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Range Report: .38 Special

Gun/Ammo Tests

As any fule kno, I am not a huge fan of .357 Mag ammo unless fired from a rifle like the Marlin 1894:

…or at least via a revolver with a 6″ barrel, such as the Python or S&W 686:

(Of the now-discontinued Ruger GP100, we will not speak.)

With any of the above, though, the .357 Mag is wonderful and I would certainly trust it with my life.

However, I don’t have a 6″ .357 revolver, only a S&W Model 65 with its 4-incher:


…and the .357 doth beat up my wrists most foully.  (As any woman of experience will tell you, an extra two inches in the tube makes things so much better.)

Anyway, this is a long and roundabout way of telling you that all my .357 ammo lies inside Ye Olde Ammoe Locquere, to be unpacked when or if I ever get a suitable means of less-painful delivery thereof.

So today we’re talking about the .357 Mag’s smaller sibling, the .38 Special which, as any fule kno, can be chambered with confidence in any .357 Mag revolver (but not, of course, vice versa)

Now I’ve always regarded the venerable .38 Spec as a decent, perhaps even marginal self-defense load;  but with the advent of proper self-defense cartridges such as Hornady’s Critical Defense, these reservations have mostly disappeared.  Indeed, all my .38 revolvers are loaded with said ammo, and I don’t feel at all undergunned on the few occasions I take them out for some fresh air, in place of the 1911.  I have no actual reason for doing this, unless it’s because the “1911 pants” (i.e. those with 1911 holsters strapped to them) are in the laundry basket and I’m left with the “revolver pants”.

Okay, so if I’m “stuck” with .38 Specials, then which ones should I keep in stock?  On the basis of “more is better”, would the .38 Spec +P be even better than “ordinary” .38 Spec?  And is there any serious difference in recoil between the .38 Spec and the +P anyway, given that I’ve become a total recoil wussy in my old age?

This, of course, calls nay shouts out for a range trip, so off I went to Texas Legends, using my S&W Model 65 (“bedside”) as the delivery device.  The ammo I took was this selection:


Hornady Critical Defense .38 Special 110gr Flex Tip, which lives in all my revolvers, whether .357 Mag or .38 Spec, bedside, carry or fun guns.

Then some +P:

…and lastly, some budget FMJ, just for kicks (so to speak):

And for those who weren’t paying attention, the specs for each:

110gr Flex-Tip (i.e. hollowpoints)
125gr JHP
130gr FMJ

Now one would think that the difference in bullet weights as well as the added +P charge would make a difference in felt recoil between the different cartridges, but let me tell you:  it didn’t.  All the ammo felt exactly the same, as I discovered when I loaded two of each into the cylinder.

So all that taken care of, I settled down for a little practice with each, doing single-action “aimed rapid” (one or two seconds between trigger pulls, each shot under a cocked hammer).  Then for the hell of it, I loaded up two cylinders each of the Win +P and Herter FMJ, and went for “double-action rapid”, as fast as I could reacquire the target and squeeze the trigger. Here are the results, all at 20 feet (7 yards).

Next time, I’ll do the same test with the old 6″-barreled S&W, just for the hell of it.

Let’s see if I can’t tighten up the groups a little…

News Summary

Bad News


...name ONE.


...soon to happen at a hotel near you.
#Trotskyists


...short range, no power, no resale value, shitty build quality.  For starters.


...oh, one commie beats another commie, in Los fucking Angeles.  BFD.


...FFS, that would eliminate about 80% of Canucki politicians.  Wait a minute… can we bring that down to the U.S.?  Asking for a friend.

Nike Hit with Islamic ‘Fatwa’ Because Name
Honors a Greek Goddess
...I am curiously conflicted by this news.
#MuzzieAssholes #NikeAssholes

DNA found on autistic 14-year-old’s clothes ‘probably belonged to
Afghan migrants accused of raping her on train’
...as The Great Cultural Assimilation Project© continues.


...NorK bandits steal nothingmoney from nowhere, and nobody cares.


...proving once and for all that disco music is bad for your health.


...not surprised.  Fucking droning, screeching bagpipe music is a pox on society, as are most of its fans.


...ah yes;  the Peta people rarely fail to disappoint.


...ditto the trannies.


...fuck you, your arrogance and your fucking stupid “culture”.  It’s melted cheese and toppings on bread, FFS.  Get over yourself.

And a humble prediction of what’s to come in future News Summaries:

You heard it here first.

Range Report: T/C Compass (6.5mm Creedmoor)

Gun/Ammo Tests, The Gun Thing

I was having a transatlantic chat with Mr. Free Market the other day, and he was telling me about his latest deer cull on Lord Someone’s estate up in Scotland — an annual event, you may recall, which includes the company of Doc Russia and Combat Controller in the slaughter.  Here are two of their implements of Mass Deer Destruction:


(L-R:  Tikka 3x in .270 Win, Remington 40x in .300 Win Mag)

Here’s Mr. FM, with his usual implement, a Blaser something-or-other):

I’m now too old to participate in such merriment — the cost, weather and terrain pretty much rule it out for me —  but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel a little tug when I see pics like the above.

However — and this will come as a huge shock to Longtime Readers — even had I been up to a visit Over There… I wouldn’t have had a proper “reach out and touch” rifle.  I know, I know;  Kim The Ultimate Mauser Guy without a decent hunting (or sniper-, take your pic) rifle?  Say it ain’t so!

Actually, I do have a rifle capable of such an activity:  it’s the last of The Late Lamented Layabout Sailor’s guns, which I have absolutely been unable to sell, a T/C Compass in 6.5mm Creedmoor (which the Widow Irish said I should hold onto until such time as, because she doesn’t want it around in her house).  Here it is:


…and, in the lovely words of the same Mr. FM, it’s uglier than a bucketful of burst arseholes.

Nevertheless, beggars can’t be choosers, and all it needed was a halfway-decent scope, and I happened to have a spare Burris Fullfield 2-8x35mm lying around, so…

…I mounted it on the Compass on Monday evening, and took it off to Texas Legends yesterday.


(That’s a Noveski KX3 flash hider / noisemaker, not a suppressor… but soon, baby.)

I didn’t bother to boresight the thing, just screwed it in place and trusted to luck or whatever that I’d actually hit the target.  En route, I remembered just in time that I didn’t have any 6.5 Creed ammo, so I swung by Cabela’s and grabbed a box of Remington Green Box 140gr because it was the cheapest.

“So, Kim… how did it shoot?”

Cold barrel, no sight adjustment, first time ever on the trigger, 5-round string at 50 yards:


…the orange dot being the point of aim.

Wow.

Okay, here’s what I didn’t like about the Compass (other than its looks, i.e. that ‘orrible plastic stock):  the magazine.  It’s a rotary thing which holds five rounds (5+1 in common parlance), and it’s a cast-iron bitch to load (certainly at first try, anyway).  T/C no longer make the thing, which doesn’t surprise me, but there are aftermarket options available.  My major gripe is that it’s impossible to reload the magazine through the mag well (and I tried, trust me on this).  You have to take the thing out of the rifle to reload it.  On balance, though, it’s not a big deal.

What did I love about the Compass?  The trigger, which has been pulled maybe a dozen or so times, was excellent — as good as any Mauser trigger under the same circumstances.  Takeup is smooth and regular, no grittiness, and the sear release is consistent and smooth as silk.  The action is likewise lovely, the bolt works smoothly and without issue.  And everything else about the rifle is excellent.

So… am I going to keep it?

Yes.  As soon as the funds are available, I’ll be paying the Widow Irish for the rifle.  And I’ll be tossing the box away this afternoon.

Here’s the thing:  given how many times I’m likely to use it — it’s a backup rifle at best —  the T/C Compass is a good, serviceable rifle, every bit as good as the budget-line Mossberg Patriot and far better than the Savage Axis.  The chambering is okay — I know, I’d probably prefer it in .243 Win, .270 Win or even 6.5x55mm Swede — but as the 6.5 Creed is the latest thing for all the cool kids to shoot, it’s available pretty much everywhere.

As for the ammo:  were I at all interested in tightening up the group, there are any number of the Usual Suspects to call on:  Remington Premier Match, Fiocchi Hyperformance, Federal Gold Match, whatever.  As it is, however, I’ll probably just stick with the Green Box;  I’ve dropped many a game animal with this brand, and I’m confident that their Core-Lokt 140gr pointed soft point (PSP) bullets will take care of pretty much anything I need them to.  And at about $1.20 per pull, it’s about the same as even the budget Prvi Partizan offerings.

At a later stage, I’ll bring the group down to land about an inch over the 50-yard aim point, but sufficient unto the day etc. etc.  In the meantime, National Ammo Day is approaching, which is when I’ll likely get the half-dozen or so boxes that will keep me going pretty much for the rest of my life.

Good times, good times.

Tomorrow I’ll talk about the second part of the range session.