.38spl vs 9mm revolver

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Hello.

I am looking for some advice both pro and personal.

My wife has said from the beginning that she would like a .38, yes i know .357 would be better cause of the reverse .38 use. But thats not what i am asking.

I found a nice .38 alfa for 300 that i am sure she would like. But i also found and am looking at an alfa in 9mm for 200 more which i think she would like as well (no both is not an option). She has said she likes the easy recoil of the .38 which the 9 would have as well. The 9 uses moon clips (advantage/disadvantage) and it also has the advantage over the .38 of lots of ammo at cheap prices (plus same cal. as my CZ). Like the cheapness of the .38 but the cal. commonality and uniqueness of the 9mm have me unsure.

I am not sure which to go for (I do not think she would care either way, except for maybe difficulty loading and unloading the moon clips) so i am asking for some more experienced opinions on this matter of both. Also maybe some reviews of members personal use experience with either.

Michael.
 
If you are not into reloading, the 9mm will certainly be cheaper. If you are into reloading, a 38 spl target load will likely have less recoil.

I wonder what the accuracy is comparing the two guns? Does one have a better reputation for accuracy? I just bought a Blackhawk which has two cylinders, one for 38/357 and the other for 9mm. Some say the 9mm in not as accurate, others say its pretty good. I will find out. I am hoping its decent in 9mm, but if not, then I will shoot 38 spl., which apparently is always accurate in those blackhawks.
 
I have a .357 Alfa Proj and a 9mm and I like them both. The moon clips for the 9 are a bit flimsy but are easy to load, and unload with the tool it comes with. It’s probably easier to load and unload the gun with them as well vs loading .38 with a speedloader (HKS 10A and Safariland Comp II JK2C work if you end up going .38), and unloading.

I think the 9mm is the better option but the price of the .38 is tempting.
 
The reviews of the 9mm alfa are that it is just as accurate (made as 9mm not a conversion) as a .38/.357. I have thought about reloading (not currently doing it) especially for a .38 but would do other cal. as well at that point. Part of my main concern with the moon clips was ease of loading/unloading the rounds from them. ( i shot a s&w 1917 and it was a PIA). HEHE you see part of my dilemma.
 
Disadvantage of 9mm revolvers is that you can't use them without moon clips. If you forget your moon clips, or even your loader, you're screwed. 9mm is MUCH cheaper than .38 though, so there's that.

If you reload pistol ammo in any sort of volume (I reload my .38 on a Dillon 650, so I can get through it pretty fast, and it cost me about the same to load 38 as 9mm) the ammo cost difference is negligible. If not, it might be worth it to go with the 9mm just to save money on ammo. If I only owned one revolver, it would definitely be a 357.
 
I have the alfa in 9mm. I really like it, I chose it over the 38 purely for ammo cost. 9mm is a lot cheaper than 38 and more guns are chambered in 9mm so when your collection gets bigger you don't have to buy several types of ammo.

I think moon clips are superior to speed loaders any way. You just put it in the cylinder and done. Speed loader need to be turned or wiggled to get them in place. The down side is you cant top up with moon clips but that's more of a combat thing which is not relevant. You can always just dump the whole thing and put in a new clip.

Putting bullet on the moon clip is as easy as loading a magazine. Chances are she has smaller hands than you so it might be easier for her than it is for you. Mine came with a little de-mooning tool which makes it very easy to take bullets off the moon clip.

If you don't want to fuss with moon clips you can load them one at time and fire them but you can't extract them easily. You have to pull them out with your fingernail. As it gets dirty that will become harder.

As far as accuracy I am terrible with revolvers but when I #### the hammer back I find it very accurate. The double action trigger is heavy from what I am told but if you want a high quality trigger buy a more expensive gun.

The Alfa in 9mm is a fantastic revolver and I am very happy with it. I don't think either caliber is a bad idea, but I recommend the 9mm for ammo cost reasons.
 
I suspect your wife will have the answer.
personally, i'd lean towards the .38 simply due to the fact you don't need moon-clips.
I don't think there is a wrong answer, both would do the job of providing fun range trips. good luck.
 
Scotty454 said:
Disadvantage of 9mm revolvers is that you can't use them without moon clips. If you forget your moon clips, or even your loader, you're screwed. 9mm is MUCH cheaper than .38 though, so there's that.

If you reload pistol ammo in any sort of volume (I reload my .38 on a Dillon 650, so I can get through it pretty fast, and it cost me about the same to load 38 as 9mm) the ammo cost difference is negligible. If not, it might be worth it to go with the 9mm just to save money on ammo. If I only owned one revolver, it would definitely be a 357.
Click to expand...

This.
 
When your wife says "I want .38" and you come home with a 9mm. She's going to say you never listen to what she wants.
Get her what she wants to shoot or the sport becomes yours and she only tags along. Women want what they want.
Logical reasons to get something else doesn't matter to women.
 
Grizzlypeg said:
If you are not into reloading, the 9mm will certainly be cheaper. If you are into reloading, a 38 spl target load will likely have less recoil.

I wonder what the accuracy is comparing the two guns? Does one have a better reputation for accuracy? I just bought a Blackhawk which has two cylinders, one for 38/357 and the other for 9mm. Some say the 9mm in not as accurate, others say its pretty good. I will find out. I am hoping its decent in 9mm, but if not, then I will shoot 38 spl., which apparently is always accurate in those blackhawks.
Click to expand...

The Blackhawk is known to be less accurate with 9mm because 9mm is the wrong bullet size -. 355 vs .357 for 38spl. That shouldn't be an issue with the Alfa proj, I would assume they use the right bore diameter to match the caliber.

OP, personally I would go 38spl, but I reload. If you don't reload, 38spl will get expensive and the money you save on the gun will eventually go to ammo costs.

At $300 (I'm assuming it's used?) you can buy the 38 and if you decide you'd rather the 9mm you could always sell the 38, I doubt you'd loose money at that price point. The last thing you want to do is buy the 9mm and turn the misses off of shooting, or angering her because she specifically asked for a 38...

Meroh said:
This.
Click to expand...

Im pretty sure the Alfa 9mm can be used without moon clips. Ejection is a chore though.
 
38 is a much lower pressure round, with a different recoil impulse than the 9mm. It's also probably the easiest round to reload and the brass can last almost forever if you want it to. 9mm is not capable of the same accuracy as 38, hence companies like S&W making 38 semis for target shooting and the lack of 9mm bullseye pistols.
 
Crazy Cory said:
When your wife says "I want .38" and you come home with a 9mm. She's going to say you never listen to what she wants.
Get her what she wants to shoot or the sport becomes yours and she only tags along. Women want what they want.
Logical reasons to get something else doesn't matter to women.
Click to expand...

Well said.

Get her what she wants...
 
enefgee said:
38 is a much lower pressure round, with a different recoil impulse than the 9mm. It's also probably the easiest round to reload and the brass can last almost forever if you want it to. 9mm is not capable of the same accuracy as 38, hence companies like S&W making 38 semis for target shooting and the lack of 9mm bullseye pistols.
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I don't see why 9mm wouldn't be capable of the same accuracy? The fact most 9mm are tilting barrel design which is inherently less accurate than a revolver where the barrel never moves would create this impression, but I see no reason for it to be true?

38spl semis? S&W made the model 52, but that hasn't been made in 25+years. Other than that, google brings up a few niche 1911 designs and stuff, but no commonly available current production 38spl semi?
 
also ck the barrel itself- there's an awful lot of 9mms built on 38/357 frames that actually mike out at 357- I've had a couple like that- ho hinderance for accuracy at pistol ranges, but is nice to use a bullet that actually FITS the barrel
 
Been married 28 years. Get her what she asked for, and reload. As mentioned, the .38 has a different felt recoil, all my daughters prefer shooting it to any of my 9mm.

And I would suggest keeping your eye on the EE for a Model 14 K38 Masterpiece, saw one last week at a very reasonable price considering what you are getting. It is quite possibly my favorite revolver to shoot, or at least dead even with my Python. Love that model 14....a bit more money than the 9mm you mentioned, but your wife will know how much you love her (and yourself too)!
 
Crazy Cory said:
When your wife says "I want .38" and you come home with a 9mm. She's going to say you never listen to what she wants.
Get her what she wants to shoot or the sport becomes yours and she only tags along. Women want what they want.
Logical reasons to get something else doesn't matter to women.
Click to expand...

logical reasons don't matter to women. Yeah I don't think logic matters to them at all.
 
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