The .38 Special:
A Century Old Varmint Cartridge James E. House and Kathleen A. House
of my favorite authors in that bygone era was the late Jack O’Connor whose regular features in Outdoor Life educated me on many aspects of rifl es, cartridges, and shooting. A large number of his articles were collected in a small volume known as Sportsman’s Arms and Ammunition Manual in the early 1950s. I bought a paperback copy around my sopho- more year in high school and wore it out while committing a considerable amount of it to memory. As this article de- veloped, I remembered a statement from the book in which O‘Connor said, “I know some very good handgun shots who hunt varmints with their favorite weapons and who would rather knock over one jackrabbit with a .22 hollow point or a .38 Special at 75 yd. than a dozen with a rifl e.” That state- ment prompted our thinking about the .38 Special revolvers that we have used for years and how they are indeed useful varmint guns. This article is the result of that thinking and reminiscing, and as is readily apparent, the education that one of us obtained long ago has now become a “we” thing. Times have changed. For many years, the more or less
A
standard fi rearm used by law enforcement personnel was a revolver chambered for the .38 Special, a cartridge that dates back more than a century. These high quality handguns typi- cally were made by Smith & Wesson or Colt and often had 4-inch barrels with fi xed sights. Other versions of the guns had barrels that were six inches or more in length and were fi tted with adjustable target sights. The accuracy of these six-guns was well established by their use in competitive target shooting. Today, autoloading handguns are much more popular than are revolvers in law enforcement work. Pistols chambered for the 9mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, or .45 Auto have become the norm. However, because .38 Special revolvers were popular for so many years and some are still being made, the total production is enormous. Although prices have escalated in the last few years, it is still possible to occasionally fi nd a fi ne old .38 Special at a good price because most people want an autoloader or a more powerful .357 Magnum. Consequently, new models in magnum calibers are more numerous than are those chambered for the .38 Special. Although the .38 Special may have lost much of its ap-
peal as a defense piece, half a century after Jack O’Connor wrote the words quoted above, an accurate .38 Special is still one of the fi nest tools available for reducing varmint populations. For many types of varmints, accuracy is more important than raw power. Conventional handguns are gen- erally used at ranges of 50-75 yards, and within that range a target grade .38 Special is very effective. Unfortunately, I have verifi ed the fact that unless bullets are placed very ac- curately, a .22 rimfi re may not keep a groundhog or prairie dog from making it to its den.
s an impressionable teenager, I read everything I could fi nd (or afford) that dealt with fi rearms. One
This ragged hole represents a group obtained at 25 yards using the S&W Model 14 and a load consisting of the 110-grain Hornady XTP propelled by 6.2 grains of Power Pistol®.
The bullets utilized in the handloads included (left to right) the 110-grain Hornady XTP, 110-grain Winchester H.P., 125-grain Hornady XTP, and 125-grain Winchester H.P.
These S&W .38 Specials were used in testing the handloads. All are suitable for use on varmints, but under somewhat different conditions.
www.varminthunter.org Page 17
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