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Elmer Keith (1899–1984) one of the 20th century’s most well-known firearm experts, didn’t mince words when he opined on the limitations of the .38 Special. He was a practical man and viewed calibers from the perspective of how well-suited they were for various applications. His primary interests were hunting and defense. For him, it was all about power, and he felt the .38 Spl. came up short in that regard.
Keith writes in his 1955 book, Sixguns, when talking about its use for defense, the .38 Spl., “ … is too small for a man-stopper or service cartridge.” “ … [I]t has proven inadequate as a man-stopper in so many cases as to need no further comment here on that score.” That was harsh but to the point. The only .38-cal. cartridge he felt was adequate for a man-stopper “under all conditions” was the .357 Magnum, and he played a key role in developing that cartridge.
Let’s see what he says about the .38 for hunting. “In standard round nose 158 grain at a velocity of around 870 feet, it is not a good killer, even on jack rabbits, big grouse or chucks and they must be hit just right for a clean kill.”
During the time Elmer wrote that book, round nose and wadcutter bullets were typical fare in the .38 Spl., and this what he based his opinion on. Looking at old catalogs from that time, I could not find hollow-point bullets in the .38 Spl. In other handgun cartridges? Yes, but none in the .38 Spl. If you wanted a hollow point in the .38, you had to make your own. And that’s exactly what he did. In fact, he designed a 160-grain hollow-point mold #358439 that is still sold today.
A hollow point improved the .38’s performance. He writes, “It is at its best as a game killer with the Keith 160 grain hollow point backed by 5.3 grains [of] Unique in light framed guns or 13.5 grains [of] 2400 in heavy .45 frame guns for use on all light game.”
The 5.3 grains of Unique would be right at the upper +P limit, or well past it, for a lead bullet in this weight range according to Lyman’s 50th Reloading Handbook, depending on the bullet. Velocity would run around 850 f.p.s. or more from a 4.0″ barrel. (Readers should be cautious about taking handload data from historical sources and instead use pressure-tested data from modern loading manuals.)
This is especially the case with Elmer’s 13.5 grains of 2400. This is NOT a load recommended for guns chambered for .38 Spl. This load is near or at the maximum load for .357 Magnum rounds with this bullet weight! It produces .357-like pressure far in excess of .38 Spl. rounds. Elmer was well-known for pushing things to the limit (and beyond), and this is a good example of that. But, remember, just because Elmer did it doesn’t mean we should.
Not everything Elmer Keith said about the .38 was negative. He thought it was a wonderful target round. “More matches have been won with the .38 Special than any other center fire cartridge … ” But then he points out, “ … but also more .38 Special guns have been used than any other caliber. It is no more accurate than the .44 Special, if as accurate …” He continues, saying the .38 Spl. is, “A very nice cartridge for target and small game shooting, also for light pocket defense guns.”
Elmer Keith was a pioneer in his time, and he had strong opinions about the usefulness of handgun cartridges. He didn’t hate the .38 Spl., but didn’t shy away from criticizing it, either. It had its place for some purposes, as long as it “stayed in its lane.” He thought it was fine for small carry guns, just not for a duty weapon. This is a little odd because a pocket gun also has to be a man-stopper to be useful. We’ll forgive him for this contradiction and point out that with today’s modern bullets, the .38 Spl. becomes a respectable defense round.
Much has changed since Elmer wrote that book. The .38 Spl. has evolved considerably since the ‘50s. Bullet technology has advanced quite a bit, and shooters now have many options to choose from to fit their needs for expansion and penetration.
Modern copper bullets bring out the best performance of this old round. Offered in a range of weights from 90 grains and up, they fill many roles for hunting and self defense. Lightweight hollow points are often driven at high speeds to maximize expansion even in short barrels. For example, Super Vel’s Super Snub 90-grain JHP reaches 1,300 f.p.s. from a 1.88″ barrel. Hornady’s FTX bullet has a plastic plug in the hollow point to ensure expansion. Lehigh Defense makes a unique, fluted solid copper bullet that produces a large wound channel like a hollow point without the need to be a hollow point. And of course, there are a plethora of quality hollow point bullets to choose from.
But let’s not forget lead bullets. Keith’s favored 160-grain lead hollow-point bullet has a modern incarnation as the 158-grain SWC hollow-point. It has become a standard load today from Federal, Remington, Winchester and boutique shops like Underwood and Buffalo Bore. Velocities range from 830 to 1,000 f.p.s. When loaded to +P pressures, they deliver performance even he would approve of.
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Big surprise huh?
So you want to put boots on the ground in Iran? Really give them what-for? Finish the Job!
Let’s start with baby steps. Kharg Island is 600 KM past the Strait of Hormuz, and it’s the size of Iwo Jima. Qeshm Island is bigger than Okinawa. Both are in artillery, drone and missile range of Iran.
During WW2, we pounded Iwo Jima with battleships for weeks before landing 70,000 Marines. 19,000 of them were WIA and 7,000 were KIA. It took a month to wipe out Japanese resistance.
In 1945 we landed 180,000 Marines and Soldiers on Okinawa, which is smaller than Qeshm Island. It took three months to subdue Japanese resistance. The U.S. suffered more than 30,000 WIA and 12,000 KIA.
But what the hell, I’m sure a force of around 10,000 U.S. troops can capture Kharg or Qeshm, while being shuttled in by helicopters and tilt-rotors. From ships and gulf-region staging areas that are in easy drone and missile strike range from Iran.
Or maybe we’ll just bum-rush our amphibious ships loaded with Marines straight into the Strait of Hormuz. For Kharg Island, tack on a 600 kilometer run parallel to the cliffs of the Iranian coast. It should be a piece of cake.
(Note the date of my Substack piece from last year, “If we go to war against Iran, the world economy will crash.”) It was written even before our “12 Day War.”
Our best warships have been forced to stay hundreds of miles from the coast of Iran, due to the threat presented by Iranian Shahed drones and anti-ship guided missiles. The only exceptions have been in-out dashes by a couple of destroyers.
So it’s ridiculous to even consider sailing amphibious ships loaded with Marines to within helicopter range of Kharg or Qeshm island, much less close enough for amphibious assault vehicles and landing craft.
Anybody who suggests this should be mocked as an absolute idiot. Including the retired FOX News generals who were officers during Desert Storm, when we spent months offloading thousands of troops and unlimited tons of supplies into Saudi Arabian ports and airfields in perfect safety. Those days are as long gone as horse cavalry charges.
Today, those same Saudi ports would be blasted with Iranian missiles and drones. In fact, this is what happened to our former 5th Fleet Headquarters in Bahrain. As a result, it’s been evacuated, and the US Navy has been driven out of the Persian Gulf, where it had reigned supreme since World War Two.
Just as a reminder, Iran is ten times bigger than South Vietnam, with six times its 1968 population. Iran is bigger than six Colorados, with even higher mountains. It can’t be “starved out” by a U.S. naval blockade, because it is water and energy self-sufficient, and 90% food self-sufficient. Any food gap can easily be filled overland from Pakistan, and via the Caspian Sea and air routes from Russia and China.
At the height of the Vietnam War, we had over 500,000 troops in country, plus 5,000 combat aircraft from helicopters on up. These were based all over South Vietnam, minutes from takeoff to target. We had B-52s flying back and forth from Guam to Thailand dropping unlimited tons of cheap iron gravity bombs at will along the Ho Chi Minh Trail and North Vietnam. It wasn’t enough. Eventually we gave up, and left.
Iran is ten times bigger than South Vietnam, with heavily contested air space, forcing our attack planes to launch our rapidly diminishing stocks of multi-million-dollar standoff missiles from outside of Iranian air space.
To even consider a “land incursion” in Iran is insanity. Not only is Iran much bigger than South Vietnam, with a much larger population, it’s a technological “near peer” that can fight back effectively, as proven by our warships being forced to stay hundreds of miles away. As opposed to Vietnam, where we controlled the ports, airports, main highways, etc. And we still lost.
Iran has shown the wisdom of adopting “the porcupine strategy” in the 21st Century.
As opposed to the US military trying to maintain a vast and expensive global empire by force, in an era when even 2nd and 3rd tier countries can strike back at the empire’s far-flung regional bases with drones and missiles.
The U.S. has spent over 8 TRILLION dollars on the Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran wars. What do we have to show for these? How have these wars benefited the citizens of the USA? What else could we have done with 8,000 BILLION dollars, if we had spent it on infrastructure inside of America?
Our bases in the Persian Gulf region are now more of a liability than a benefit to our defense posture. They are just missile bait, staked goats held hostage to modern missile and drone fire.
This entire fiasco was a self-inflicted wound, brought about by President Trump’s dishonorable and frankly stupid decision to sneak-attack Iran with assassination missile strikes during negotiations. “See you in Geneva on Monday!” Then kill dozens of Iranian leaders, their families and neighbors, and 170 school girls, with surprise missile strikes on Saturday. As an American, this disgusts me.
And now that it appears we are going back to full kinetic war, a global great depression is almost a certainty. America will be correctly blamed for this catastrophe, and Trump will go down in history as the man who caused it.