A P-38 as a CCW gun?
 

I did a swap of surplus gear and and ended up with a P-38 dated "1945" that shoots WW 115 grain Silvertips to point of aim at 25 yards. The gun is a WWII capture arm and shoots very tight groups and it appears new. While I like the Colt M1911, this P-38 has become my CCW gun. Does anyone else have a P-38 as their CCW arm?

Adam

Why did you decide to carry the P38? If I had a real nice vintage gun like that, I would be afraid of damaging it. If I were to use it as a carry piece. Especaly if it was a tack driver.

gregarat,

I have a few other earlier dated P-38s, so taking the "1945" with me in the truck seemed like a good idea. I do carry the M1911 now and then and also a M65 S&W.

Adam

I see now.

I'm thinking of carrying my 1911 when cold weather hits (hopefully Springfield will do a good job fixing it up). A 1911 will be more easy to conceal, pulse a .45 will do a better job of getting good penetration through winter jackets. My other carry is a Rossi snubby. Not quite like your old FBI special. My main carry is a G19 No night sights, just the Harries technique for me.

You do have nice taste in handguns.

I've worked with a few P-38's, but never carried one for CCW.
If I carry a 9, it's likely to be my Browning P-35- also a WW2 pistol.
The P-38 is a really nice design- I believe the first double action service pistol.
The P-38's I've handloaded for have shot rather well, although they sometimes bobbled with HP or soft point ammo.

The P-38 is surely an acceptable CCW weapon.

The design is 67 years old, and there are newer/better variations. Most of our current law enforcement guns were derived from this first double-action 9mm. The newer guns have bigger magazines, better triggers, and a different balance - but are not necessarily any BETTER!

The WWII guns are sought by collectors if in excellent condition, but the average ones with worn finish are just shooters. There are also a bunch of 1960's aluminum-framed variants, usually marked P-1. Its pretty much the same gun, but less pricey.

I would feel well protected with a good P-38.

gold40,

Good post. I have several P-38s and like the design and handling of the pistol. My few problems with my pistols were isolated to two magazines that I tossed out. My P-38s like an assortment of loads I tried out on the backyard bench.

Adam

I can think of a couple of reasons why a P-38 would not be a desirable carry gun. A.) the front sight and hammer are such that they could concievably snag on clothing during a draw. B) the magazine requires two hands to remove by the nature of its design. One would have to lower the pistol and fiddle with it in order to replace a mag. Other than that, have at it...........

Mr. 16 gauge,

Points well taken about the P-38. I do not carry a P-38 in a trench coat or jacket pocket, so I do not have a problem with snagging. My Colt M1911 also requires two hands to change magazines: strong hand holds the Colt while strong thumb presses the mag catch and weak hand feeds in the new mag. I do the P-38 by holding the grip in my strong hand and pressing the mag catch with the weak hand thumb and inserting the new mag. I hope I keep my "fiddling" to a minimum and after 8 rounds of Silvertips, I may not need the second mag. LOL.

Adam

Adam;
I usually carry concealed under a large T-shirt or Sweatshirt, and even the standard hammer on a 1911 snags from time to time. I would also imagine that finding a good holster for concealed carry with a P-38 might be a bit of a problem as well, unless one was willing to go with a custom holster maker or use one of the many "one-size-fits-all" type of holsters on the market (which usually don't fit anything very well;) )
As far as reloading the magazine well of a P-38 while keeping the sights on the target, your a better man than me....you'll have to show me that trick some day.:)
As far as the silvertips go, my P-38 fed those without a hiccup as well, and several other HPs to boot.....the only ones I remember it having trouble with were some 100 grain S&W HPs that I bought at a gun show (shows you how old I am!)....I think the bullets were loaded too short for this particular gun.
Take care...........

In my opinion, the business about a civilian CCW replacing magazines in a gunfight is way overdone and unrealistic.

Most CCW shootings involve 1 or 2 shots; supposedly the average is 2.1 shots, including LEO's.

It hard to imagine using nine 9mm slugs, and then needing more. I haven't been able to find a single published incident of a CCW holder running out of ammo in a real confrontation. There was one Texas situation where the bad guy had a Kevlar vest, but more ammo wouldn't have made a difference.

For most of us civilians, a P-38 would be just fine!

If you shoot it well, carry it. Your comfort level with the weapon will matter more than any possibility of snagging on clothing.

The 9mm actually penetrates better than a .45 through winter clothing due to smaller frontal area.

Lycanthrope,

All savvy agents put a few "Ball" rounds on top of the 15-round stack in the magazine for "guaranteed" penetration of winter clothes, doors and other obstacles on the way to get the Bad Guys.

Adam

Savvy? Who is to say what round you need first?

Lycanthrope,

If one applies the "Double Tap" properly, one will give the bad guy one of each round: a JHP round and a Ball round. I always carried a magazline loaded alternately Ball and JHP and figued the bad guy can keep "score." Savvy?

Adam