I actually have an old M38. Yes, it can be cocked for a SA shot and is more snag free than a M37. But it is kind of like carrying a 1911 in Condition 2, not the most effective way to start getting lead downrange. I think Chic Gaylord, writing in 1960, was about the last advocate of single action fire with the hideout gun. Also, if you change your mind, it is even tougher to decock than a conventional hammer gun. And I know of a couple of ADs by people trying to decock a standard hammer gun.
I once saw a M60, alleged to be the NYPD policewoman's model, with the semi-bobbed hammer of the M38. I don't know how much more snag resistant it would be; not as good as a bobbed hammer or hammerless.