Originally published at: THE .38 SPECIAL - Sixguns Firearm Fraternity
TAFFIN TESTS THE .38 SPECIAL …JOHN TAFFIN Smith & Wesson has made and continues to make some of the most beautiful revolvers in the world. Beginning in the 1860’s with the various American, Russian, and Schofield Models, Smith & Wesson began a tradition of building reliable as well as esthetically pleasing revolvers. The tradition almost died in 1880 with the introduction of the first Smith & Wesson double action, a leading candidate for the ugliest revolver of all times. Then in 1899, Smith & Wesson introduced a sleek new double action and a new cartridge. The new revolver was the first of the basic Smith & Wesson double action revolvers of today and was catalogued as the .38 Military and Police. By 1942, 1,000,000 M&P’s had been built. Only one-third as many of the famous Colt Single Actions were made from 1873 to 1941. If the M&P became the standard for double action revolvers, the cartridge became the standard revolver cartridge. In 1899 the government cartridge was the .38 Long Colt. Smith & Wesson increased the length of the cartridge case from the 1.035″ length of the .38 Long Colt to 1.155″ and the .38 Special was born. At the same time the powder charge was increased from 18 1/2 grains of black powder to 21 grains and the bullet weight was increased to the standard 158 grains at a velocity approximately 100 feet per second faster than the Long Colt. The .38 Special Military & Police never became much of a military sidearm, but…
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Love the .38 Special. So easy to reload. Grim death on bunny headshots with my 6" S&W M-14/K-38 Target Masterpiece (best single-action trigger of any handgun I own, for that matter, best double-action trigger pull as well) with midrange wadcutters. Has surprised a bunch of chicken coop and garden marauders over the years as well.
Many years ago (44!) I shot PPC using the M-14 with a local sheriff’s group and it was a hell of a lot of fun.
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Ok, I read that as an M14 in 38spl vs a model 14 and 
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