Best quality factory target revolver in .38special? of all eras.

S&W also had a substantial market for the K-32 in Europe, where the .32 S&W Long was favored for its light recoil and inherent accuracy. European companies which concentrated on auto pistols for police often kept one .32 auto in the line for the target shooters. (The .32 ACP was not considered accurate enough for serious competition, where the .32 S&W Long was excellent in that regard.)

Jim
 
"Best" is highly subjective. But if I had to name the best quality 38 Special TARGET revolver of any period I would go with the early Colt Officers Model Target.

The pre-war S&W Outdoorsman was a top notch revolver but not a dedicated target pistol. All of the S&W K frame Target models are great, but the early Colts just had a higher degree of fit and finish.

I have an OMM made in 1909. Little things like a checkered trigger and back strap (not grooved, checkered). Same with the cylinder release knob...finely checkered. Both front and rear sights are adjustable. The finish on these revolvers was superb as was the action and trigger pull.

Anyway, that's my 1/50 of a dollar.
 
I know it's not purely a .38 gun, but Dan Wesson is currently making a supremely accurate model 715 production gun that is easily on par with the best S&W is putting out right now and as accurate as what has been made in the past from S&W or Colt. My new 715 is more accurate than my 627pc by a bit. 715 does an average of barely less than 1" at 25 yards from a rest in single action. 627pc does greater than 1" but not usually over 2". Trigger on the 627 is a little better. Both superb guns.
 
Thank you all for the interesting and informative posts.

Reading this thread, the links, and other search results brought me to another question.

S&W k38/14. How is the action/lockwork different from a model 10-6?

I know about adjustable vs fixed rear sight. What about how they work- any difference there?

I have decided to try to get one of each. I just bought a colt officers model target, from 37, in 38sp. Next i'll get a colt 22. Then i will move to the easier to find S&W k series.

I love the history of them. I am an adequate 'smith for mist tbings that don't require a mill or lathe. So Colt doesn't scare me.

Please keep up advice. I appreciate it.
 
Jim Watson said:
That's not a Colt action any more.
Do you know who did the work?
Click to expand...

From what i have read, that looks like King's work, out of San Francisco. Not to be confused with King's Gunworks of Glendsle/Burbank, who is more associated with 1911s.

But that is a guess!
 
S&W k38/14. How is the action/lockwork different from a model 10-6?
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The actions are the same. Once S&W went to the short throw hammers around 1948, pretty much all K frame Smiths have the same action, up until you started getting into MIM parts, much more recently.

Here is a K-38 Made in 1950. You will notice the hammer spur profile is different than the Model 14 and the Model 10, but that is about it.


K-38_zpsc4bk0hg8.jpg




Model 14-3, made in 1974.

Model%2014-3%2001_zpswtknkpxu.jpg




Sorry, I don't have a Model 10-6 to show you, you will have to settle for a Model 10-5, made around 1964. A very minor difference is the lack of a trigger stop, but that is not really part of the lockwork. You will notice that all three of these revolvers have the modern sliding type hammer block, introduced in 1944.

Model%2010-5%2001_zpspaoykwvq.jpg
 
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S&W k38/14. How is the action/lockwork different from a model 10-6?
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As noted, the only physical difference is the trigger stop on the target models. However, the Target Masterpiece and the Model 14 were something of a flagship model and in my experience they tend to have smoother double action pulls than say a Model 10. I expect they got a bit more hand fitting than a Model 10 built to meet a bid price for a bulk contract.

It's somewhat ironic since a double action is rarely used on target guns.
 
If I was collecting revolvers Colt is in demand. But to shoot a target revolver, I have an earlier model 14 Smith that is just hard to beat. I also have some Dan Wesson revolvers that are all very accurate. The trigger on the Smith is better though IMHO.
 
realistically,

anything made from the 50's to the early 70's were fantastic.

I'll throw in the S&W M15 of that time period. [as per a M15-3]
 
I'm surprised no one mentioned the Model 14 masterpiece SINGLE ACTION Only. Manufactured in '61 & '62 . The theory , I believe was that the single action only lockwork, without the d/a works had a shorter lock time, increasing the hammer speed. This was supposed to increase accuracy. Did it work? I don't know. Pretty short sales life for the pistol. I actually owned one once and foolishly sold it!
 
When I think of target guns (in the context of handguns being discussed in this thread), Bullseye shooting comes to mind. IPSC, in this context, doesn't come to mind.
 
As to sights, Elmer Keith preferred the S&W rear sight over the Colt. His basis for that was that the Colt rear sight could be raised too high out of the frame mortise and would be therefore wobbly. In practice, I never saw a Colt Accro or Eliason raised that high in practice.

The Colt rear sight is flat surfaced (to the shooter) while the S&W sight is radiused, but is grooved to prevent any reflections.

S&W did develop that nasty habit of using that red insert, which often times provided a false sight picture. I usually made it a habit of removing that and having a serrated black insert put in in its place.

Bob Wright
 
When I think of target guns (in the context of handguns being discussed in this thread), Bullseye shooting comes to mind. IPSC, in this context, doesn't come to mind.
Click to expand...

I was thinking PPC but wrote IPSC, thanks for the catch.


Even in traditional bullseye there were double action (da) matches, or at least used to be.

Anyway you can see more about Distinguished Revolver matches here...

http://www.wa1500.org/course of fire.htm#-CENSORED-Match 5 - station 1

More can be learned at the Bullseye-L Forum

http://www.bullseyeforum.net/

tipoc
 
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