Stolen S & W 14-3

[Calamity Jake]

After looking at gunbroker and a couple of others I think "I" stole this one.

S&W 14-3 K38 Masterpiece blue 6", looks to be unfired execpt for factory test fire, blue is 99% with a very small rust spot in one flute on the cylinder $450 out the door at a gun show yesterday.

Now sence it is unfired, I'm not sure that I want to shoot it. If the seller had the box I probably would not.

Your thoughts.

[kingstrider]

I no longer keep safe queens. They just take up valuable space and really don't get the love they deserve.

[TXBRILL]

You did good I just bought a Model 14-3 99% no box original diamond grips for $ 475.00 I shot it the 2 weekends and boy am I happy with it.

[Shepherd2]

I paid $75 for my 14-2 but that was in 1967. I definitely wouldn't pass up the opportunity to shoot one of S&W's finest products.

[Alchemist]

Just shoot it!

Then let us know how you like it.

[MT Gianni]

Unless you already have one the joy of shooting a tuned model 14 far exceeds the financial loss from shooting it. Gianni

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
To have a firearm & not shoot it is a sin.
That assumes it is safe to shoot of course.
Besides why else did you buy it?

[Heavy lead]

SHOOOOOOOOT IT I stole one two years ago as a throw in gun (can you believe it, a throw in) for 200 bucks. It needed grips, other than that it had no rust and was tight. Been shooting 148 wc out of it since. They are wonderful old guns.

[unclebill]

shoot it!
i got a great deal on a pretty 27-2 recently and cant imagine missing out on the joy i have gotten from it.
the way i see it.
if you wont fire em .
you may as well collect stamps!

[HeavyMetal]

Yep! All my guns shoot! If it's worth to much to shoot it gets sold so I can buy one I can shoot!

Musem piece's exist and thats where they belong! I don't live in a musem ( dispite what the kids think) and won't have a safe queen.

[Geraldo]

Very few guns appreciate at a rate higher than stocks, bonds, mutuals, IRAs, etc. If you want to invest your money, there are far better ways than firearms.

I'd shoot it like I stole it, then have it rebuilt and start over. But that's me, Geraldo, defiler of safe queens.

[USARO4]

I had to show of my baby

[Buckshot]

................My 14-4 did this the 2nd or 3rd time out:



It will do much better with Lee 358-148WC's cast of pure lead (lube in bottom LG only) over 2.7grs BE. I will not shoot loads even approching +P levels. I'm scared spitless I'll ruin it or wear it out or something. It's just a pure blessing to hold and good for the heart to shoot.

If you don't shoot yours it will be your loss, for the experience. And to think S&W used to ship these to just anyone

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

[BruceB]

In my experience, the K-38 is NOT the shrinking-violet revolver that many seem to think. It will tolerate (and ENDURE, and SURVIVE) considerable numbers of very spicy loads.

I bought a nice used 6" K-38 (M-14) back around 1970, and fired it extensively for several years before a pal made an offer I couldn't refuse.

Most of the rounds used were virtually the same as the "Skelton Load", with a 358156 loaded over 13.5 grains of 2400. Yes, that's a heavy load. Yes, in Lyman's manual at the time it was recommended for "heavy-frame" revolvers. However, it worked beautifully in the K-38 with extreme accuracy and near-.357 ballistics (1250 fps), and the gun was still in perfect working order when I sold it after firing over a thousand of those loads.

In the .38 brass, the 358156 was seated to the REAR crimp groove, which allows near-.357 case volume behind the bullet and certainly helped keep the pressures down.

At that time, I didn't own a .357. These days, we have two S&W .357s and several S&W .38s, so no such heavy .38 loads are needed.

I surely wouldn't worry about pushing a K-38 somewhat beyond 1000 fps with 160-grain cast loads, though. It'll gobble them up and ask for more.

[MT Gianni]

................My 14-4 did this the 2nd or 3rd time out:



It will do much better with Lee 358-148WC's cast of pure lead (lube in bottom LG only) over 2.7grs BE. I will not shoot loads even approching +P levels. I'm scared spitless I'll ruin it or wear it out or something. It's just a pure blessing to hold and good for the heart to shoot.

If you don't shoot yours it will be your loss, for the experience. And to think S&W used to ship these to just anyone

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

It is my experience that wear in a K frame comes more from double action shooting than high powered loads. I base this on a mod 14 rebuild and a Mod 19 tradeoff. Most of the wear in these guns which saw mainly DA use was in the hand area. Gianni

[Calamity Jake]

Looks like I'm going to shoot it. Thanks guys

[Bass Ackward]

It is my experience that wear in a K frame comes more from double action shooting than high powered loads. I base this on a mod 14 rebuild and a Mod 19 tradeoff. Most of the wear in these guns which saw mainly DA use was in the hand area. Gianni

I don't consider wear on things that can be replaced economically. These parts can need to be replaced, and at any time just from watching TV. But frame stretch and barrel splits requiring replacement qualify as real wear.

In truth, you can't tell what you are going to observe in your particular gun until it happens. One may be OK and another will succumb. Heat treatment will vary quite a bit between the same guns. Smith never became cogniscent of this until about 1990, so if it was made prior to that, I wouldn't push harder than recommended just because another caliber has the same frame size.