K38....A study in excellence.....

[mtngunr]

many times, you don't have to spend $1000-$2000 for a line-bored wonder revolver to get one that shoots....I still have a stainless Vaquero that fired a one-ragged-hole 25yd group the very first time it was put on paper....and the case in hand, a K38 Target Masterpiece, v.14-4, supposedly from a time when S&W had forgotten how to build handguns (SN29K6xxx, made I don't know exactly when).....bought used for $250 this past fall, looking near new except what would protrude from a duty holster, the numbered grips and backstrap showing a bit of wear, the polishing job almost black chrome....the ribbed non-underlug barrel the perfect steady yet easy holding belt holster gun, the gun obviously lighter than many martial arms such as the venerable 1911.....best of all are the shooting qualities, the precise Patridge front and micrometer rear bringing out the best a shooter can bring to bear, helped in no small measure with the factory trigger that breaks clean with almost no movement....from an unsupported two-fisted standing position, 24 straight rounds into a 3" group at 25yds are almost easy to accomplish, and benchrested groups using a soft SWC ever so lightly crimped over the front driving band and powered by 3.2grs/Bullseye is fully capable of plonking 1" groups at 25yds into the X-ring with a 6-o'clock hold on the bull....some groups have run 3/4", and some have run 1.25", but 1" is pretty much the standard limited only by the middle-aged eyes tendency to vertically string shots 1.25" rather than 0.75"....this has-been revolver is a wonder, and probably one of the best light/medium-duty field guns an outdoorsman could hope to own.....as a gunwriter friend of mine opines, Smith and Wesson revolvers are the most shootable handguns in the world, and the K38 is the most shootable Smith and Wesson.....

[Glen]

Hear! Hear! The K-38 is truly one of the most shootable handguns of all-time. God bless the K-38.

[BruceB]

Whew....after reading that tribute to the K-38, I HAD to get ours out to play with a bit. That started me off, and now there are S&W revolvers all over the kitchen table.

Yep. Truly a classic among classics, the K-38. Serial number on ours is 3K49xxx, which places it around 1968.

Idabull (now onceabull) offered me a Model 15 in new condition (same gun except for 4"barrel) a couple years ago. Having just been given a .357 M-19-3 with 4" barrel by my wife and daughter, I turned it down, even though the price was VERY reasonable. That gun has haunted me ever since!

Without admitting how I know, I can say that a K-38 will take the "Skeeter Skelton" loads for a looong time without apparent harm. I killed a big Arctic wolf with the K-38 and one 358156 from about 40 yards...the bullet departed at fully 1300 fps. DRT. Funny...I had just zeroed the pistol and load on our 20-yard indoor range the night before! Lousy timing for Br'er Wolf, great timing for me.

[dot6]

I've had .38s made by Rossi, Ruger, Taurus, Charter Arms, Colt, and S&W. No bad thigs to say about any of them, but the only one I was really happy with was the K-38. Still have it and believe it outclasses all the rest in fit, finish, feel (for me), and even accuracy.

[mtngunr]

I'd take care with hotter loads in a K38.....friend of mine reports the old overboard load of either 6grs or 6.5grs Unique was great fun until a fellow shooter borrowed a few and promptly bulged a bolt notch in the cylinder of his K38....more worrisome is the flat-bottomed thin forcing cone, and the K38s are well known for cracking there from heavy load use.....but yes, I've fired a few hot .38's in my time....still do in a J-frame....
edited in.....but I save the K38 for the loads it was meant for, secure that it will outlast me if I do that small part....

[onceabull]

S&W's "K" wheelers !! One of those treasures where I remember vividly every one I owned. AND the ones that aren't here now,still bother me..Even the 6" K-22 99.9% with box and kit that ,with $100 boot,got me a fine pre-64 win.88 in 284 Win. Excellent deal ,$ wise,but I've yet to find another that I shoot as well..for me it was a better pistol at the range than my Colt Woodsman Sport model,and some of you have heard all you want to about that one..:roll: Onceabull :roll:

[mtngunr]

S&W's "K" wheelers !! One of those treasures where I remember vividly every one I owned. AND the ones that aren't here now,still bother me..Even the 6" K-22 99.9% with box and kit that ,with $100 boot,got me a fine pre-64 win.88 in 284 Win. Excellent deal ,$ wise,but I've yet to find another that I shoot as well..for me it was a better pistol at the range than my Colt Woodsman Sport model,and some of you have heard all you want to about that one... Onceabull

As the same writer friend quoted above also said, shooting a Smith and Wesson K is like shooting with training wheels.....

[shooting on a shoestring]

Yep I was well into 1st grade. Dad coached me on the finer points of pointing and pulling. I've been hooked ever since. I hope he lives a long and healthy life, but I keep track of where he keeps that old Masterpiece. I'm currently having to make do with a 6 inch Mod 19 I bought new when I was in Junior High in the seventies. Most of its diet has been 3.0 gr Bullseye under 358156 no gas check put up in .38 cases. Its a great piece in its own right. For more years than I care to think, that Mod 19 has been on night duty within easy reach. Dad's K-38 has served that duty for him since the sixties. Whoa be to the fool who would kick in his door tonight.

One of my good memories is a '52 Willis Jeep, 3000 acres of New Mexico, my Mod 19 and Mom carrying that K-38 with a couple of coffee cans full of 3.0 gr Bullseye 358156........Damn that woman can shoot!

[NVcurmudgeon]

S&W's "K" wheelers !! One of those treasures where I remember vividly every one I owned. AND the ones that aren't here now,still bother me..Even the 6" K-22 99.9% with box and kit that ,with $100 boot,got me a fine pre-64 win.88 in 284 Win. Excellent deal ,$ wise,but I've yet to find another that I shoot as well..for me it was a better pistol at the range than my Colt Woodsman Sport model,and some of you have heard all you want to about that one..:roll: Onceabull :roll:

The Woodsman Sport Model is the best pistol in the world, IMO, though I would like to find a good 6" K-38 to give it some competition.

[Char-Gar]

The 38 Special is without a doubt my favorite sixgun round and the K-38 is one of the best sixguns to chamber the round.

I have a K-38 and is it one of t he most accurate sixguns I have ever fired, but it is not alone in it's accuracy. Some others are

Smith K-38 (6 inch.)
Smith Mod. 15/Combat Mastepiece (4 inch.)
Colt Officers Model (6 inch.)
Colt OM Trooper (4 inch.)

All of these have adjustable sights and there are lots of others with fixed that shoot very wll also

Smith Mod 64 (3 inch)
Smith Mod 10/Military Police (4 inch.)
Smith Chief's Special/ Mod. 36 (3 inch.)
Colt Official Police (5 inch.)
Colt Detective Special (3 inch.)

I no longer shoot hot loads in the Specials, I have another list of .357 Mags if I want to do that. I have standardized on two basic loads with four different powders, I load these by the thousand lot.

148 WC over 2.7 Bullseye or 3.0 Win. 231

160 SWC over 5 Unique or 5.5 AA5

I have never spent the money for one of those high dollar line bored custom sixguns that seem to be so popular today. I have had too much fun with the lowly 38 to even feel the need for such a critter.

[Dale53]

I go back to when Smith offered matched sets of the "K's" in .22, .32, and .38.

A friend of mine won a K-38 in a big match many years ago. He already had one, so I bought it from him for a VERY nice price. I wanted to shoot PPC, at the time, and couldn't afford a custom PPC gun. So, I bought a Bo-Mar rib, installed it myself and had a friend make me a set of custom grips for the pistol. I shot a lot of PPC with that piece and still have it - it is definitely a keeper.

From the Ransom rest, with my cast wadcutters it will consistently shoot 3/4" groups. Remington was making THE best wadcutter ammo at the time and I tried a box or two. Remington WC would shoot 1/2" groups (five shots) at 25 yards, time after time. I could never quite reach that level with my reloads but 3/4" ain't bad!:mrgreen:

Yep, I love my K-38. It is a CLASSIC!:drinks:

Dale53

[9.3X62AL]

K-frame S&W 38 Specials.....love 'em. I would likely jump on a good Model 14 or 15 if it came along, even a Model 64 or 10 HB might get a bite. My first shots fired in anger were from a Model 64 x 4", so the K-frames have a special place in my heart--and always will.

[BruceB]

NVcurmudgeon: "The Woodsman Sport Model is the best pistol in the world, IMO..."

In December of 1964, I was a member of a four-man crew performing a geophysical survey in the Barren Lands of Canada's Northwest Territories. We had a big Nodwell (or, Foremost-type) tracked tractor, with a fuel trailer and a bunk/kitchen "caboose", as well as a Bombardier J-5 snowmachine. Temps were often in the -40s in daytime, and colder at night.....plus the wind, which blows constantly in that area.

Anyway, one morning we stopped to make coffee around 10 a.m., just as dawn was breaking. One of the older hands opened the back door to throw out the coffee grounds, and found six big Arctic wolves sitting in a semi-circle within about 15 feet of the door. He reached back inside to a shelf beside the door, and grabbed his Colt Woodsman. Six rounds later, he had five dead wolves and one immobilized. I have a picture somewhere here of the man standing with the little Colt over the last wolf, who is snarling with great earnestness.

I was very interested in just how lethal the .22 is on such large animals, all of them being over the 100-pound mark. Good shooting helps, too, naturally.

[Dale53]

BruceB;
Your Arctic Wolf story reminded me of a personal situation. My father gave my grandfather, who was a farmer, a very nice Colt Bankers Special (2" .22 snubnose with adjustable sights). Grand pop walked his land almost every day, checking fences, etc. He got ambushed by a pack of feral dogs. He reached in his pocket, pulled the little revolver out and started working on the pack. After the smoke cleared that pack was no longer a problem. Feral dogs are scary animals. The "pack" mentality applies and formerly good dogs are now deadly. They have no fear of humans and will not only kill you but eat every scrap.

A number of years ago people would periodically go missing in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. Everyone thought that there was some kind of serial killer involved. The only thing was, not ONE trace of any body was found. After several dissappearances, they discovered a feral dog pack. They would kill and even eat the skull. NOTHING was left...

Yep, I am apt to be carrying when I am out walkin'[smilie=1:.

My grandfather never thought that his little Colt Banker Special would save his life on his own farm.

Unfortunately, the revolver went missing some years later after my grand parents moved to town.

Dale53

[Bodydoc447]

A few years ago SOG had some S&W M15 PD turn-ins. I "conned" my buddy into making it a two-fer order from my local dealer who ordered them for us. He gave his to his daddy to carry around when working. He only got it back last month when his daddy passed on. I have shot mine only a little but I have been greatly impressed with its smooth action and accuracy. I think this one will stay in the family for at least one more generation.

Doc

[mtngunr]

I'm sure there are some poor shooting generic S&W K-frame .38 Specials out there, somewhere....but none I've ever fired.....every one I've owned (generally M&P's with 2"-4" barrels) have been finely accurate guns, much more so than any other standard factory handgun by anybody, of any type, and this includes other S&W handguns and calibers.....it's always what I recommend to folk who just want to own a handgun, great for novices, even better for experts.....

[Four Fingers of Death]

I picked up an old K38 in good condition and swapped another guy for his single action trigger and hammer, etc. I tried to swap the whole gun, but he wouldn't be in it. It is incredibly accurate with just about anything I have fed it so far. I use it for bullseye style competition. I have only used commercial cast, I'll have to get organised and cast some good fitting boolits for it.

[Bass Ackward]

I think that just as a lot of other products, S&W built some guns based upon use. Some models seem to invariably be built better over all than others. Maybe only certain guys got to build certain models, maybe they allowed more time, whatever. Another model I never saw a bad one either was a 25-2.

[mtngunr]

I picked up an old K38 in good condition and swapped another guy for his single action trigger and hammer, etc. I tried to swap the whole gun, but he wouldn't be in it. It is incredibly accurate with just about anything I have fed it so far. I use it for bullseye style competition. I have only used commercial cast, I'll have to get organised and cast some good fitting boolits for it.

Many folk report suprisingly good/excellent results using 2.7gr-3.2gr of the usual suspects (ie. Bullseye/RedDot/W231/HP38/etc) while using commercial cast DEWC's, suprising to me as I'd think them too hard both in lube and alloy for optimum obturation with lighter loads....a good initial fit probably covers a multitude of other sins, though....the other non-cast and excellent options are the soft swaged HBWC's, SWC's, and SWCHP's as offered by Speer and Hornady, nicely consistant balanced bullets that are hard to beat in that respect even with best cast efforts.....and the soft lead definitely slugs up on firing....with the light charges, I seat the HBWC's with about 1/16" protruding from the case for positive centering in the throat (about the same amount a normal front driving band....any more, and it won't chamber), and for light loads with the SWC/SWCHP, the front driving band is seated flush with the case mouth to approximate the base seating depth of WC's and keep pressure/velocity up.....the crimps on all light loads are just enough to straighted out the bullet seating flare, both to minimize bullet distortion, and keep the crimp from scraping off the supplied lube coating....the velocities approach 800fps with the SWC's, and that load in the K38 is my general purpose load, as accurate or more so than many .22 rimfires while carrying much more whomp.....sighted 3" high for a 6-o'clock hold at 25yds, it is pretty much dead-on at 50yds, and only down a couple at 75yds, I think the SWC's carrying a bit better at longer ranges than the WC's......

[Shepherd2]

I have a single action K38 with the target trigger and hammer. I bought it used for $75 from a bullseye shooter that was moving up to a S&W Model 52. What a joy that gun is to shoot. It had been shot a lot when I got it and it's been shot a lot since. It still looks good and is mechanically perfect. All I've ever shot in it is the 148gr WC with 2.7 grs of Bullseye. I don't want to mess up a good thing and I've always had another .38 or .357 to shoot the hot loads in.

[mtngunr]

It had been shot a lot when I got it and it's been shot a lot since. It still looks good and is mechanically perfect. All I've ever shot in it is the 148gr WC with 2.7 grs of Bullseye. I don't want to mess up a good thing and I've always had another .38 or .357 to shoot the hot loads in.

Total agreement there...... I own and love quite a few single action revolvers, them being remarkably simple, rugged devices with relatively huge beefy parts compared to DA revolvers, and well known for outlasting DA revolvers when stout shooting is the norm....BUT, I really think the K38 when used as directed will last fully as long, and perhaps longer when compared to those used mainly for heavier loads, DA or SA....

[Dale53]

I have shot "tons" of .38 dbl ended wadcutters ahead of the old classic wc load (2.7 bullseye) with excellent results (3/4" at 25 yards from the Ransom Rest). The standard wad cutters from H&G, Lee, and Lyman moulds have all seemed to work equally well. For pure shooting fun, it is hard to beat a .38 wadcutter from a Smith, Colt, or good shooting Ruger (don't forget Dan Wesson, or Taurus, either). Ed Harris is also a fan of .38 wc's and suggests that his shoot better with 3.0 Bullseye (the solid wad cutters).

The only thing that beats them for fun is a S&W K-32. I have a 16-4 that I just LOVE to shoot. The K-32 is a bit harder to get to shoot well than the K-38, in my experience, but they will "work with you".

A friend just picked up a Dan Wesson in .357 that he will be using with .38 wadcutters and it promises to be a really good performer, also.

FWIW

Dale53

[Four Fingers of Death]

The most accurate load I have ever shot from my 586 was a few packets of Federal Wadcutter factory loads, which were given to me by the NYPD pistol team when they were here in 88 for the Law Enforcement Olympics. Man! No matter how hard I try, I can't quiet match those babys. I have been meaning to try them in my K38, I'm sure they would be the bee's knee's.

[9.3X62AL]

At present, I'm "muddling through" in 38 Special with a Colt OMT x 6", call it "slumming".........NOT. :-)

Full agreement on not using +P loads in these now out-of-print rollerpistols. Save that work for the 357's, says I. With the complicated "kabuki theater on paper" one must do to get a used 38 Special here in the People's Republic, emigration to the United States looks better and better all the time.

[georgeld]

mtnguntz;

My K 38 ser# is 2381x

Nothing fancy, just a blued and shot many many times.
Still nice and shoots well. Mostly used for plinking with.

Majority thru it since I got it five yrs ago has been SWC's and 3gr Red Dot. Load them by the several thousands. Usually by half or more five gallon buckets of brass.

Cast the boolits by two gallon buckets full twice or more times a year as the need come's along.

Has a 6" barrel and original grips. My g/f love's to shoot it
with light cast loads. Most of the time we'll take a 3# coffee can full and quit when she run's out of ammo. Don't take her long to cut the bull out of a paper.

For the big guns I use Blackhawks, .45 Colt now, but, for yrs a .30 carbine.

Just picked up a Charter Arm's "off duty" for pocket carry. Only shot it three time's so far, it's winter here and wanted to see how it worked so popped these in the shop one evening.

[mtngunr]

Hey, I LIKE this place.......most internet gun sites, a guy mentions a K38 Target Masterpiece, and he gets the electronic version of a blank stare followed by a yawn......there's quite a few folk here who actually appreciate and shoot accurate .38 S&W Special resolvers....I am hanging with a good crowd.....my momma would be proud.....

[Buckshot]

http://www.fototime.com/C5773BB9E49798C/standard.jpg

From my 1960's era M14-4. Had I been introduced to peestols that shot like this sooner, I might have owned more. After getting this one I can't think of anything else I might desperately need :-)

And to think that thousands of these were carried around in duty holsters, and it was just workaday stuff at good old S&W.

.................Buckshot

[KCSO]

In about 2003 I came to the office one day packing my K38. I had some paperwork to do so I emptied the gun and laid it on the desk while I worked on a report. The young Deputy who worked for me came in and stared down at the desk. Finally he said, pointing at the K38, "what's that chief". "That is the gun I was issued when I started in this business in 19$%". He looked a minute more and said,"thats a revolver, they had those in the old days huh". "Yes me and Wyatt Earp each had one"! He shook hei heas and said, "Gee Chief your gun is 3 years older than I am", and walked out the door shaking his head.

I don't feel bad though as that gun brought me 9 throphies and the Eastern Nebraska championship. From the box it would shoot into 3" at 50 yards (yes kiddies they do shoot that far) and I have put 6 into 4.5 inches from the bench at 100 yards.

[mtngunr]

Mine is a 14-4, also.....lacking a Supica book, can only estimate they were made from '77-'82(discontinued) going by this page from a good site.... http://www.handloads.com/misc/Smith.Model.Changes.asp
I think mine was also a duty gun for a law enforcement officer, looks near new except what would protrude from a duty holster (and had zero perceptible blue loss on ejector rod), just light handling marks on the grips, worn varnish, the blueing on the grooved grip backstrap the only worn blue on the entire gun....I'd feel WELL armed with such a gun.....light enough for comfortable carry, wonderful sight radius, great balance and sights, and foremost, deadly accurate.....

[Wayne Dobbs]

I currently own 15 K-frame Smiths, most in .38 Special and a 4" K frame was my first duty gun back in the late 70s. After many years of policing, shooting hundreds of thousands of rounds through various service guns and teaching cops and private citizens to shoot and all that's related to that, I've come to a conclusion. I think that about 90% of the population that carry sidearms for defense would be well suited with a 4" S&W K-frame .38 Special revolver for their needs. Those who don't think that adequate, have been in my experience poor shots and even poorer tacticians...

[TDB9901]

S&W K frame. I Love'em!

I have a Model 14-3, got it used in about 1978. Probably one of the finer pieces of machinery I have ever handled. Wife maintains "ownership" but still lets me borrow it from time to time.

I'm still the "Dinosaur" around here, still carry my Model 66 most of the time while on "business". I also have a 3" 65 with dehorned hammer, that works very nicely for carrying under jacket etc.

A year or so back I aquired a Model 12 Air Weight 4" Round butt, (Possibly a Hong Kong PD) that is now one of my favorite "tromping" guns.

If I could own but one one handgun it would probably be my 66.

[dubber123]

I've got a 6" 1967 vintage that shoots around 1" at 25 yds. A scoped 8-3/8" mod. 14 thats around 1-1/2" at 50 yds. (working on that one)., a 4" mod 15 thats around 3/4" at 25 yds. and an old model hand ejector target that will make 1 ragged sub 1/2" 25 yd. group with 2.7 grs Bullseye, and a 148 Lyman wadcutter. The older gun is harder to shoot offhand due to the light weight barrel. I think I'll keep them all. I've got quite a few other K-frames, and the worst will do 1-1/2" at 25 yds. (2-1/2" mod 19). The K's are very shootable for me.

[mtngunr]

Dubber, your S&W .38 Special results tally very close to mine.....generally, the variance has been in whether it will be a really good shooter or an exceptional shooter.....I think anyone who really loves putting bullets where aimed should own one of the accurate ones, the odds being whatever one gets bought will be an accurate one....

[redneckdan]

when ever I get tired of slinging lead with my 1911 I break out the 19-4 with an ultradot and enjoy a nice round of vaporizing army men at 50ft. Great for relaxin the nerves after a long day in class.