Revolvers, Revolvers, SMITH & WESSON .38 SPECIAL SECOND HAND SH216, R 2,999.00, SMITH & WESSON, .38 SPECIAL, Good, South Africa, Mpumalanga, Trichardt

FIREARM IS STILL IN EXCELLENT CONDITION!!

The .38 Special was designed and produced in 1898 to be a higher velocity round, with better penetration properties than the .38 Long Colt that was in Government Service in the Philippines during the Spanish–American War. The .38 Long Colt revolver round would not penetrate the shields of the insurgent Philippine Moro warriors, and the Government contracted with Smith & Wesson for a new revolver round. The .38 Special held a minimum of 21 grains of black powder, 3 grains more than the then-current .38 Long Colt, and muzzle velocity (with a 158 grain bullet) was 100–150 feet per second greater.

During the late 1920s, in response to demands for a more effective law-enforcement version of the cartridge, a new standard-velocity loading for the .38 Special was developed by Western Cartridge Company. This .38 Special variant, which incorporated a 200 grains (13 g) round-nosed lead 'Lubaloy' bullet, was named the .38 Super Police.[10] Remington-Peters also introduced a similar loading. Testing revealed that the longer, heavier 200 grains (13 g) .357-calibre bullet fired at low velocity tended to 'keyhole' or tumble upon impact, providing more shock effect against unprotected personnel.[11] At the same time, authorities in Great Britain, who had decided to adopt the .38 caliber revolver as a replacement for their existing .455 service cartridge, also tested the same 200 grains (13.0 g) bullet in the smaller .38 S&W cartridge. This cartridge was called the .38 S&W Super Police or the 38/200. Britain later adopted the 38/200 as its standard military handgun cartridge. In 1930, Smith & Wesson introduced a large frame 38 Special revolver with a 5-inch barrel and fixed sights intended for police use, the Smith & Wesson 38/44 Heavy Duty.