The .38 vs. the 9mm handgun
I don’t often write about revolvers. That’s because I’m not fond of them for people who are new to shooting. Which is not to say they are “bad” guns.
True, husbands like the idea of the .38 revolver. They say it will “never jam” and it has “great take down power.” This is why you’ll see a lot of women with .38s. Husbands decide this will be best, so this is what their wives receive.
But you won’t see their wives practicing at the range. They’ll go once, maybe twice, but shooting a .38 isn’t nice, especially if you’re a fined-boned and/or mature person.
So, what’s with my attitude about .38s?
They kick. They don’t hold many rounds. The trigger is heavy. The small ones? They kick harder, still hold few rounds and often have even harder trigger pulls.
- Here’s the story about recoil with the .38.
“Does it kick?” quavers a new shooter, showing me her new bright pink lightweight purse-size .38.
“Like a mule with a bad temper,” I think, but don’t say it. After all, Hubby bought her the gun. I’m feeling sorry for her already.
She notices I haven’t replied. She’s beginning to worry.
“But it’s such a small gun! It fits in my purse and doesn’t weigh much. So, it won’t have much kick.” She’s worried about my silence. “Will it?”
Yikes.
Unfortunately, size and weight matter a lot. The mass of a gun can absorb some of its recoil.
That cute little lightweight purse size revolver doesn’t have mass to absorb recoil. The smaller and lighter? The more recoil it packs. She’s going to have to hold on tight.
With the harsh recoil, the muzzle of the gun will rise with each shot. When the muzzle rises, she’s got to bring it back down to regain her sights on the target. This takes time. If she’s in a life-threatening situation, she’ll doesn’t have time: not even a small amount. She’ll want the muzzle to stay on target. The .38 won’t. She needs a gun with less recoil. - Recoil with the semi-automatic.
Most semi-automatic 9mm handguns have much less recoil than the .38s. Just ask at your local gun store. I like the Smith & Wessons, the Glocks, or the Sig Sauers. Other companies do well too. - Now, let’s talk about trigger pull on the revolver.
I don’t like that heavy trigger pull. I don’t like to having to squeeze and squeeze. Too much work.
Joe reminds me: “Marj, you can manually cock the hammer.”
Yes, you can. Just pull back that hammer and now the trigger is much easier.
However, when Mr. Bad breaks your door down and is racing at you swinging a baseball bat, will you remember to cock the hammer first? Or do you just want to point and shoot and stop the threat immediately?
“Well, now, Marj, no one is forced to cock the hammer first. Just point and shoot.”
OK. So go to the range and practice that awful trigger pull so you’ll be ready if you ever need it. Let’s be honest now. Will we see you at the range? Maybe once.
A hard, long trigger pull can be advantageous if you’re a policeman. If you’re in a potentially hazardous situation, the difficulty of squeezing the trigger makes for a very deliberate action. No accidental shooting.
But when someone has broken into your home with that baseball bat, you don’t have time to deliberate over shooting. You know for certain this guy is planning to harm you. You aren’t drilled like the policeman. You don’t want the heavy trigger pull. - Trigger pull on a semi-automatic.
Once you’ve jacked the slide of the semi, your trigger pull in many semis can run from 4-6.5 pounds. Now you can carry your loaded gun and be ready to shoot if necessary.
Remember that double action revolver? Here, you’ve got 8-12 pounds for your trigger pull. Does this sound like a lot more? It is. Try it. Again and again. - Number of rounds.
Let’s talk about the number of rounds in the .38.
Almost all .38s have the capacity to hold six rounds. The snub-nose revolvers generally hold five rounds. If you’re somewhat new to shooting, will six rounds be sufficient to stop the threat if someone is coming at you with intent to kill? Plenty of semi-automatic handguns come with capacities of 15 or more. Do we want to be limited to six shots? - “It has great take-down power.”
What, six rounds versus 15 rounds? Let’s see now… If your life is ever threatened, would you want six rounds or 15 rounds in your gun? I’d consider 15 rounds to have greater “take down power.” - The revolver will “never jam.”
True. That’s if the gum wrapper, lint, or piece of Kleenex in your pocket or purse hasn’t stuck in the cylinder. Or if the timing of the cylinder has been breached. Yes, it probably won’t jam. But “never” is a long time. Both revolver and semi-automatics in a pocket or purse can be fouled by trash. - Let’s talk loading in both revolver and semi-automatics.
I’ll totally agree that placing six rounds into the chambers of a .38 is easy. Push them one at a time into the chambers and you’re done.
You do have to push your 15 or so rounds in the magazine of a semi-automatic. The UpLula is a device that makes loading very easy, and it doesn’t cost much. Get the UpLula. - Learning curve.
“The learning curve is too great.” I’ve found every single newbie has mastered dropping rounds into magazines. And if the spring in the magazine is strong, they use the UpLula.
Racking the slide is necessary with semi-automatics. A whole lot of the newer handguns, say from Smith & Wesson, Sig Sauer and Glock for example, have addressed the concerns of easy loading, easy slide to rack, easy trigger pulls, and light kick. - Safeties for both guns?
The revolver doesn’t need a safety. It’s not going to fire accidentally. It’s going to take a really hard squeeze to set it off.
Many semi-automatics have built-in safeties, like the trigger safety and the grip safety, so you don’t even have to worry about releasing a safety if you need to shoot in a split second.
Joe likes a safety. He was trained in the service as a young man. Well, Newbie at 45 or so doesn’t want to have the extra job of remembering to release the safety in a time of crisis, so the grip and trigger safeties relieve Newbie of having to worry about whether the safety is on or not. - Summing up the .38 versus a 9mm handgun.
It may appear at first glance that the .38 revolver may be easier to manage than the semi-automatic 9mm handgun. But let me say again of the 38s… They kick. They don’t hold many rounds, and the trigger is heavy.
I’ve watched newbies at the Wakulla County Sheriff Office range for over 12 years. The ones who practice regularly own semi-automatic handguns.
Guess that “learning curve” thing hasn’t bothered them!
Marj Law is the former director of Keep Wakulla County Beautiful who has become an avid shooter in retirement.
