The .38 Special... underrated?

[gunnerbob]

What's the opinion here? I love the .38 Special, own three of them in different makes & models. Yes, I trust my life & the lives of my family to it.

How did the .38 Special get SUCH a bad rap? Was it Dirty Harry?

I've searched other forums and found that many people actually really like the .38 Special... so where'd this stigma come from?

[B-52]

I carried the .38 special as an aircrew member and in the SAC Command Post. It was my first 'home defense' in 1961 and, until recently, my only defense gun. Now I have selections of .380, 9mm and .40 S&W. Still love my old S&W Model 10.

[Rich M]

We have 2. I like both of them. Wife has a Charter 2000 Undercover, and I have an old S&W, early '49 M&P soon to be called "Model 10". This was my first pistol, had it since I was 18.

I have a semi and plan to buy a couple more, I'll never get rid of my 38.

[dbenwa]

Does my Colt 38 Detective Special count? I love it.

[Providence Ranch]

From a design standpoint, inferior due to the revolver being IMHO tactically deficient for personal defense carry. From a ballistic standpoint, all standard handgun ammo is ballistically deficient anyway. The .38 is no better or worse than the 9mm, 40, 45, and others. The shooters ability to deliver precision fight-stopping hits is paramount.

[Cotillion]

I also favor the 38 special, however with all the 9mm bashers out there you can't expect the 38 to favor any better. I strongly prefer both rounds and trust them with my life. You just gotta snicker softly with your light, low recoil gun while everyone else runs around with their snappy little .40s&w or the .45. I like 45 also Just not in a carry round

[The_Outlaw]

What's the opinion here? I love the .38 Special, own three of them in different makes & models. Yes, I trust my life & the lives of my family to it.
How did the .38 Special get SUCH a bad rap? Was it Dirty Harry?
I've searched other forums and found that many people actually really like the .38 Special... so where'd this stigma come from?

I also like the .38 special. I think it's a great cartridge, especially in +P.
They shoot 'very nicely' through my Colt King Cobra with little recoil!
I am 'seriously considering' the Ruger LCR as my next handgun purchase.

[unclewayne17]

I don't care what type of pistol you carry, if you don't have it when you need it your dead! 22cal to 50cal carry something.

[hotti]

Millions of similarly ignorant people trust their lives to .22's and .25's, too. that does not make those calibers decent manstoppers, just like the .38 isn't, either. What happens, 80% of the time, is the attacker flees at just the sight of the gun, so the effectiveness of it or skill of defender, is irrelevant. Half of the remaining 20% of the time, when you FIRE (EVEN IF YOU MISS) the attacker flees THEN, regardless of caliber, gun, or skill level, too. So the ease of having a little .25 or .22, over the clunk of a .38 in your pocket, makes a lot of sense, but really, now, a 5" long, 9 oz Keltec 380 is VERY easy to always have in a front pants pocket, and it hits just as "hard" as a .38 snub, using typical ammo in both. the locked breech 380 can be HANDLOADED to hit HARDER than the .38 snub, as provable on animals, if you really want to, altho I'd not favore the too light Kt 380 for such loads. I've used them in the 18 oz Star Pony, tho, and it and they worked just fine on animals and in my front pants pocket holster.

I first hot-loaded the Pony in 1975, using a dead-soft lead cast hp bullet, dropped by the (no longer available) 80 gr swc Lee mold, with a hollow nose added in a lathe. Driven to 1200+ fps, it worked nicely indeed. I did not (and do not) care that if fouled the bore badly in 7 shots. By then, I'd either be dead or have won the battle. There's no need to practice with such rds, just with similar recoiling loads, and a very few of the duty rds to assure reliablity.

[santa]

To each their own but there is nothing wrong with the 38. It is NOT feeble or worthless. Mant cops carry one as a BUG. Some even carry a 22 as a BUG. Count me as one of the 'millions' of 'ignorant' people who believe that ANY gun with you is better than the one you left at home. Many of us carry what we have because we cant afford to buy another gun. One other thing, I DO NOT PRACTICE ON ANIMALS. IF I shoot a animal it is for varmint control reasons or hunting and obeying ALL applicable laws, NOT as experiments to see what works the best. No offence intended.