In some cases, a lack of forethought can create no end of confusion. Take, for example, the “Thirty Eight.” The 20th Century has seen innumerable .38-caliber loadings, and using the wrong one in your weapon could have some pretty disastrous results.
In fact, very few .38 cartridges actually use a .38 caliber bullet. What follows is a quick tutorial on .38 cartridges.
It all started back in the days before smokeless powder and self-contained cartridges. A .36 caliber blackpowder load that actually used a bullet .380″ in diameter was used in both sides of the Civil War. Actual ballistics were fairly impressive, though pistols for the rounds were large, heavy and slow to load.
.38-40, also known as .38 WCF (”Winchester Center Fire”). Introduced in 1874 by Winchester, it used a .401″ bullet, traveling at ~1100 ft/s. Though designed for rifles, the round was better suited for revolvers, in which it was frequently used. It is essentially a necked-down .44-40.
.38 Colt. Developed by Colt in 1875. Manufactured in short and long-cased variations; the .38 Long Colt was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1892. Though actually .357″ inches in diameter, the round was referred to by the width of its case (.38″) in deference to naming conventions dating back to blackpowder days. Actual ballistics involved a 125 gr bullet moving at ~775 ft/s, with ~165 ft/lbs muzzle energy. It was proven to be a dismal performer in the Philippine Insurrections at the turn of the century, in which Moro warriors with wooden shields were able to withstand repeated hits without falling.
.38 S&W (1) Introduced by Smith & Wesson in 1877, it would end up bearing several names: .38/200, .380″ Revolver Mk IIz, and with a different bullet shape, the .38 Colt New Police and Super Police. The cartridge used a .361″ bullet, 146 to 200 gr, with a velocity of ~620-800 ft/s, depending on weight.
It was a popular cartridge, used by Charles Guiteau to kill President Garfield. It was also one of Elmer Keith’s favorite loadings. Despite its perceived lack of power, it is a quite accurate cartridge, with little recoil, and can be good for taking small game. The Webley Mk IV in .38/200 was in service in the U.K. until 1963.
.38 S&W Special (or just “.38 Special”) This is what people usually mean when they say, “38.” It was created by Smith & Wesson in 1902 (some folks claim 1899). Though it used the same width casing as the Long Colt, it was lengthened it by 0.13″. For the new cartridge, Smith & Wesson used a frame with a swing-out cylinder they’d introduced for the .32 S&W Long in 1896.
This was the 1st Model Hand Ejector, and it became one of the most well-known and beloved handgun designs of the 20th century. The design eliminated a potential weak spot, which was the hinge at the top of the older top-break design, and the Hand Ejector (or K-Frame, as it would come to be called) served as a test bed for later, more powerful cartridges.
Early loadings for the cartridge involved a 158 gr bullet doing ~760 ft/s, with ~200-210 ft/lbs of muzzle energy and 17,000 PSI chamber pressure. Many folks saw the tremendous potential for the .38 Special, and by the 1930s, it was being loaded to higher pressures.
.38 Special +P is simply the .38 Special loaded to ~20,000 PSI (2), which increases muzzle energy by about 25-30% (~258 ft/lbs) and velocity to ~1000 ft/s.
.38 Super, introduced by Colt in 1929, was a modified version of John Moses Browning’s .38 ACP round designed for automatic pistols (3). The .38 Super had better ballistics than the .38 Special loadings of the time, but law enforcement would find the .357 Magnum loading more desirable. It is still a very popular cartridge among competition shooters.
.38-44, introduced in 1933 by Douglas Wesson to compete with Colt’s .38 Super. It was essentially a .38 Special driven to higher velocity (early loadings ran ~1100-1150 ft/s). To accommodate the higher pressures of the new loading, Smith & Wesson designed a revolver around the frame used for .44 loadings (now called the N-Frame). The resulting model was called the 38-44.
Initial ballistics did not compare to Colt’s 130 gr .38 Super loading, but using 13.5 grains of Hercules #2400 powder, Elmer Keith was able to propel a 160 gr .38-44 bullet 1509 ft/s, dumping ~800 ft/lbs of energy. SAAMI does not list a chamber pressure for the .38-44 loading, but I’m willing to bet it’s equal to (if not above) the 35,000 PSI the .357 Magnum generates.
.357 Magnum, introduced in 1934. Since the .38-44 could be inadvertently be chambered in a gun built only to handle milder .38’s, Smith & Wesson lengthened the casing by 1/10″ and named it the .357 Magnum. It’s worth mentioning that a revolver chambered for the .357 can also fire .38 Special loadings of any sort, as the bullet diameter and case width are identical. The case was simply stretched to avoid having Magnums accidentally loaded into a .38 Special revolver.
Despite the popularity of the Magnum loading, the .38 Special has never fallen out of favor. The Remington 158 gr LSWCHP (”lead solid wad cutter hollow point”) was the favored round of the FBI and countless state and local law enforcement agencies for four decades, and the Air Force issued .38 caliber Model 15’s until 1982. The loading is still in use by many security agencies today. For civilians, modern 125 gr +P loadings are excellent choices, and the 148 gr wad cutter remains a very popular target load. Ammunition is plentiful and (relatively) inexpensive (in Europe, ask for 9×29mm).
In many ways, the .38 Special is the great handgun cartridge of the 20th Century. It’s very accurate and generates only moderate recoil, while still being potent enough for small game and self-defense.
(1) Not to be confused with .38 S&W Special. The .38 S&W bullet is .359″ in diameter and will stick in the barrel of a .38 Special revolver. I’ve twice had to remove them for people who didn’t know better.
(2) It should be noted that it is unwise and unsafe to use +P ammunition in revolvers for which it is not designed. Many older European and Central American revolvers are not rated for +P rounds. Find out before using them. According to Smith & Wesson, any numbered model of their revolvers is safe with it.
(3) There have been several other attempts to adapt the .38 to automatic pistols. Due to the rimmed casing, standard .38 Special cartridges tend not to feed well, but S&W did make a Model 52 target pistol for it. There were also endeavors to convert either the guns or the ammuntion to work together. One example is the .38 AMU. Dick Casull designed the .38 Casull, and even the late, lamented Dardick used a .38 caliber round (or, “tround”).