38 and a revolver that can often be had at considerable savings over the. That said, this one will be loaded from now on and serve as a house gun, and as a belt gun now and then. I still believe “placement is power” for “serious” matters and think it’s more fun to hit than to miss.įor a carry gun, I still prefer the Model 642 as I normally use a pocket holster. The previously-mentioned shotgun shells were knocked all over the berm about 4 times out of each six shots I’ll shoot the little thing until that average is better. One-handed shooting was not difficult at all and shooting falling plates at 10 yards was just plain fun. I was pleased to see that the extra barrel length enhanced the velocity of my favored LSWCHP load by approximately 10% over my J-frame’s 1 7/8″ barrel that gun averages right at 800 ft/sec using the same ammunition (same lot #). None had what I’d call excessive recoil part of that may be due to my usually shooting my Model 642. It is extremely easy to shoot with each load fired today. I like it even though it might not be a majority’s choice. Concerned for cracked forcing cones, I do not shoot it in J-frames at all. This load hits nearly 1200 ft/sec from my Model 642 and I personally consider it too hot for alloy J-frame use. *This ammunition is no longer produced by Corbon. Each average velocity listed as well as other data is based on ten shots fired approximately 10′ from the chronograph screens. I also fired the gun over the chronograph with what.

I’d have preferred “dead on” but can live with this. A Six O’Clock hold was necessary to get the hits where I wanted them. I figured it would hit a bit higher than the lower velocity, lower weight Federal 130’s. This 5-shot group was fired using Remington 158-gr. The gun has no dings or scratches and looked new…although it had been fired a small amount. The action was smooth and timing was more than satisfactory. Looking at the ratchet, hand, and area around the firing pin hole, the gun does not appear to have been fired much at all. Fun is way toward the top of my list in shooting. 38 is capable of doing what needs to be done in a self-protection scenario.Ģ. I still believe that with placement and “good” ammunition, the. My answer is three-fold and hopefully reasonable:ġ. 357 in the Model 65?” is commonly asked about nowĪnd it’s a reasonable question. It is a vanilla little thing chambered for. It still has the recognizable Smith & Wesson “look” that I prefer. One is considerably older than the other but the newer one (subject of this thread) has neither MIM parts nor that darned lock. I recently traded into a couple of S&W revolvers.

Smith and wesson model 10 3 inch