This week for Wheelgun Wednesday, we are taking a look at the venerable Smith & Wesson Model 14 revolver in .38 Special. These guns have a reputation for accuracy and dependability from the era when bullseye shooting was the most common handgun sport. I picked this one up to put it back on the line in CMP Service Revolver competitions, so let’s discuss how it has played out.
Wheelgun Wednesday @ TFB:
History
Revolvers have a proud history in target shooting. Up into the 1960s, wheelguns were common equipment for the centerfire portions of bullseye pistol matches. That course of fire consists of slow fire at 50 yards and rapid fire stages at 25 yards, all fired strong-hand only. At 50 yards, shooters fire one shot per minute with the same dimensions as the B-8 bullseye you may be familiar with. At 25 yards, strings of fire are five shots in 20 seconds (aka timed fire) and five shots in ten seconds (aka rapid fire), repeated various times to create the different courses of fire. The CMP’s Service Revolver match is 20 shots at 50 yards, and ten rounds each of timed and rapid fire at 25 yards.
The two main contenders in the target revolver market at its heyday were Smith & Wesson and Colt. The S&W target guns included models in .22 LR and .38 Special. These were often called Masterpieces. The .38 model was known as the K-38, then ultimately became refined into the Model 14.
The K-38 was made for competition match use, but it also was a defensive weapon. The LAPD issued the K-38 as its standard duty weapon for many years. These were 6-inch guns with adjustable rear sights. Eventually, they cut the barrels down to four inches and then ultimately replaced them with the Model 15 in .38 Special, with a four-inch barrel.
My Model 14 is a traditional example of these guns. It has a six-inch barrel and the adjustable sights that came standard. This particular gun has the target hammer, which has a wider spur. A target trigger was also an option with a wider shoe. This gun does not have that option, but it does have the oversized target stocks. I have larger hands, and the extra grip diameter makes a real difference in how the gun feels.
This is a target revolver, and the sights reflect that. Rather than the simple trough sights or fixed sights often seen on wheelguns, the Model 14 prioritizes the quality and usability of the sights. The front sight is a large and squared-off profile with sharp edges. The rear sight is click-adjustable for both windage and elevation.
On The Range
This gun was made to spend its days in target shooting competitions, and I wanted it to return to the firing line once more. I bought a box of 500 wadcutter projectiles and started reloading. These lead bullets should not be pushed too fast lest they leave too much lead in the bore. Some loads shot better than others, but all shot well enough that the limiting factor was me. The recoil was incredibly mild.
Smith & Wesson did a great job on the trigger in this gun. Decades of use did not hurt either, as that has a way of smoothing things out. Both the double and single action pulls are very smooth, with no stops or holdups along the way. The single action pull is especially good, with a very light 2.5 lb. release that is quite crisp.
The sights are also excellent. The nice large black rectangular silhouettes of the front and rear sights are easy to align have the correct amount of space between the front and the rear verticals. Some shooters think you want a very narrow gap or no gap between these but that is not truly the case. Real precision pistol shooters want healthily sized gaps that are easy to see. Sight alignment is everything in this game and this style of sight makes that easier than other configurations.
Recoil is absolutely minimal. This is a large and heavy gun with a 6-inch barrel. That additional weight helps keep the gun steady and on target but it also means that the already low recoil of a .38 wad cutter feels like nothing in this gun. It's not quite like shooting a rimfire but that's the most comparable thing I can think of. The difference is that there's more of an inertia shift because the projectile is much heavier and the amount of smoke is also much greater.
In Competition
I have had the opportunity to shoot the Model 14 in two bullseye matches. I did a decent amount of practice to get ready but was still woefully unprepared. In the first match my sight settings were not really what I was hoping for and that played some major havoc with my scores. In the second match I performed woefully but I have a convenient excuse. Earlier that morning I shot an 80-shot service rifle match and the group shooting the bullseye matches in the afternoon begged me to stay because they needed one more shooter. I stayed and did a service pistol, service revolver, and 22 rimfire EIC match. That was a long day of shooting.
After both of these matches it was clear that the gun was dramatically outperforming me. When I had that good sight picture and when I didn't rush the trigger, the rounds landed exactly where they were supposed to go.
A bullseye match consists of three types of stages:
- A 10-shot string fired at 50 yards in 10 minutes.
- Two 5-shot strings, each fired in 20 seconds at 25 yards.
- Two strings of 5 shots, fired in 10 seconds each at 25 yards.
25-yard portions are shot on the B8 target that many of you will be familiar with. 50-yard stages are shot on a B6 target, which has the same scoring rings but more of them colored black to make the aiming point appear visually consistent at 25 and 50 yards. Shooting at 50 yards, strong hand only, for score instead of just hits is a devilishly difficult game. Instead of just trying to score a hit (as in the case of a steel target) or just worried about alphas and charlies (as we do on cardboard), every little bit counts when scoring rings are involved. Shooting a 9 consistently will end you up in a very different place than shooting a 10 consistently and that added level of necessary precision is what makes this such an interesting game.
The timed and rapid-fire stages at 25 yards are especially fun. 5 shots in 20 seconds is not that hard. That's a stage where you can really pick up some points. 5 shots in 10 seconds at 25 yards takes a little more work.
I was unsure when starting out if I would shoot that portion in double action or single action. After experimenting with both, single action was clearly the better choice. With the grip and hammer arrangement of the Model 14, I find it easy to reach the hammer between shots without compromising my grip unnecessarily and that wide target hammer is very easy to grab. Double action still worked but I found that my groups were much more consistent in single action.
Conclusion
The Smith & Wesson Model 14 and the earlier K38 are legends for a reason. This is a purpose-built target revolver and if you want to compete in a game like CMP Service Revolver, it is one of the ones to beat. Even if you're not looking to compete in a game like this, for a reasonable amount of money these revolvers represent an incredible level of quality, precision, and old-school style and class. Whichever excuse you choose to use, be it trying a new competition or looking for a throwback to the golden era of wheel gunning, you really ought to pick one up.
