.38 Chief’s Special or 9mm Equalizer?
By MARJ LAW
Newbie isn’t exactly a newbie anymore. She has shot a rimfire .22. Now that she’s shot a S&W Victory, she’s ready to branch out to a centerfire handgun. What should she choose as her next gun? It needs to be for defense. Anne’s hubby wants her to have the S&W .38 Caliber Chief’s Special. He bought this snub-nosed gun from a friend.
“It has great stopping power,” he tells her. “Easiest gun to own. Easy to load. Point and shoot. Never jam. Piece a cake.”
“Oh, great,” I say to Joe. “Another guy telling a somewhat newbie to shoot a .38.”
“Why not?” he replies.
“Well, for one, the trigger is a bear in double action.”
“Doesn’t bother me!” he smirks and looks at his large hands.
“It sure bothers me. And another thing. The recoil is hard. If Anne can manage to pull the trigger, she’ll have the dickens of a time handling the recoil. And what if she has to shoot a second time? The recoil will have the gun pointing in the air and she’ll have to take the time to aim again.”
“Marj, the recoil doesn’t bother me.” Is he the tiniest bit smug?
“We’re not talking about you: sturdy guy with big hands. We’re talking about a person who has shot a .22 and is moving to a higher caliber gun. How is she going to feel about the .38? Maybe she’d rather shoot my 9mm Equalizer.”
“We’re going to disagree on this one. I like my Chief’s Special. It’s all metal. But anyway, what else does Anne’s hubby like about it?”
“He says it’s easier to load than a semi-automatic. Okay, I think it is too.”
“Yep. He’s right.”
“He says it’s more reliable than a semi. Will never jam.”
“That’s only somewhat true,” Joe begins. “If she keeps it in her purse and has the same Kleenex and broken wrappers and other junk you carry in your purse, these things could get caught up in the .38 and cause a malfunction.” (Of course, he’s being a little extreme.) “What else did he say?”
“Anne’s hubby said it is easier to use because you just point and shoot. It’s more simple than a semi. And yes, I do know there is more of a learning curve to a semi. But does he figure she’s too stupid to spend a few more minutes learning the semi?”
“Nah,” Joe replies. “She can learn, no sweat.”
“He also said the 158-grain bullet has more potential to cause damage than the 9mm caliber rounds. And it may, but I bet the recoil is even stronger with such a heavy bullet. When I shoot your Chief, I like to use the lighter weight Wadcutters. They don’t produce as much kick. Most mature people don’t want much recoil.”
“Anne’s hubby also said the .38 is easy to load,” he remarks.
“Yes, he did say that. And I’d have to agree. Then again, loading a semi’s magazine is not rocket science. Those UpLulas have made loading semis very easy. And consider this: the Chief only holds 5 rounds!”
He replies: “I like my Chief. One shot is all I need for Mr. Bad. Might need another if he has a friend. Or if I miss on the first shot,” he says smugly as if that’s very unlikely.
“Since Anne hasn’t had a lot of experience, what about those 5 shots? Does she think they are sufficient? If not, how long will it take her to reload the gun? Will she tell Mr. Bad: ‘Oopsie! Give me a sec to reload’? I don’t think so.”
“So, why don’t you tell me all the reasons you think Anne should prefer the 9mm Equalizer?” Joe challenges.
“Let’s start with trigger pull. It’s about a 4-pound pull. Really light. I’ll bet she’d be happy to practice with the 9. That .38 is no fun to practice with in double action. It has about a 10-pound trigger pull. Big difference. If she doesn’t want to practice, then how good will her aim be?
And those five rounds in the .38? Gimme a break. The Equalizer comes with three, count ‘em, three magazines. They hold 10, 13 and 15 rounds. If Anne has a choice, does she want five rounds, or does she want the security of knowing she has 15 rounds? C’mon. That’s a no-brainer.
And loading those rounds? Pop a round into the UpLula and press it in the magazine. Once you get the hang of them, UpLulas are so easy to use.
And recoil? You can hardly compare the 2 guns. A semi’s slide absorbs a bunch of the recoil, so in most cases the semi has less kick than a revolver. Who wants recoil?
What if you want to carry your gun? The round cylinder of the revolver makes it less concealable than the semi. Anne is petite. She doesn’t want a bulge imprinting under her t-shirt or stuffed inside the waistband of her pants. Or even in her purse.
Carrying a semi? Put that small semi into a sticky holster and stuff it in your pants. It’ll stay in place and it won’t dig a red mark into your skin.
And power?
ding to ammotogo.com, “The standard pressure for the .38 Special is roughly 17,000 pounds-per-square-inch (psi). However, the 9mm Luger has internal pressures of 35,000 psi. It’s this higher internal pressure, the result of expansive propellant design and testing that makes the smaller 9mm (round) more powerful.”
According to outdoorlife.com: ‘The 9mm is the king of the hill when it comes to handgun loads. … It’s reliable, low recoiling, and extremely accurate, not to mention affordable and attainable.’
The article goes on to say: ‘Personally, I see no reason to look anywhere other than 9mm for self-defense purposes.’
I agree. I’d put a 9mm round into my small concealable Equalizer and shoot it any day over that .38 revolver. It’s more fun to shoot a gun that has a light trigger and low recoil.
I’m a pretty good shot, but I like the security of knowing I have 15 rounds instead of 5 if self-defense becomes a necessity.
My friend Kate has shot some before, but not much. I ask her to shoot both the 9mm Equalizer and Joe’s Chief’s Special .38.
She finds the Equalizer to have an easy trigger pull and she thinks the trigger travel is quite short.
“How is the recoil?” I ask.
“It’s fun to shoot,” she replies. “The kick is very light.”
“And what do you think of the .38?” I wonder.
“It has beautiful redwood grips. But to be able to shoot it without cocking the hammer, I had to use both index fingers to pull the trigger. That’s a really hard pull! I think the difficult trigger would turn off a newbie. The .38 is heavy and cumbersome and has a heavy recoil.”
So, would I advise Anne to choose my 9mm Equalizer over the Chief’s Special .38 revolver?
No.
A few years ago, 2 mature women came to the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office range. They both brought .38 revolvers.
We discussed safety rules, grip, stance and aim. I waited to see how they reacted.
Both hit the targets with no difficulty. They were happy.
Yes, I vastly prefer the 9mm handgun as did my friend Kate. However, the best gun for Anne is the one she shoots the best, likes the best, and finds the most comfortable.
That’s the gun for her.
Marj Law is the former director of Keep Wakulla County Beautiful who has become an avid shooter in retirement.