswitch said:
Lately, I've been on a .45 Colt kick, even so far as to buy a lever gun in the caliber. The cartridge shoots about as mild as a .38, just a bigger pill coming out the front.
Click to expand...
Not meaning to hijack, but cowboy level .45s (actually, not much off what was used back in the day) are satisfying, and they rock a dangling tie plate 90 yards away. Not everything has to be run WFO.
Moon
 
Armored farmer said:
That was my latest handgun purchase from GB. It was sporting these hideous plastic grips when I won the auction.
View attachment 1195408
When I went to pick it up at my LGS, I pawed through his bargain bin looking for a pair of Pachy presentations or something.....anything.
At the bottom of the bin lay this set of what I believe are Arhends combats. The price was $10.
View attachment 1195409View attachment 1195410
I do think the previous owner of the grips removed some wood from the upper left panel to accommodate speedloaders.
If they are not Arhends, I think the THR braintrust will surely correct me.
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Thanks, man!

And because we are all posting them, here's mine
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halfmoonclip said:
Rodfac, yours is a little newer than mine. The really early ones had stainless sights, and no red ramp. At the risk of telling you something you know, it's not a big deal to change out that sight leaf.
The one I had years ago also had the stainless rear sight, but I replaced the whole assembly with a blue one. Not sure about the red ramp, though I did put a brighter "Lee's Red Ramp" in the front sight.
Those are really handsome stocks; whose are they?
Moon
Click to expand...
Moon...I've left my 67-1 as I bought it...but that rear blade is dinged up a bit....looks like it'd been dropped at one time or other, but....as it stands, it throws my reloads dead center, both 148 gr WC's and 158 gr SWC's that I cast & I hate to mess with success...LOL.

I've changed out a Smith J frame rear blade a decade or so ago with no problems that I can recall....The front is ok for my use...though I do usually like a solid steel sight that can be blacked for target work...In the woods, this one works well.

The stocks are Altamont's "Roper" of solid walnut. I like them a lot...but for any loads over say 850 fps, they're tough on my middle knuckle in recoil. I've been online looking for them from Altamont but I guess they're tied up with S&W's factory contract. Best Regards, Rod
 
Armored farmer said:
That was my latest handgun purchase from GB. It was sporting these hideous plastic grips when I won the auction.
View attachment 1195408
When I went to pick it up at my LGS, I pawed through his bargain bin looking for a pair of Pachy presentations or something.....anything.
At the bottom of the bin lay this set of what I believe are Arhends combats. The price was $10.
View attachment 1195409View attachment 1195410
I do think the previous owner of the grips removed some wood from the upper left panel to accommodate speedloaders.
If they are not Arhends, I think the THR braintrust will surely correct me.
Click to expand...
Look like Herritt stocks to me. Nice 10-5
 
CajunBass said:
Another 38 Special fan here. When I was a young fellow, Skeeter Skelton convinced me that a 4", 357 revolver was the best "all around" a handgun a man could want. I don't have any idea how many 38/357's I've owned over the years, but it's been a bunch of them.

This is my BBQ gun. If I ever went to a BBQ that is. A Model 15-2 from about 1966 IIRC. The stocks are Eagles I believe. They were on the gun when I bought it. As you can see the BK didn't fit well on those stocks, so I've taken it off.

image_50405121.JPG


I don't have a Model 10 anymore, so I have to settle for this 1948 Colt Official Police.

OP1.jpg


There are others around here, but these are enough for now. I mostly shoot 38 wadcutters these days. l prepped about 300 cases yesterday watching the Daytona 500 using my Lee hand press. I'll load 'em later this week.
Click to expand...
This 15-3 looks like your 15-2.
1708482029101.png
 
I HAD three S&W Model 10-X, gave one to my daughter, so I now have a Model 10-7, a 10-8 and a Model 15; all 4". I set up my Dillon 550 to load them consisting of a cast 158 gr. SWC running 900 fps from any of their 4" barrel and now I have a cardboard box FULL of said handloads. My defensive load is a home-case 158 gr. SWCHP running just shy of 1000 fps.
These are extremely versatile revolvers!

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35W
 
Rodfac said:
.I've left my 67-1 as I bought it...but that rear blade is dinged up a bit....looks like it'd been dropped at one time or other, but....as it stands, it throws my reloads dead center, both 148 gr WC's and 158 gr SWC's that I cast & I hate to mess with success...LOL.
Click to expand...
Hard to argue with that; the rear sight leaf on Smith adjustables is damage prone. A much loved 3" 625 managed to crawl out of a shoulder rig, and on to a big rock at camp. The rear sight took a little ding, but I'd already added white dots to the leaf. Touched it up with cold blue, and called it good.
Moon
 
Not the most beautiful or historic examples, but I've just pulled the trigger on two of these:

eaacorp.com

Weihrauch Windicator Revolver - EAA Corp.

This Weihrauch Windicator is a six-shot double action revolver made to be extremely reliable and comes in multiple barrel lengths.
eaacorp.com eaacorp.com

(.357, 4" barrel, nickel)

The only reason for .357 is that these are not +P rated in the .38 spcl. form.

In the light of my discard ammo thread, went up to .357 - for that extra +P margin :)

They will mostly see .38 spcl at the range.
 
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