Introduced by Smith & Wesson 145 years ago in 1877 for their "Baby Russian" five shot black-powder Model 2 Single-Action revolver - The .38 S&W cartridge, designed by Daniel Wesson himself, has had a long life .. only dropping from military use in the Webley & 'Enf'ield' revolvers in 1963 when the British MOD changed-over to the 'Browning Hi-Power'. (The big .455 Webley remained in British Service use by Northern Ireland's 'B' Specials until 1970).
Smith & Wesson Model 2 'Single Action' Five Shot Break Action Revolver:
There obviously is a reason why there are so many cartridge types in the world that nominally measure about .38 Inch caliber or more properly 9 mm. - The reason is that this is a "Sweet Spot" where overall effectiveness meets with low recoil & a general ease of use and controllability ..
Of course there are 38's in each of rimmed revolver cases, - rimless semi-auto types, and semi-rimless cartridges. - "Thirty-Eights" can be confusing to study in their rich variety and while most of us will usually think of the '38 SPECIAL' - what I'm talking about here is the "obsolete"? .38" S&W SHORT ..
This single cartridge confuses even itself by having multiple monikers .. the .38 S&W Short, the 'BRITISH 38/200', - the '.38 Webley & Scott Special'- the '38 COLT NEW POLICE', - the '.38 S&W SUPER POLICE', - the .380 Rim, the '.380 Mk IIz', and even 9×20mmR .. and - according to Michael Caine, "Not many people know this" - but the current CPR '9 mm CHINESE POLICE' revolver round is pretty well identical in what it shoots.
.38 S&W .. The OTHER 38:
Now - the first thing you may have noticed is that the .38 S&W bullet is specified to be 3 thousands of an inch fatter than the .357"/.38" - and the brass case is some 6 thou. fatter ..
..38" S&W SPECIAL
..So they are different and NOT interchangeable.
.38 S&W performance levels are similar to the popular .380" ACP while the heavy 200 grain loads can manage velocities around 650 fps. up to 750 feet-per second - whereas lighter bullet loads can almost go supersonic in a modern pistol.
Current Shanghai Police 9 mm Revolver Norinco NRP9
- Likely Developed from The British 38/200 Version of 38 S&W?
Uh-Hu .. So it is still considered useful for law enforcement use in China eh - but my interest comes from a couple of English Mk.IV Webleys I shoot and hand-load a bit.
Forgotten Weapons seems to like this round:
https://www.forgottenweapons.com/38-sw-the-other-38/
.. Nearly twenty nations, mostly subject to a "common monarch" issued the Webley and Enfield revolvers chambered in this cartridge - but can a hereditary monarch be common?
Note 1: There are reported instances where loose machining tolerances have allowed this caliber round to have chambered and fired in 38 Special revolvers.
Note 2: There is a similar sized obscure round 9mm FEDERAL RIM from 1988 that being loaded to higher pressures may cause an over-pressure KABOOM in antique 38 firearms.
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There is much discussion & confusion about proper bullet sizes and loadings for the "Thirty-Eights". .38 is the NOMINAL Caliber .. The issue is that these guns and cartridges started-out as .36" black-powder muzzle loaders .. were then converted to black-powder cartridge guns - that were then adapted to use the new 'Smokeless Powder" cartridges in different versions by different makers. - The bullet diameter for 38 S&W is specified as .361" but good luck finding any so sized. - Most trend-setters say to use lead pills sized .357" while the .380 ENFIELD N0.2 barrel is said to have an actual bore of .352 inch specified.
- Bullets are meant to expand & 'SET-UP' into a barrel's rifling grooves under the high pressure force of detonation so there is a limited range of tolerance to any measured dimension.
There are so many .38 and 9mm cartridges that if there is any doubt .. Don't do it.
Funny thing is but the "obsolete 38 S&W" is so pleasant to handle & shoot in my vintage Mk.IV Webley (Israeli marked) four inch revolver that the other guns are at risk of becoming "Safe Queens" .. maybe I'll get over it.
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NOW it's STORY TIME .. There is another different old 38 Cartridge called .38" LONG COLT - also dating from 1877 which is blamed by many "experts" for the deaths of U S soldiers fighting against fanatical MORO Warriors in the Philippine Insurrection and - so the story goes - it led to the U S changeover to the miraculous .45".. because the 38 was a poor "MANSTOPPER".
This cartridge also was originally a black-powder load .. BUT it's original bullets measured .375-.378 inch diameter and were cleverly(not) later reduced to .357 inch .. BUT the Colts revolver bores continued for years to be .375". - Just what awful effect might this have had on the ballistics delivered on target?
One Col. Louis A. LaGarde comes into the story where he claims that an escaping prisoner was unaffected by four shots - three non-fatal lung shots plus one in a hand - and his later "tests" involved shooting at cattle in a slaughter house. - This man had an agenda to prove America needed the FORTYFIVE.
Did LaGarde maybe have shares in a lead mine?
Read all about it Link: https://gunsmagazine.com/gear/38-long-colt/
My parting question for the day - regarding 'man stopping' effectiveness: If a sharpened plastic toothbrush handle shiv will end a life .. does a $500 custom blade do any more? - If an "obsolete anemic mouse-gun" fired on target works completely .. does the very latest developed fashion in technology work even more completely?
Marty K.
Further reading: https://www.handloadermagazine.com/the-38-caliber
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