In the post-war heyday of the revolver, it was common for police and armed citizens to load a different kind of ammunition for practice than they did for duty or defense. In the police community, for example, many officers shot their training and qualifications with soft-recoiling, 148 grain, .38 Special wadcutters, and loaded more powerful .38 Special or .357 Magnum ammunition for duty, and a legion of armed citizens without badges did the same. Continue reading “Training With Light Loads”
Tag: .38 Special
Field Report: Taurus 856 .38 Special
Undoubtedly the coolest thing about starting this blog is how much I’ve learned since. Most of this knowledge is centered around the use of a roundgun, but but a considerable portion is about guns themselves. Some of that is through research and reading, some of it comes from Mike setting me straight, and a lot of it comes from you guys in the comments section. Some of it is gained first hand, though, as was the case with the Taurus family of firearms to which I recently got acquainted through the Taurus 856. Continue reading “Field Report: Taurus 856 .38 Special”
Guns of The Shootists Holiday
In 1985, notable sixgunner and gun scribe John Taffin joked with some shooting buddies about a week-long range trip where the participants would be limited to bringing a maximum of two firearms. It started as a fanciful notion, but the idea was too good to dismiss, so Taffin and friends soon found themselves planning the first trip, which came to be known as the “Shootists Holiday.” Continue reading “Guns of The Shootists Holiday”
Missing Link: The Smith & Wesson Model 68
When Smith & Wesson introduced their Model 69 Combat Magnum revolver in .44 Magnum back in 2016, there were a few RevolverGuys out there who wondered if S&W skipped a model number. The shooting world already knew about the popular Model 67 Combat Masterpiece Stainless, and now we had the new Model 69 Combat Magnum in .44, but shouldn’t there have been something in the middle? A Smith & Wesson Model 68, perhaps? Continue reading “Missing Link: The Smith & Wesson Model 68”
Ammo Evolution: .38 Special Treasury Load
When I was a young man in the 70s, my brother and I spent a lot of time on police ranges, because our dad was an officer and rangemaster for the California Highway Patrol (CHP). As “range rats” of the highest order, we gladly took care of the chores that none of the officers wanted to do, such as posting targets, policing spent brass, issuing ammunition, and so forth.
In between relays, we got to shoot a bit ourselves. Mostly it was with our .22s, but sometimes we shot our dad’s duty gun (a 6” Python) with the hot .38 Special cartridge issued by the Patrol. This cartridge, known as the “Treasury Load,” is frequently confused with the more popular “FBI Load,” and there’s a lot of misconceptions about it in the shooting world. Therefore, I thought the RevolverGuy audience might enjoy it if we explored this interesting bit of revolver history and set the record straight on it. Continue reading “Ammo Evolution: .38 Special Treasury Load”