"That Can't Be What You Have"

[LillFilly]

This was told to me at a gun show I went to this weekend. AKA, Female doesn't know what kind of gun she has.

I was looking for .38 ammo for a 1930 Smith & Wesson Revolver. This revolver takes half-moon/full moon clips to hold the bullets in the chamber, because of its design (no rims on today's bullets to keep them from sliding-down). I didn't want to get high-grain ammo because I don't want to stress an old gun. I checked for the ammo at several stands. When I asked at this stand, the first guy said he wasn't sure what I was talking about and called over another guy. I explained the above; I was looking for a low-grain bullet for a 1930 .38 S&W revolver that uses half-moon clips. He asked again what did I have. I re-explained; I needed .38 bullets for a revolver, looking for the lowest grain possible. He asked what I meant by half-moon clips. I explained that. He asked if I was sure I wasn't looking for .32s or did I actually have a Colt and not a S&W. No, I told him I was sure of what I had, I was just looking for the ammo. He said I better check to make sure, but he was positive I was actually looking for .32s.

Wow, wouldn't my Dad, Granddad and Great-Grandad be surprised that all these years they'd been shooting .38 out of a .38 revolver they should have actually been shooting .32s!? That's a magic gun right there. -End Sarcasm-

On the plus side, I finally found .22 shorts; only 2-stands had those!

[NecessaryCatharsis]

I once spent almost 1/2 an hour trying to convince the guy at the auto parts store that my truck was a straight 6, not a v6, no those are two different things, yes I'm sure my truck is a STRAIGHT 6, no it's not a v6 ..... I gave up, went home without my part and tried a different store the next weekend. Most places/guys I have no problem with, but there are men (and women) out there that are convinced, despite all evidence to the contrary, that you need a penis to solve complex auto/hardware/hunting/whatever problems. I've learned to laugh it off, clearly anyone who thinks that 50% of the worlds population can be discounted as not worth my effort to worry about.

[mathnerd]

As a chick that works on her own car, I get this attitude all the time. My favorite was the dude who tried to tell me I had an oil leak. This was when I had purchased new tires I snorted and asked if he knew the difference between oil and transmission fluid, and the fact that he thought he could swindle some "dumb girl" out of money assured that the shop would never see another dime of my money. I did not have an oil leak, but I did have a substantial transmission fluid leak.

[TheSHAD0W]

Hm. The common .38 S&W and .38 Special cartridges are both rimmed, so you wouldn't need moon clips to hold them. I've seen them for revolvers for 9mm and .45 ACP. What .38 caliber ammunition does that pistol take? I'm kind of interested; if you could post the model # of that revolver I'd appreciate it.

(edit) Okay, found it; most likely what you're looking for is .38 ACP ammunition. There's another round called .38 Super, which would also fit in your pistol, but unless you're certain the pistol is capable of handling it do *not* use it; it is a much hotter round and could result in a failure.

Found on the net: http://www.ammo-one.com/38APCAuto.html (not an endorsement, don't know the seller).

.38 Super is a more common cartridge, and can be found in many stores, but again, I can't be sure if your pistol can take it. If you'll post the model number I'll take a look.

(edit 2)

He asked if I was sure I wasn't looking for .32s or did I actually have a Colt and not a S&W

Dumbass. Colt originated the round, but it's not uncommon for other manufacturers to make firearms chambered to other companies' specs. Look at .45 ACP.

[Arcus]

So called experts don't believe anyone that says something they don't think is right. I had a guy at an auto parts store that argued with me about what transmission my car had. His computer said I had a different one than my manual that came with the car, the dealer, and the transmission shop next door said I had. Even after showing him all the proof I had, he still sold me the wrong part (and lied to me about it.) That is when I learned that if you put a vacuum modulator for a Ford AOD transmission in an A4LD, the transmission nukes itself.

[pitmonkey]

I have found reload specs for the 38 S&W top break revolver. It does state to be careful because of the age of the gun. So just keep looking.

[otakuneko]

Too bad you couldn't give 'em a reeeeeal up close and personal view of the gun, if you know what I mean.

[raudf]

I once spent almost 1/2 an hour trying to convince the guy at the auto parts store that my truck was a straight 6, not a v6, no those are two different things, yes I'm sure my truck is a STRAIGHT 6, no it's not a v6 ..... I gave up, went home without my part and tried a different store the next weekend. Most places/guys I have no problem with, but there are men (and women) out there that are convinced, despite all evidence to the contrary, that you need a penis to solve complex auto/hardware/hunting/whatever problems. I've learned to laugh it off, clearly anyone who thinks that 50% of the worlds population can be discounted as not worth my effort to worry about.

I gave up after five minutes trying to convince the guy that a 2003 Toyota Echo (with A/C - this is important!) has two belts. One to drive the alternator, A/C and water pump. The second one drives the power steering (given it was optional). Yes, I know the images tend to show one. Yes, I know they are both called "drive belts," but there are two and I need both.

[paxillated]

I never had a problem at my local parts store, back in the day. Very local - about 3 blocks from my house, IIRC. Then again, the first few times I showed up, I had the old part in my hand, was dirty from removing it, and just said, I need one of these. They got used to me, I guess. They even gave me advice when I asked for it - and it was good advice, too. My rather obvious female parts made no difference. (And that was 35-40 years ago. That was my beloved '67 Dart, with the good old slant six.) It sux that there are still guys who think females are dumb. Oh, I know, it's cause we only have one head - and they keep their brains in the one we don't have, poor dears. Bless their hearts!

My funniest experience was when I was living in a cow town, with my '65 VW bug. The alternator blew. I just took my long-shanked screwdriver and used it to make the connection to start the car. I kept that screwdriver in the engine compartment.

I also got a bad sunburn, right at the top of my thighs, and had to swap my pants for a skirt (mid-calf) until it healed. Since it was one I kept it for dress-up, it was nice looking. I finally decided to get a new alternator, and needed some tune-up parts, too. I made a list, because getting those part numbers right was important. For instance, in '65, they used 3 different alternators!

So I went to the parts store, in my pretty skirt outfit, with my list. I backed in to the parking place, which was right in front of the glass-fronted store, so I wouldn't have to change the alternator with cars & trucks going by. It seemed easiest to just give the counter guy my list. He informed me there was a core charge for the alternator.

So I took my bag of parts, popped the hood, grabbed the big screwdriver, changed out the alternator, and went back inside to get the core charge back. Remember the glass front? The counter guy had seen me, and was still picking his jaw up off the floor! I hadn't even thought about the skirt. I guess he thought I was buying them for whoever was working on my car.

All because one day I was cleaning and oiling my old (1953) sewing machine for the umpteenth time, and had parts strewn everywhere. I took a look at them all and thought, Hey, I could probably learn how to do a tune-up! I never looked back. Not until cars got all computerized, anyway.

[wolfie]

I once spent almost 1/2 an hour trying to convince the guy at the auto parts store that my truck was a straight 6, not a v6, no those are two different things, yes I'm sure my truck is a STRAIGHT 6, no it's not a v6

Was the truck either somewhat older (i.e. before mid-80s) or a medium or heavy duty model? V6 engines became popular when FWD expanded to mid-size cars - easier to design a FWD transverse engine car for a V6 than for a straight 6, so rather than make both kinds of engines, the RWD models (such as pickups) got the V6 engines as well. Medium and heavy duty still use straight 6 (stronger design than V6) - the Ram 2500/3500 with Cummins has a straight 6, and current production big rigs ALL have straight 6 engines.

[Ironclad Alibi]

[Old Gun Trivia]

In the movie The Maltese Falcon, the following happens:

Spade refers to the gun as an automatic, yet he is shown a revolver. The gun shown is a Webley-Fosbery automatic. This was a revolver that used the recoil of the shot to turn the cylinder and re-cock the weapon. It was very well made, but susceptible to dirt and fouling and so, as Spade said, "They don't make 'em anymore". However, it was made in two versions, a six-shot .455 and an eight-shot .38 ACP, so it can't actually be an eight-shot .45 as Spade says it is. (From IMDB.com)

The book has the following:

He took a fat revolver from his coat-pocket and held it out to Spade. Mud inlaid the depressions in the revolver's surface. "A Webley. English, ain't it?"

Spade took his elbow from the fence-post and leaned down to look at the weapon, but he did not touch it. "Yes," he said, "Webley-Fosbery automatic revolver. That's it. Thirty-eight, eight shot. They don't make them any more.

[/Old Gun Trivia]

[AccountingDrone]

Try having had a 1984 Ford Escort DIESEL, which most mechanics and parts people [even at the Ford dealership] don't believe ever existed. One of the best little road trip cars I ever crossed the entire country twice in. 45-52 MPG, and it was a manual. I loved that little maroon thing.

[Shalom]

I had something like this once. Our work van was an early 80s Chevy with the 250cid straight-6 in it. This translated as 4.1 litres, and the parts guy kept trying to tell me it was a V8. I finally asked him if he was looking under Cadillac? (The 1985+ Caddies came with a 4.1 V8) Try under Chevrolet instead. Then he found it.

(And the reverse once: my dad's '81 Olds had a 260 V8, and they couldn't wrap their brains around the existence of a 4.3 V8; it HAD to be a V6, right?)

[wolfie]

A bit off-topic, but still in the "Nope, it ain't so" category, a while back at an auto parts store I saw an exhaust manifold gasket set where the packaging said it was for all Chevy V-8 engines from 396 to 454 cubic inches. Not a Chevy owner, but there are some engines in that range that the gasket set WON'T fit. Let's see who else knows why.

[dalesys]

I remember seeing a classified ad for a stock '7x Pinto sedan with a 427...