.38 Snub? (It was used in the Godfather: the movie and game)?

Question

Well after playing the game and watching the movie as usual I get in these weird moods where I go I want one! This happens in all movies with guns in them. Anyway so when I get older and I get intrested in buying old .38 Snub Revolvers I would like to know A. How accurate is it from 5-30yards. B. How expensive are they and C. How well do they shoot.

In the Godfather the game I will go on a mission and I will get in a big fire fight and I will run out of ammo with all of my guns except the .38 Snub and so when I pull it out I have to reload it 2 times before the other guy from the Tattalia's will go down. So is the .38 snub really that poor at accuracy at a long range?
And FYI it looks like a small revolver so don't think that its some other gun!

Answer 1

I suppose seeing a gun showcased in a movie is as good a reason to say "I've got to get me one of those" as any other. Clint Eastwood helped Smith and Wesson sell a lot of Model 29 revolvers (that'd be the one chambered in .44 Magnum.)

Now you ask an interesting set of questions because there are a lof of .38 Special snubbies out there. The kind you usually see in movies like these would be the classic Colt Detective Special and various Smith and Wesson K-frame guns, like the Terrier, the Military and Police, and the eponymous J-frame Chief's Special. Modern .38/.357 snub-nose revolvers can be had from Smith and Wesson, Ruger, Taurus, and Rossi.

So . . .

A) Generally speaking, .38 snubbies are fairly accurate guns. Shooting from a firm rest, they're about as accurate as longer-barrelled revolvers . . . but shooting from a two-handed stance, that short sight-radius tends to cause groups to wander a bit. So within ten or fifteen yards offhand, groups within a few inches are possible. Which means that at twenty-five yards, they're more than accurate enough to hit a human-sized target.

B) That depends. There are some examples out there that sell for well over a thousand dollars, on the account of being in excellent shape for their age. On the other hand, there are some old, well-used snubbies (and more than a few Taurus .38 snubbies) in the gun-shops that sell for under well $300.

C) They shoot very well. A .38 Special snubnose is more pleasant to shoot than one stoked with .357 Magnum rounds (note: ONLY use .357 Magnum rounds with pistols chambered for .357 Magnum! I bring this up because there are .357 Magnum snubbies out there as well.) Even when you get down to airweight guns made out of expensive space-age metals (though these space-age guns are less accurate than ones made out of all steel, or aluminum and steel, owing to their thin steel barrels. Not to mention a lightweight snubnose made out of, say, titanium, is a handful to shoot.) Where the standard-pressure .38 Special out of a short barrel falls short is in terminal performance . . . i.e. it has poor 'stopping power' compared to some other loads out there (though it beats the stuffing out of most of the other compact, easily concealable handgun loads, save the .357 Magnum, and the police-caliber compact semi-automatics.)

Answer 2

The shorter the barrel the less accurate, so not accurate. Get something with at least a 6 inch barrel. A lot of .38 also shoot .357 magnums. The .38 is very powerful, but the .357 is a lot more powerful. The .44 mag is the most powerful that is commonly available.

Answer 3

Not very accurate the longer the range, ... but more importantly, never, ever put a .357 Magnum round in a .38 Special revolver! The reverse is fine, ... a .38 Special which is shorter and less powerful will work just fine in a .357 Magnum handgun, ... but putting a .357 Magnum round in a .38 Special revolver is a big time no no!