38 SPECIAL

38 Special covers ammunition developed for one of the most widely used revolver cartridges in American history. Introduced at the end of the nineteenth century, the .38 Special became a standard for law enforcement, military, and civilian use throughout the twentieth century and remains relevant today. Its long service life resulted in an unusually broad range of loadings and specialized applications.

This category includes standard lead and jacketed loads, wadcutters and truncated bullets, blanks, tracers, experimental and specialty cartridges, grenade-launching and auxiliary devices, instructional and inert examples, and boxed material with associated documentation. Variations in bullet design, case construction, primers, headstamps, and packaging illustrate both routine commercial production and niche developments for training, testing, and law enforcement roles. The depth of material makes this category especially useful for collectors studying revolver ammunition evolution, police and military procurement, and the transition from early smokeless-era cartridges to modern handgun designs.