P.38 Tip for Michael

[Snake45]

Saw your musings on the P.38 on your blog. Cool tip: Did you know that 1911 mainsprings fit and function the P.38 just fine? This means you can experiment with the lower-powered "target" 1911 mainsprings until you find one that will just reliably set off your primers, and have a much lighter/easier/smoother DA trigger pull just like that.

You don't even need tools to swap P.38 mainsprings--just a screwdriver to get the grips off--so you can take a bunch of them to the range and experiment all at once.

I have an old reduced-power 1911 spring (don't know the exact poundage) in my homebuilt P.38 project, and it reliably sets off .22s. I bet it's even easier to get a light one to work in a centerfire.

Bonus tip: You can set a P.38 up for cocked and locked carry just by leaving out the little hammer-drop lever. Dunno if IDPA would let you get away with that or not....

[Michael Bane]

Hey Snake...cool tips! I'll try 'em...

The P-38 was a gun way ahead of its time. I think that except for two things — that heel magazine release and the rise of Jeff Cooper — the P-38 would have been a HUGE thing...

mb

[Snake45]

P.38 actually has three big drawbacks.

1. Fat for its cartridge, due to the silly-ass side spring system.

2. Poor balance and feel compared to other autoloaders, due to the exposed barrel (instead of having a meaty slide hanging out there).

3. Bad DA, due to mass-production (especially wartime) fitting. I built mine out of parts and have many, many hours of hand polishing and mating the components. Mine's now smoother than a Smith 39 or 59, but not as smooth as the third-generation Smiths (5906 et al).

Still, all in all, a very cool gun and quite fun to shoot. Never heard of anyone complaining about a P.38 slide biting the web of your hand like a PP or PPK will, but mine does it unless I make a conscious effort to get my thumb down.

[Walter45Auto]

I personally have always liked the feel of the P38. Now if they were as common in .45 ACP as they are in 9MM, they'd be even better!

[texcaliber]

I am confused, in the years of working at a gunshop i have never heard any other reason for the P38 other than collecting. A glock along with many MANY MORE are more accurate , just about anypistol other than the Liberator is faster to load, they cost toooo much, they bite the web of the hand as bad or worst than the HighPower(another yucker) and they handle like krap. I probably left out a few of their down falls.(or a bunch)

So I ask why? I will keep a open mind........... I promise.    Give me one reason for the P38 which is not bettered by another 10fold.

Tex

[Sponsor]

[Michael Bane]

It's a sort of "you say toe-MAY-toe; I say toe-MAH-toe" sort of thing.  I find the P-38 fits my hand perfectly; for me, it points great, etc. It's also the first 9mm DA I ever shot when I was a kid, which has soemthing to do with it. Is a Glock superior? Define superior. I have a Glock 19 and a Glock 34, and they are 100% guns. My Sig 225 is probably the best 9mm single stack on the entire planet. However, if thunder rolled in the heavens and a scary female voice said, "Mr. Bane...we've had about enough of you up here...you have one, count 'em, one 9mm left in your safe, and it's a P-38...if you don't like it, wellllllllllllllllllll, it's downstairs for you!"

No big. I could probably lumber through with a P-38, a decent holster and a bunch of mags.

Sometime it simply the appeal of the less common...I haven't shot a P-38 in a while, so it intrigues me. How would I do in a practical simulation if I was restricted to a WW2 gun? When I was a serious competition shooter, I was obsessed with specific equipment...heck, I still am Mr. Pissy when it comes to setting up 1911s. Since I started SHOOTING GALLERY five years ago, I have become fascinated with the concept of being aboe to shoot anything well...not competition well, but good enough to pick up, load, shoot, unload and clean anything that goes bang. I'm nowhere close, but I'm farther along. Snake and I periodically go through fits about different guns...

It goes back to my blogpost of a couple of days ago...if you asked me to recommend a good, reasonably-priced, reliable and accurate 9mm pistol to you, I would recommend a Glock 19. I have one, and it is the baseline all other carry nines are compared to. If you asked me to recommend my favorite 9mm — different question — I'd go for the Sig 225 in DA/Sa or the STI LS-9 SA. If on the third hand...hmmmm...are there third hands?...you asked me to recommend an interesting 9mm that was fun to shoot, I'd probably send you to the P-38. If you asked me for the best $200 more or less 9mm for hme defense, I'd say the P-1, the alloy- framed version of the P-38 used by the German police, which I think is a far superior gun to the modern 9mm in that price range.

If you want a collectable 9mm, oh hell, get a Luger!!! LOL!

Michael B

[Walter45Auto]

I am confused, in the years of working at a gunshop i have never heard any other reason for the P38 other than collecting. A glock along with many MANY MORE are more accurate , just about anypistol other than the Liberator is faster to load, they cost toooo much, they bite the web of the hand as bad or worst than the HighPower(another yucker) and they handle like krap. I probably left out a few of their down falls.(or a bunch)

So I ask why? I will keep a open mind........... I promise.    Give me one reason for the P38 which is not bettered by another 10fold.

Tex

Better? Not necesarily. I just enjoy shooting it.

[Snake45]

You couldn't give me a Glock. They work okay, but they're fat, bulky, ugly, no eye appeal, no hand appeal, just nothing to bond with.

Now a P.38 just drips with romance and intrigue and mystery and danger and excitement. It's just plain cool. (Fun to shoot, too!)

Comaparing a P.38 with a Glock (or certain other modern autopistols) is like comparing a '66 Shelby Mustang or a '57 Chevy Bel Air or a '63 Vette with any of the next ten silver colored, used-bar-of-soap-shaped, smiling-grille, multi-cupholdered personal transportation modules you'll see in the next two minutes. Oh the latter are technologically superior, but just have no soul whatsoever.

Go out to your local airport and see which airplane gets more attention: The next Gulfstream or Learjet to land, or the next WWII P-51.

[texcaliber]

Ok  Snake45 lets start at the first problem and go from there:
1)

couldn't give me a Glock. They work okay, but they're fat, bulky, ugly, no eye appeal, no hand appeal, just nothing to bond with.

That is not only a foolish statement but way OVERSTATED. You dont want a free gun? REALLY NOW? They work okay? Lets see a P38 which can out preform a glock. The P38 has been around a lot longer so why has the new pup taken the crown as Production King only to be knocked off due to Rob Lathem being"The Man".

but they're fat

You need a micromitter, to see how wrong you are about that but the Glock is the winner in size hands down in round for round count. G26vs.P38 not even close! NEXT!

bulky, ugly, no eye appeal, no hand appeal, just nothing to bond with.

That is a sad and grasping for straws statement. Already talked about size which P38 is a loser, looks are subjective but a rust bucket P38 or a nickel post War is MORE THAN UGLY-STICKED, eyeappeal is best had on the range(where P38 are not even in the race),Gripangle goes to glock. Shootability goes to glock. Sights goes to Glock. Bond with the SUPIRIOR PISTOL! Which is the GLOCK! evertime without any questions in every catagory other than maybe retro-class. 

Tex

P.S.If you dont want to drop any "F"bombs on the fourm you can P.M. me and I will not report ya. But expect 10 fold from this end man if I do not agree with ya.

[Snake45]

Guess what? Last time I checked, this was still America. I don't HAVE to lke the Glock, I don't have to shoot one, I don't have to own one.

Guess what else? Hillary Clinton's got more money than The Lovely Mrs. Snake. Got more important, powerful friends. Prolly would outscore her on the SATs or an IQ test. Good chance she's gonna be the next POTUS. On paper, Hillary outscaore TLMS 'bout every way you can quantify. Guess which one I'd rather go crawl in bed with right now?