Monday, December 16, 2019

Scene from the range

 Preface: the .38S&W came before the .38 Special; the bullet is larger diameter, thus so is the cartridge case, and it won't fit into the .38 Special or .357 chamber. Unless something's bad wrong.

While back a guy came into the range with an OLD single-action revolver and a Taurus .357. No ammo available for the SA, but he wanted 'some of those short .38s for practice."
".38 Special?"
"No, those short ones, they don't recoil much."
"The only short .38 I can think of is .38 S&W, and they won't fit in this."
"Yes, they will, and they cost less."

So I got a round of .38 S&W, and it WOULD chamber in the Taurus's cylinder...

That's not good. At all. He really wasn't happy when I told him that not only does .38S&W cost more than .38 Special, but that what he really needed to do was send this thing back to Taurus for a cylinder that's in spec.

Taurus has some nice guns, but you just cannot trust their QC. If you get a good one, it's great, otherwise you may have multiple shipments back to them for warranty service in your future.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Years back, I had an old Rossi Model 68 revolver chambered in .38 special that I'd bought used. I discovered that the chambers were so out of spec that it would chamber and fire .38 S$W. Oddly enough, it would jam when firing .38 special. Real piece of junk, was glad to get rid of it.

pigpen51 said...

I have an old Iver Johnson which is the first model of the revolver with the transfer bar safety. It has owl's head grips, and was originally made for black powder. I think it is in .32 S and W.
I would never shoot it, of course. I got it from my dad, who owned a restaurant, and got it from some guy who owed him money. I don't know how much, but the gun is actually pretty nice, save for one thing. The inside of the barrel is completely rusted, with not only no rifling, but in even worse condition than that. It is a shame, since the outside of the gun, and the cylinder looks quite nice.
I would love to find a collector of these, and trade him for something, a cheap knife or something. It is only worth about 40$ or so.
Have a Great Christmas, any way.

Firehand said...

Could probably have the barrel lined, but it would cost far more than the gun is worth.

Anonymous said...

I have an ammo box full of 38s&w but instead of lead they have a little wooden tube with #8 bird shot in them. They only gun I have for them is a break back s&w that I refuse to shoot.It chatters like a bag of marbles when you shake it.

pigpen51 said...

I don't have any plans for doing anything with the gun. It is just sitting in my gun cabinet. If I found someone who had one, and needed parts, I would most likely be willing to give it to them, provided they were a decent sort. My keepsake firearms from my dad have been passed to my two sons. A couple of old .22lr, and to my one son who is an old military arms collector, and due to get out of a 6 and a half year Navy hitch, I gave a 30/40 Krag. It is either a sporterized or a carbine. Either way, the gun has a reputation as having a smooth bolt, and let me tell you, they could not be more correct if they tried. I did shoot a white tail deer here in Michigan with it once. But for the most part, I use shotguns. My son with Krag, also bought an M1 Garrand and an M1 carbine that he just picked up a few months back from a neighbor.
Merry Christmas to everyone.