having fun with on old .38

[atr]

Took my Grandfathers old .38 Colt with me on my latest outing
Cast 125 gr RN........at 30 yards .....nailed that soup can 6 out of 6 times...
lots of fun !

[MGySgt]

MHO - is that we tend to forget how much fun a 38 can be! I just started shooting them again after about a 20 year lay off and working on 44's and 45's.

[rintinglen]

Ain't it the truth. There are a lot of good reasons to enjoy a good .38. Mild recoil, easy reloading, super accuracy: if buffalo aren't on the agenda, you are hard pressed to find a more fun gun for just plain relaxing shooting.

[subsonic]

It's unfortunate that most public ranges limit the kind of shooting to benched paper punching. Rolling a can teaches you much more in a shorter amount of time.

[atr]

yup...alot more fun bouncing a can rather than punching holes in paper

[shooting on a shoestring]

One thing .38 doesn't have is machochism....at least not now days in the shadow of magnums, super mags, and revolvers with 45-70 Trapdoor ballistics.

What did people think of it back in 1902? It was the "Special" the big 38.

Yep they are a hoot. There's a large segment of the shooting population that are missing out on the pleasure of petting a sweet old 38 revolver. Its like the company of an old dog.

[ArchAngelCD]

Most of my shooting is done with either .38 Specials or .22LR. Both are tons of fun IMO.

[StrawHat]

The more I shoot, the more I like the origianl ballistics of the old cartridges. The 45 long Colt, 45-70, 50-70 and 38 SPecial need no improving.

I have not shot a 38 Colt but imagine the origianl ballistics are great for plinking and such.

[EdS]

I recently purchased an old S&W M-10, 6" barrel in .38 Special. I had a lot of fun working out loads that shot to the fixed sights at 25 yards. I found good loads for the Lyman 173 gr. "Keith", the RCBS 150 SWC and the 160 gr. LBT. Of the three boolits, the LBT gave a resounding "smack" sound when it hit the plywood target holder - note: try this one on critters! I started my shooting career many years ago with tin can targets exclusively, and I miss the fun of seeing them roll or jump. So, I took a photo of three cans side by side and printed it full size. It's not the same thing, but it does give the same visual target size image. When I show up at the range with my "tin can target" I get some laughs, but I'll bet I see some fellow shooters show up with something similar! Good Shooting, Ed

[NickSS]

Yep they are a lot of fun and you can find them suprisingly cheap compared to more modern revolvers and as 99% of my shooting is at paper you do not need a cannon to punch a hole. I picked up a used and abused S&W M&P with a 6" pencil barrel in 38 spl a year or so ago. It was sold as is for $125 at a local gun store. After a good cleaning inside and out I now have a good plinker that is fun to shoot. I do not care that it has pitting here and there on it nor do I care that about half to nickel plating is warn or corroded away from miss storage. The bore is near perfect, cylinder aligns perfectly and it will shoot 1.5 inch groups at 25 yards. It was a great buy.

[uscra112]

.38 Special forever! Mine is a Colt Officer's Model that is startlingly accurate with the right loads. Like 1-hole 6-shot groups at 15 yards offhand, when I am on form. Would own many more .38s, but being retired I exemplify the old saw about "no job, no kids, no phone, no money."

No handgun I've ever shot can match that .38 Colt for accuracy.

Dirt cheap to load, too. A can of Bullseye goes a long, long way.