I just acquired a 38 Special S&W

[rainman]

Beautiful K-frame. Congrats on a great find PB!


-Rainman

[Pappabear]

Looks like “4 screw”, don’t see screw on top front of trigger guard that holds in yoke.

A dandy if 4 or 5 screw. And seriously, “they don’t make em like that anymore”. : )
Nothing beats a well broken in or tuned K frame for double action in my book.

Nicely played PB.

Forgot; the .38 Special NEVER had recessed cylinders. Just the .357 and the other magnums.

Cool thanks.

How many screws are most desirable?

PB

[gaijin]

5 PB. To a hard core collector.
Bear in mind both the 4 and 5 screw were produced simultaneously until S&W ran out of 5 screw frames.

Both are very good guns.

[Pappabear]

5 PB. To a hard core collector.
Bear in mind both the 4 and 5 screw were produced simultaneously until S&W ran out of 5 screw frames.

Both are very good guns.

More the better then, cool.

PB

[AndyLate]

Good gun heh? Its pined with firing pin but not Recessed. 2 for 3 not bad.

PB

I think the 38 spl guns were not recessed, only the magnums and rimfires. There certainly is no functional advantage to it using low pressure solid head 38 spl ammunition.

Very nice gun! If I still have a set of target K frame grips, I will send a PM.

Andy

[Pappabear]

I think the 38 spl guns were not recessed, only the magnums and rimfires.

Andy

Gaijin pointed this out, so yes. Made me feel warm and fuzzy. All good news about this gun.

PB

[AndyLate]

These have been gathering dust in my closet for far too long.

[SeriousStudent]

If you can find a set of Ahrends grips, you may want to snag them. Kim closed shop a few months back, and the prices are going up.

I have a set on a 6" K-38, and it is a magical gun to shoot. I use it with some light wadcutters - 148-grain projectiles with 3/2 grains of Bullseye. It's bunny fart for recoil but groups like crazy. Perfect to teach a new shooter.

Again - great score! You have the perfect training gun for anyone new to pistolcraft.

Be really careful with that Diamondback. Parts are very hard to find, and only a handful of smiths are good to work on them any more. Bill at Cylinder and Slide is your best bet for parts, and Frank Glenn in your neck of the woods would be the man to see.

It took me a year to hunt down a hammer for a .22 Diamondback, and the pistol is going to Frank Glenn to get fitted.

[Pappabear]

Thanks SS, When you say, "get fitted" what does that mean?

I have some Craig Speigel grips that are amazing on a big 44mag. And some on a Browning Hi Power, a thing of beauty.

PB

[SeriousStudent]

Thanks SS, When you say, "get fitted" what does that mean?

I have some Craig Speigel grips that are amazing on a big 44mag. And some on a Browning Hi Power, a thing of beauty.

PB

The lockwork on a Colt revolver is very different than a Smith. I can pretty much drop in parts on a Smith, and get them to work with just a little polishing and a drop of lube.

Colt's are like a symphony. The way they come together often requires much more hand-fitting. And just like a symphony, one tiny variation can seize things up. It's not just a case of tolerances like in a rifle. You've probably seen how a really good 1911 smith fits parts together, and does not just measure them and call it good.

A lot of the older gunsmiths who would touch them are retired. Frank Glenn in Phoenix, Karl Sokol in Vermont, Bill Laughridge in Nebraska are the main folks I would consider. I am sure there are others, those are the ones I have personal experience with, and own their guns.

The Speigal grips are really really nice, I have a set of cocobolo's on a 5" Model 27. But holy cow, they take forever to get.

Good luck with yours, and show off some more pics when it's finished. I bet you could do a real job on some desert jackrabbits with that 38!