GP100 in .38 Spec.

[skipper49]

Local guy has a like new,blue, 3", fixed sight GP chambered in .38 Special. Sure seems a waste of a heavy duty revolver, that is, not to be chambered in .357. I really didn't remember the GP being chambered in .38. Was it rather rare, or were they made up for LE use?
Lastly, what would this revolver be worth, keeping in mind it looks brand new, but no box.
Thanks,
Skip

 

[stantheman86]

.38 Special GP100's are out there, they were made for LE and security contracts.

I have seen 3" stainless GP's in.38 Special but never a blue.

I have many .38 GP100's, all of them were security guns and one is a GPNY.

.38 Service Sixes are also fairly common, I have several of them too.

 

[J.Johnson]

Why would LE or security go for a 38 over a 357?

 

[RUT]

The problem is, they're not as easy to sell when the time comes, and it always comes. :wink:

 

[Meeko]

Why would LE or security go for a 38 over a 357?

As a firearms instructor for an FED agency I am constantly banging my head on the wall because it seems the people making the "decision" on firearms have the least amount of training/understanding on them. And I'm the one that has to try to teach/make the bad decisions WORK!

Several Police departments and or Security agencies (by these same people) were/are mandated to 38 special not only ammunition but 38 chambered firearms as well. I belevive at one time Florida for some time had a state mandate on security officers could only carry 38 revolvers with round nose. It's not as bad as it use to be but there are still horrer stories.

 

[Bob R]

A Blue 3" is scarce from what I understand. On one forum, and it was probably here someone was looking for one, and never did get a hit.

In very clean condition I would guess $400 to $500 range. With luck you might get it cheaper.

Bob

 

[hittman]

These were made in both full and half lug versions. Mostly for law enforcement I think.

I think they are fairly scarce and wouldn't hesitate to pay up to $400 for it depending on how bad I had to have it. You don't see many 3" GP's around these parts regardless of fixed sights, adjustable sights, lugs, caliber, finish, etc.

 

[Mike Armstrong]

Ruger made at least several large orders of 4" fixed sight .38 Spl. GP-100s for government agencies (don't know if they were US or not) and possibly LEAs and large security firms. Some of these guns were sold used in the US after the customer moved to another handgun; some of the overruns were sold as new by Ruger distributors. I've seen both blue and stainless guns in the last category, so there were large orders of both.

Why .38 instead of .357? Good question and hard to answer without knowing the politics behind the decision. Some times it was also probably just history: the customer had been using other .38s, still had some in inventory and a supply of .38 ammo. So buying more was just the easiest thing to do. A bureaucrat's delight.

In some cases it was undoubtedly the same political correctness that kept some US LEAs with .38 Spls. long after everyone in service knew that .357s were much more effective...."Magnum" was a dirty word among some of the voters. Who cares if a cop goes down in a gunfight?

Many LEAs allowed cops to carry .357s but forbid us loading them with Magnum rounds....wink, wink, wink. (Called "havin' your political cake and eatin' it too!").

 

[Terry T]

I do believe the 3" (as opposed to 4") blued 38 spl. GP is over towards 'rare'. I'd love to pick one up for my GP collection but ..... dang Ca. rules.
Terry T

 

[stantheman86]

Security and some LE Agencies mandated .38 Special for the reasons stated above, for liability. So that if something bad happened the public couldn't claim that police officers were running around with "those magnums".......

The NYPD only allowed .38 Special DAO revolvers, like the S&W 64 and the Service Six, and GP100.

Also, like was said, some states required security companies to use only .38 Special revolvers, probably some old law that has been on the books for 100 years..........this is changing, probably the reason why there's a lot more .38 Special Ruger and S&W revolvers on the used trade-in market.

 

[jbenceo]

Rare or not I would like to have one. I have the stainless version with the 3" barrel in 357 magnum. It has yet to be fired, but I really like the size and configuration. I own a couple other 357's, but they are j-frames, and I prefer to use the 38 Special in them. I know the GP is relatively heavy compared to the others I mentioned, but I still like to shoot the 38 Special more than 357's no matter which gun it's in. I think it would be a great revolver to come across. jbenceo

 

[louiethelump]

Currently in FL, security officers can carry ONLY 38 ammo, but can carry it (now) in a 38 or 357 revolver, or 9mm ONLY auto pistols.

If you saw what pitiful training is done for security officers and who they are for the most part down here, you would be glad and prefer to see them armed with a 22 short. There are exceptions of course and many truly professional security officers, but they have to protect the public from the lowest common denominator.

They could fix that by raising the standard and the training for an armed guard license to where it was real training with a real qualification course.

That is not likely to happen any time soon.

Louie

 

[Mike Armstrong]

Yeah, Lou, I read you. I used to work for a community college which was responsible for the regional police academy and also the mandated "training' for New York state licensed security guards, including armed guards.

The difference in standards in personal background and training between the LEOs and the "security" guards was simply night and day. That said, many of the security guard trainees were LEO wannabes and a few of them really had the right stuff. A few.

 

[FergusonTO35]

There is pretty much no oversight or training requirements for security guards here in KY that I am aware of. Kentucky is an open carry state so they don't need any license, bonding, or anything to carry a gun on the job. I've known a few guys who worked as armed guards. They said the training is pretty much identical to what you go through for a CCW license: watch videos, take a quiz, then prove that you can place 11 out of 20 rounds anywhere on a standard silhouette at 7 yards. Most of these armed guards earn the same as unarmed rentacops. I don't know about you but I'm not going to make myself a robbery target for $9.00 an hour-which is also why I'll never work in a convenience store.