A small .38 revolver has perpetually been on my gun wish list.
Well, it’s on my “have” list now. Last week a guy came in to the gun store where I part-time with a very lightly used S&W 442 (concealed hammer .38) that he wanted to trade in. Lightly used as in he shot 50 rounds, cleaned it, then stuck it on a shelf and forgot about it. While window-shopping the previous week he started drooling over a Remington 1100, and asked if we took trades. Sure, I said, bring it in and we’ll look at it. Well he did, the GM OK’d the trade, and gave the 442 a quick wipe down (it was spotless already) and put it in the case.
The next day when I came in for my 3 hour shift after the end of my day job, I couldn’t stop handling it. Oh what the heck, I said, and bought it on the spot. It’s a 442-2, made in 2002, and has the lawyer lock which I will do my best to just ignore.
I took it out this afternoon, and it will chew the x-ring out at 7 yards with my chosen carry ammunition, Federal 110gr Hydrashoks. I carry Speer Gold Dot in every thing else, but Speer doesn’t make the .38 GDHP in non-+P.
Up until this point, all I have carried for the last ten years is a Glock .40cal of some sort, either a 22, 23, or 27, but I have never felt comfortable with the 27 in a pocket holster. So now, when I absolutely have to tuck my shirt in, I have the 442. Problem solved.
For size reference, it’s sitting on a 5"x8" scratch pad. Sorry about the crappy cellphone pic.
Mine (pre-lock version) goes with me practically everywhere I go. It is a dandy little backup gun. I even had the chance to run it on a reactive steel range at Blackwater during a range session which my Brittish SBS instructor kindly allowed me to horn in on.
It’s more useful than folks realize.
My only advice would be to switch to the Speer BUG load for it. It is a 135 grain Gold Dot hollowpoint loaded to +P designed specifically to work out of these little revolvers. From the testing they’ve done thusfar, it offers the most consistently good performance available.
I wish my grandfather’s airweight bodyguard (model 38) had not been stolen.
Not only was it his favorite gun, besides his K-22 (also stolen in same burglary), but it was the only gun I ever had to draw in self-defense. (No shots fired, luckily)
I eagerly await the day that someone calls me to say it has been recovered…
Or for those of us on a budget lately, I switched from the Hogues to Hideouts without finger grooves from Precision Gun Specialties. I hate rubber grips.
PGS has always been one of the best kept secrects in LE circles in MI for some reason.
I have a Barami Hip Grip and a black T-Grip on my 642. It’s a very comfy and effortless carry. A excellent summer gun here in Texas.
I have a nice old Model 60 in .357, with a Bianchi Lightning grip on it. Works like a 638, you can cock it if need be. Its freakishly accurate. I don’t know who tuned it, as I bought it third-hand. It lives in the jacket pocket during the winter. It was a cop trade-in. I know that officer must have been sad when he handed it over.
It’s going to my daughter when she turns 21 and gets her CHL.
I have a 340 PD that has been my EDC weapon for several years now and I can’t say enough about these pistols. Mine usually rides in the front right pocket of my pants in a Galco pocket leather holster, but sometimes if I have a long enough shirt I’ll stick it in my back pocket, so that just the handle sticks out and it is about the quickest deployment of anything I have tried. I have found mine to shoot extremely well at 25 yds with the speer gold dot 135 gr short barrel .38 +P’s. If you have one of the super light weight guns, go get yourself a box of these: http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=471105
I have yet to hand my gun to anyone that will shoot all five, usually after one or two, they hand it back.
