Smith & Wesson 5 Inch K38 Illinois State Police

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nate45

New member
I thought all the revolver fans might enjoy seeing this. :)

In 1957 S&W shipped 230 special order 5 inch K38s to the ISP.

It is not factory lettered yet, but the original owner was an Illinois State Trooper and the serial number falls in the correct range.

It has a little holster wear, but is in good shape.

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The 5" has a nice balance and feel to it, it looks good too.
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In the pic below, it is shown with my S&W K38 Masterpiece 6" blue, which shipped in 1954 and my S&W K38 Combat Masterpiece 4" blue, which shipped in 1950.

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Mosin44az

New member
Nice. Love the classic blued Smiths. Regret selling my redone Model 15....and the perfect Model 19 snubbie I had once....
 
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BillCA

New member
Sweet!

I've always liked the 5-inch barrel for balance. I have a 5-inch model 10 and it just seems to "sit" in the hand perfectly.

It's interesting that the 5-inch barrel looks like it was made by cutting back a Model 14 barrel. It lacks the taper of the 4-inch Model 15 which I find so eye-appealing.

Now... the $64,000 question - how does it shoot? :cool:
 
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wnycollector

New member
What a great gun, thanks for sharing. I have a 1924 5" M&P that just points great, I imagine a K-38 would feel just as good.
 
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Dave T

New member
I agree with Standing Wolf in wondering why the 5" never caught on. It is the perfect balance/compromise between the too short 4" and too long 6". My favorite S&W is the 5" N-frame and I have examples in 44 Special, 38 H/D and 357 Mag. I would love to have one of those 5" K-38s too.

Dave
 
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nate45

New member
BillCA said:
Sweet!

I've always liked the 5-inch barrel for balance. I have a 5-inch model 10 and it just seems to "sit" in the hand perfectly.

It's interesting that the 5-inch barrel looks like it was made by cutting back a Model 14 barrel. It lacks the taper of the 4-inch Model 15 which I find so eye-appealing.

Now... the $64,000 question - how does it shoot?:cool:
Click to expand...

Yes, it seems that S&W just cut an inch off the 6" K38 Masterpiece, instead of making up a new tapered 5" barrel. In the factory letters I've seen while researching it, Roy Jinks(the official S&W historian) calls them a K38, pre-14.

It shoots great, I'm not that good of an off hand, slow fire group shooter with a pistol. Even so I managed to shoot a fist sized 12 shot group at 25 yards.:)

Dave T said:
I agree with Standing Wolf in wondering why the 5" never caught on.
Click to expand...

I don't know why the 5" length was not more popular either. The 5" Model 27/pre 27 were fairly popular, but not so much the others. I remember my Dad had the S&W Model of 1989 .45 Colt and it had a five inch barrel, nice pistol.
 
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BillCA

New member
I'll second that. I don't know why five-inch barrels never caught on.
Click to expand...

Ask anyone who was a cop between 1950 and 1980.
It generally comes down to riding in a squad car. The shorter 4" barrel could be carried in a wider variety of holsters and still allow you to sit comfortably in the car.

Longer barreled guns required either a high-rise type holster (Bianchi breakfront) or a swivel holster to allow you to sit down.

Usually, State police/Highway Patrol and sheriff's deputies were the users of the 6-inch guns. Their jobs took them to places with longer potential distances - as well as autobodies to penetrate.

Even then, the 5-inch is a good compromise. But the nature of L.E. made the 4-inch much more convenient if you were getting into and out of a car frequently. For urban police on foot patrol, they were lighter too.
 
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Dave T

New member
Bill,

When I was in the academy in 1973 we had to buy our own firearms. I wanted a 5" Model 27 but was told I had to have a 4" barreled revolver. Then I asked about a 3-1/2" M27 and was told again it had to be a 4". So, I bought a 4" Model 28. Once I got out of the academy I was told I could carry any barrel length I wanted. As a young, rookie Deputy Sheriff I couldn't afford another revolver right away. When I did buy another gun it was a 45 ACP Government Model which my department had just authorized.

LOL - I was always a little ****** at the guy who told me I could only carry a 4".

Dave
 
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