TAMARA! S&W I-frame 38 Special?

S

Sir William

New member
Oh great S&W guru, I have a S&W I frame in 38 Special (flat latch). What I am wondering is what type of cartridge would be OK? My usual 38 Special cartridge is 158 gr Federal Hydra-Shoks. Is that a safe and sane load? No, I don't use +P anything. A second question, do the HKS J frame speedloaders work for these small 38 Special revolvers?
 
I frame info

The I frame was not large enough for the 38 special. It was originally designed to be a 6 shot 32 S&W Long. Later it was made in a 38 S&W (not special) and gordo b was correct, it was called the Terrier.

The J frame was designed to be a 5 shot 38 Special. For a while, they continued making I frame guns in 22 and 32. Since the J frame is only slightly larger, the I frame was discontinued.

What you probably have is an early J frame with the flat latch. If it is an I frame, it is not a 38 Special. 38 Special cartridges would be too long and be a loose fit in the chambers.
 
Hmmm? It is a smaller than J frame. J frame round butt grips do not fit, they are too long. It is a 5 screw frame. The 2" barrel says 38 S&W SPL. It is a fixed sight, unnamed model with a "modern" long front serrated sight. Silver medallion round butt grips. 5 shots. WHAT have I got if it isn't a I frame? I know, I know but, it looks like a oddity. It is a side opener, not a breaktop. It was a detectives duty weapon in the 50s. It has the old style S&W hammer with very light checkering, grooved combat trigger and diamonds on the walnut grips. No letters, just a 4 digit serial. It really doesn't match or resemble any of my other J frames. It honestly looks like a mini 1902 snub. It was represented as a I frame. I wasn't sure. For free? I was running with it. NOW what HAVE I got? TAAMAARAA!!
 
maybe it was rebarreled

One possibility is that the gun was rebarreled sometime in the past. If it needed a new barrel or someone wanted to change the barrel length, they may have been unable to get one for a 38 S&W and substituted one for 38 Special. It would probably work ok as 38 S&W uses a .360 bullet and 38 Special uses a .357 bullet.

I thought that I frame and J frame grips were interchangeable. I have an I-frame 32 S&W Long but it is a square butt (Regulation Police) and my J frames are round butt. When they wernt to the J frame all they did was lengthen the frame so the cylinder could be longer. I don't believe they changed the grip. The J frame was introduced in 1950 but S&W didn't start using model numbers until 1956.

I hope you get it figured out. If only guns could talk.
 
I beg to differ - -

With all due resect, texmex, the first examples of what we call the Chiefs Special were indeed made up on the I frame. Yes, the frame was nominally too short to hold the .38 Special cylinder, but, hey, what's the use of having your own gun factory if you're not able to make some variations? :p

The two I frame Chiefs I've handled both had four digit serial numbers. One had pristine, original factory stocks, and the other had J frame stocks which had been modified. That was what first drew my attention to the fact it was a non-standard Chiefs Spl. Another side note: I found a pair of really nice ivory stocks for a small RB S&W in a shop once and immediately began to deal on what was a very reasonable price. Luckily for me, the dealer was a casual acquaintance, and an up-front guy. Before any money changed hands he informed me the ivories were for an I frame and wouldn't fit on my regular pre M36 J frame Chief. I thanked him for preventing me from acquiring a white elephant [tooth.] :rolleyes:

Granted, it was not long at all before S&W decided the I frame was a bit light for the .38 Spl, especially certain loads. At the time, there was still a lot of .38/44 and .38 High Speed ammo being produced, loads which make modern +P seem a bit anemic.

Sir William, I'd feel comfortable in shooting all standard (non-+P) .38 Special ammo in an I frame. If it wasn't my primary carry piece, though, I might prefer the 130 FMJRN "Air Force" load or regular 148 gr. full wadcutter target ammo over the 158 LRN. That small, short handle sort of squirms around with the standard ammo.

I don't have my Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson at hand, so I have no idea how many I frame Chiefs were produced, but it wasn't a large number. You have a nice little piece of transitional firearms history there, sir. Enjoy. :)

Johnny
 
Never say never

As I've said before, never say never about S&W or Colt. There are always obscure variations that pop up every once in a while. Thanks for the information Johnny Guest.
 
I too aquired one of these odd 38spl,2in,5 shot pistols.I have an I frame in 38S&W,2in,5 shot.When I hold the two together side by side the the frames are exactly the same except for the latches,one is flat the other is the other kind.Other than the obvious cylinder lengths and barrel,the two frames are identical.
 
Thank you Johnny Guest. I really fell into this one. A former Marine and detective had this. The funny thing was opening it up and finding HIGHLY polished RNL brass cartridges. The older lady had Brasso and time on her hands. WOOF! Where is the bathtub?
 
...IIRC, the original "Chief's Special" WAS built on the "Improved I-frame" for a short while...the cylinder and it's window in the frame ARE longer than those of the "I-frame"...the guns S&W built during this changeover from "I" to "Improved I" to "J" are neat...MANY different variations show up...kinda' makes a collector wanna' pull his hair out!!!....mikey357
 
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