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BillCA · June 15, 2010, 08:33 PM

Blue Train,

The .38 S&W or .38/200 cartridge was the British service cartridge during WW-II. Under Roosevelt's lend-lease program, tens of thousands of S&W (and some Colt) revolvers were shipped to the U.K. for military service. Many of these were stamped "U.S. Property" on the left topstrap. In post-war years, then M&P revolvers (actually called the K-200) were returned to the USA through various means and sold as surplus. Probably half were coverted to .38 Special. S&W continued to carry & catalog the .38 S&W in the M&P revolver (later to become the Model 11) until the 1960s. Their .38 Regulation Police was an I-frame 5-shot and later a J-frame, just before it was discontinued in the 60's.

From WW-II on, the standard revolver cartridge for the U.S. military was the .38 Special. It would not surprise me to have found a few .38 S&W chambered revolvers in various armories though. Being an Air Force brat, I grew up around a couple of airbases and only saw .38 Specials in use between the mid 1950's and 1980's.

Magnumitis
I agree with Jim on the way a lot of people sneer at certain cartridges. The .32 S&W and .32 S&W Long are pretty anemic by today's standards. Yet, the NYPD used them in the early 20th Century under Teddy Roosevelt's charge as police commissioner. Not that they were always effective, but more often than not, they did work. The .38 S&W at close range will certainly kill you with a well placed shot. So will a .32 S&W or .32 Long. A school chum of mine worked on the Alaskan pipeline in the 70's - lots of rough men there. A fight erupted over a poker game one night and one man slashed at another with a hunting knife. The other pulled a gun - an old RCMP Colt in .455 - and fired one shot. Didn't kill the man, but he no longer felt like making a nusiance of himself either.

I'll admit that I haven't much use for the .32 ACP or .25 Auto, but they still have their place in a fight at "bad breath" distances.

June 15, 2010, 08:33 PM	#18
BillCA Senior Member Join Date: November 28, 2004 Location: Silicon Valley, Ca Posts: 7,117	Blue Train, The .38 S&W or .38/200 cartridge was the British service cartridge during WW-II. Under Roosevelt's lend-lease program, tens of thousands of S&W (and some Colt) revolvers were shipped to the U.K. for military service. Many of these were stamped "U.S. Property" on the left topstrap. In post-war years, then M&P revolvers (actually called the K-200) were returned to the USA through various means and sold as surplus. Probably half were coverted to .38 Special. S&W continued to carry & catalog the .38 S&W in the M&P revolver (later to become the Model 11) until the 1960s. Their .38 Regulation Police was an I-frame 5-shot and later a J-frame, just before it was discontinued in the 60's. From WW-II on, the standard revolver cartridge for the U.S. military was the .38 Special. It would not surprise me to have found a few .38 S&W chambered revolvers in various armories though. Being an Air Force brat, I grew up around a couple of airbases and only saw .38 Specials in use between the mid 1950's and 1980's. Magnumitis I agree with Jim on the way a lot of people sneer at certain cartridges. The .32 S&W and .32 S&W Long are pretty anemic by today's standards. Yet, the NYPD used them in the early 20th Century under Teddy Roosevelt's charge as police commissioner. Not that they were always effective, but more often than not, they did work. The .38 S&W at close range will certainly kill you with a well placed shot. So will a .32 S&W or .32 Long. A school chum of mine worked on the Alaskan pipeline in the 70's - lots of rough men there. A fight erupted over a poker game one night and one man slashed at another with a hunting knife. The other pulled a gun - an old RCMP Colt in .455 - and fired one shot. Didn't kill the man, but he no longer felt like making a nusiance of himself either. I'll admit that I haven't much use for the .32 ACP or .25 Auto, but they still have their place in a fight at "bad breath" distances. __________________ BillCA in CA (Unfortunately)