Shooting .38 revolvers or ‘wheel guns’
By MARJ LAW
It’s a beautiful Sunday: neither too hot nor too cold and no rain’s in sight. Today we are going to shoot with our friend, Rick. We’re shooting two .38 revolvers.
You might recall that I’m not fond of .38 revolvers. Especially those short-nosed ones which are so popular to men who want to give their wives defensive handguns.
“This is the S&W Chief’s Special. It will fit your small hand and it’ll never jam! It will fit in your purse because the gun is less than 7-inches long,” they say. “All you do is point and shoot!” True. If you’ve cocked the hammer first. Both the Smith & Wesson .38 Chief’s Special Model 36 and the Smith & Wesson K-38 Masterpiece Model 14 can be shot either single action or double action. Cock the hammer first and you have single action. You don’t ask the trigger to do more than to release the hammer.
If you don’t cock the hammer first, you’re telling the trigger to do two actions: to cock the hammer and then to release it. So, you’re making the trigger harder to pull because you’re making it work harder. And the trigger will make you pay for giving it more work.
Shooting that .38 Chief Special he likes so much isn’t as easy as he says. If you do not cock that hammer first, trigger pull is about 11 pounds, 3 ounces. That’s a lot. Pull, pull, ouch.
Yes, you can cock the hammer first. Then the trigger won’t complain so much and trigger pull will be only about 4 pounds. You can do 4 pounds. But you can’t leave a gun lying around with a cocked hammer. It’s not safe. Almost anyone can pull that 4-pound trigger.
Who is visiting your house? Any children around? Adults who know little about guns? Adults with little common sense?
You won’t want to leave any guns lying around your house anyway, but seriously, a gun with a cocked hammer? Just can’t do it.
When Mr. Bad knocks your door down, you’ll have to shoot that “point and shoot gun that will never jam” in double action. Yes, with the 11-pound trigger. Have you trained shooting the .38 at the range with an 11-pound trigger? Probably just a very few times. It’s so much easier to cock the hammer first, then pull the trigger. This is what you’ll end up doing when you practice at the range.
But real life isn’t like that. When Mr. Bad comes charging in, you will point and shoot. With that 11-pound trigger that you’ve only tried two or three times. Will you stake your life on shooting the gun with so little practice?
That’s the Chief’s Special.
Now, the Smith & Wesson K-38 Masterpiece doesn’t claim to be a small point and shoot gun. The Masterpiece is a target gun: not one made to carry as a defensive gun.
It has a 6-inch barrel and is 11.5 inches in length. Again, you can shoot it in either single or double action. But, because you are practicing shooting paper targets at the range, you have plenty of time to cock the hammer first. The trigger won’t be working too hard, so you won’t have to pull it very hard either.
Once you’ve cocked the hammer first, then pulled its trigger, the trigger will be about 4 pounds. You can do this all day long.
These are the two guns we’re taking to the range. We plan to shoot at 20 feet and at 45 feet. Joe, Rick and I will shoot three rounds with each gun at these distances.
“45 feet?” Joe snickers to me. “You can’t hit the broadside of the barn with a base fiddle shooting the Chief’s Special at that distance!”
This is one time I won’t argue. He knows I’m not fond at all of this snub-nosed .38 and that I won’t shoot it unless necessary. “How about we shoot both guns in single action?” I suggest, thinking the 4-pound trigger pulls will make shooting easier.
“Sure,” he replies. (He probably intended to do this anyway.)
I’ve brought a tape measure to the range and mark off 45 feet. Oops! Those targets are a heck of a long way away! Maybe it’s best to let the guys shoot. I’ll watch.
At 45 feet, well, I’m glad I don’t shoot. Neither guy has shot either gun recently, so it doesn’t go very well. Each take three shots.
They shoot at the 20-foot line next, again with three shots. This time, the Masterpiece with its 6-inch barrel gets all six shots in its target, while the Chief has three. The longer barrel wins out.
The Chief’s barrel is 1.875 inches long and it weighs 19.5 ounces. As it says on the Smith & Wesson site, “Designed with the needs of law enforcement officials in mind, the Chief’s Special proved to be a popular revolver for personal protection due to its size and weight.”
Yes, it’s small and might fit in a purse. But today, it doesn’t shoot so accurately as the Masterpiece. Today, length seems to make a difference. However, these are just two guys shooting. Anything can happen on a different day.
If you have the Chief and Mr. Bad comes to the door, remember to cock that hammer first or be prepared for a hard trigger pull.
And the Masterpiece?
As Luis Valdez reports in The Truth About Guns: “The Model 14 was built to be a target gun first and foremost.” He goes on to say: “Are there better guns today? Yes, of course there are. But that doesn’t mean guns like the Model 14 and Model 15 are worthless or useless. No, I think they’re still good at being used for home defense or kept in a business in case a client with ulterior motives tries to make a forced five finger discount transaction.”
Marj Law is the former director of Keep Wakulla County Beautiful who has become an avid shooter in retirement.