The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - What can and what can't a .38 special do?

Deputy276 · July 3, 2012, 08:23 AM

"What I meant by relatively powerful, Mr. Deputy276, and relative to other handgun rounds only, was that in absolute terms of muzzle energy, some .38 special loads were as powerful as a .45 auto. You can argue all day if you want if one were as effective as the other. No statistic can convince anyone one way or the other. I've learned that much here. It is more perception than anything else and after all, a man has to be confident in his weapon. But the .45 auto was not the only cartridge that was held to be super-powerful. Bill Jordan wrote that he never discovered where the bullet went the first time he fired a .357 magnum because he was sure the gun was pointed at the target when he closed his eyes and pulled the trigger."

Muzzle energy doesn't kill people. And the reason Uncle Sammie went with the .45ACP was because the .38 couldn't get the job done. That's enough argument for me. The training methods for the .357 (shoot wimpy wadcutters and carry super-max loads) as well as the ammo of the day guaranteed that unless you got the BG with the first shot, you wouldn't get him with the remaining 5. As we entered the 80s, bad guys were carrying much more manageable 9MM with a lot more ammo if they missed. Police WERE outgunned, unless you lived in East Podunk, Missouri.

July 3, 2012, 08:23 AM	#44
Deputy276 Senior Member Join Date: October 6, 2010 Location: Silver City, New Mexico Posts: 102	"What I meant by relatively powerful, Mr. Deputy276, and relative to other handgun rounds only, was that in absolute terms of muzzle energy, some .38 special loads were as powerful as a .45 auto. You can argue all day if you want if one were as effective as the other. No statistic can convince anyone one way or the other. I've learned that much here. It is more perception than anything else and after all, a man has to be confident in his weapon. But the .45 auto was not the only cartridge that was held to be super-powerful. Bill Jordan wrote that he never discovered where the bullet went the first time he fired a .357 magnum because he was sure the gun was pointed at the target when he closed his eyes and pulled the trigger." Muzzle energy doesn't kill people. And the reason Uncle Sammie went with the .45ACP was because the .38 couldn't get the job done. That's enough argument for me. The training methods for the .357 (shoot wimpy wadcutters and carry super-max loads) as well as the ammo of the day guaranteed that unless you got the BG with the first shot, you wouldn't get him with the remaining 5. As we entered the 80s, bad guys were carrying much more manageable 9MM with a lot more ammo if they missed. Police WERE outgunned, unless you lived in East Podunk, Missouri.