.38 Revolver

D

D-rek07

Inactive
First off, I am 18 years old and new to guns. I have been exposed to them my entire life. My grandpa has an old .38 S&W revolver short barrel. I have always liked guns and kind of wanted to get one myself. This gun will mainly be used for range shooting. My question is should I get a .38 or a .22 as my starting gun? or is there any other recommendations? Also I am not a punk kid that will screw around with it. I personally know just how dangerous guns can be. My neighbor is a gun expert and I know I can get the proper training from him. Thanks.
 
Last edited:
I'm assuming in your state 18 is too young for concealed carry. If this is going to be a gun to go mess around with at the shooting range I would most def go with a .22 and would go with a full length barrel and not a snub. You will find yourself spending alot of money shooting strictly .38s. The .22 will give you much more range time for alot less money. The reason I say go with a full length barrel and not a snub is well, snubs are not the easiest guns to shoot accurately, you will have much more fun with a a 4" barrel or longer. I would look at the new Ruger SP101's in .22.

5765.jpg


Great gun for a very decent price.
 
In single action guns you must cock the hammer back for each shot, like the old cowboy style guns. In double action the pull of the trigger will cock the hammer back and drop it on the round all in one pull, thus firing the gun. You still have the option of cocking the hammer back on a double action gun though which makes it more versatile. Also single action revolvers do not have a swing out cylinder (usually), making loading and ejecting empty shells much slower. Because double action cocks the hammer and drops it on the round it will be a heavier trigger pull than if you cock the hammer back yourself and fire it in single action.

The 617 is a fine gun. The only reason I would opt for the Ruger over the Smith & Wesson is it is significantly cheaper, and although cheaper in price it is in no way cheaper in quality. Ruger puts out a great product.
 
Last edited:
Welcome,
I can barely remember being 18, but from what I do remember is a 38 spl was a lot more fun to shoot than a 22. Any 38 spl with a 4 inch barrel and adjustable sights would be fun. A 22 is an affordable round to shoot and are ok I have 5 or 6 laying around. In the real world I hardly ever shoot them, just no bang.

You can more than likely find a used 38 spl for about the same price of a 22 revolver. Don't get me wrong, a 22 is a great learning gun, but at 18 I wanted something than went bang when I shot it.
 
You will have much more fun and much more success with a good .22, such as Dragline45 suggested. A snubbie .38 is a recipe for frustration for a new shooter, and it would have ammo cost problems. You have plenty of time to move up to heavier calibers later.
 
Don't get me wrong, a 22 is a great learning gun, but at 18 I wanted something than went bang when I shot it.
Click to expand...

My first gun was a S&W .357 because I too wanted the "bang" when I shot it. After spending $150 just for ammo for a few range trips I immediately bought a .22 and haven't looked back since. I put maybe 50 rounds a month through my .38 snub which is my carry gun, but I shoot close to 800 rounds or more of .22's because I realized its just as much fun and a hell of alot cheaper. Shooting isn't about making things go boom, its about honing your skills and pushing the limits on how accurately you can shoot the thing.

Average center fire handgun rounds like .38 special - $15-25 for 50 rounds
Average price of .22's - $15-20 for 500 rounds
 
I was 18 not long ago and if I were to get a handgun back then, I'd get a .38 or better yet a .357 even just strictly as a range toy. .22s are great learning guns but let's be honest here, you're 18 not 7 you can handle a 38 :p. With the 357 you have great versatility. Light target 38s for general plinking and then full power 38s or even 357s for some social work if it ever comes down to that (never know).

Though I agree to get something like a 4" barrel. If it's a range gun, a snub barrel offers no advantages and plenty of disadvantages. Even as a carry gun in a holster, the barrel is usually not the main issue with concealment, the grip is so a 4" will make a good concealment piece in most situations if you do ever decide to carry.
 
My first gun was a S&W .357 because I too wanted the "bang" when I shot it. After spending $150 just for ammo for a few range trips I immediately bought a .22 and haven't looked back since. I put maybe 50 rounds a month through my .38 snub which is my carry gun, but I shoot close to 800 rounds or more of .22's because I realized its just as much fun and a hell of alot cheaper. Shooting isn't about making things go boom, its about honing your skills and pushing the limits on how accurately you can shoot the thing.

Average center fire handgun rounds like .38 special - $15-25 for 50 rounds
Average price of .22's - $15-20 for 500 rounds
Click to expand...

People have different reasons for why they shoot. Not every range trip needs to be you just standing there putting one ragged hole in a piece of paper until you die of boredom. I guess OP should clarify what kinda shooting he thinks of doing and how often. That would determine how much he can spend on ammo.
 
Ruger makes a great reliable 22 as does Browning. 22 autos can jam a lot but these 2 manufacturers seem to have gotten right.
 
Not every range trip needs to be you just standing there putting one ragged hole in a piece of paper until you die of boredom.
Click to expand...

Well that's why I don't shoot at paper. I hang scrap steel plates and tuna cans and such. Hitting a tuna can blowing in the wind is a challenge and alot of fun.

What revolver does Browning make? I looked on their website but couldn't find one.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure he is referring to the Browning Buck Mark which is a semi-auto .22, pretty similar to the Ruger MK series semi auto pistols.
 
If you're starting out and just want to make noise, get a 38 or 357. If you want to become a good, or great, pistol shooter get a 22. No one is going to start out with a centerfire and turn into a winning shooter. The cost of shooting, even with reloading, is more for centerfire than with rimfire. Your basic skills will be honed by practice, practice, and more practice. Nothing does it better than this than a quality rimfire. It can be an auto or revolver. I've taught many, many people how to shoot over the years and by far, the best students learned by practicing with a rimfire handgun. After acquiring the necessary skills with the rimfire, the transition to centerfire was seamless. Even when I was a sponsored shooter in centerfire competition the bulk of my practice regimen was with rimfire. Unfortunately, I have found a number of students bent on getting a centerfire and focusing on the power factor rather than the accuracy factor. FYI, some of my best students have been women. They weren't hung up on the Dirty Harry factor and turned into excellent shooters.
 
One of the first guns that I began learning to shoot with, was my dads K-38. That K frame 38 could shoot and I loved that 6" barrel!

Plus, as a side note which may or may not mean anything to you at this point but...I am now loading 38 Special ammunition for cheaper than I can buy 22 LR.
Something to consider.
 
Plus, as a side note which may or may not mean anything to you at this point but...I am now loading 38 Special ammunition for cheaper than I can buy 22 LR.
Click to expand...

Really? You can reload 525 .38 special rounds for under $13.
 
Welcome, and thanks for asking our advice

My recommendation is for a 22 rimfire.

Revolvers that come immediately to mind are:
Ruger SP101
Ruger Single-Six
Smith & Wesson's K-Frame K-22 "Masterpiece" (I had one a while back)
Smith & Wesson 617
Taurus (I forget the model #)
or semi-automatics
Ruger Mark I, II or current model III
or Browning Buckmark or
Smith & Wesson Model 41


Here's my reasoning:

1 Practice is important for becoming a good shot. Practice (beyond dry firing) takes ammo. Ammo is cheaper
for a 22 than for any other caliber. Example: 22 rimfire costs (around here) $20 - $30 per 500. 500 rounds of 9mm (a very inexpensive round) is at least $100 to $150 per 500.

2 Practice with a round that has almost no recoil makes concentration on sight picture, breathing and trigger control much easier without the distraction of recoil and excessive muzzle blast. You can add those elements later after you have gotten the basics ingrained in your subconscious. If you start out with a hard-recoiling round you are almost certain to develop anticipation (usually characterized by a flinch) which is devilishly hard to cure. Prevention is much easier to, especially while you are learning.

3 Having a good, accurate 22 will put you on the range (if you go to a formal or informal shooting range) where you will get acquainted with other shooters, see their gun handling practices and see their guns. Most gun owners are proud of their hardware and if you exhibit good safety practices, a modicum of shooting skill and a little bit of polite interest, they will very probably let you handle their guns and even send a few rounds downrange. You can get to try out a wide variety of guns that way and collect testimonials from people other than salesmen when you go to a store.

4 Most (accurate) 22 rimfire guns are cheaper to buy than similarly accurate centerfire guns and hold their resale value well.

I also recommend you visit a web site owned by one of the administrators here, "Pax". It is principally written for women new to guns, but most of the information there is EQUALLY applicable to either gender. "New to guns" is "new to guns" whether male or female.

Good luck. Thanks for reading.

Lost Sheep
 
Really? You can reload 525 .38 special rounds for under $13.
Click to expand...

I'm sure if you go on a quest to find the cheapest 22 ammo extant you can. I was actually making a comparison to my preferred 22 ammo, CCI Mini-Mags, which are 6.99 per 100. I load 38 Spec., 158 swc's for 4.00 per hundred.

Comparing hand loads to the cheapest ammo you can find is not a fair comparison anyway. You would be more accurate to compare hand loads with premium factory ammo.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top