Help Identifying Type 38

[Singer B]

My apologies reference the misunderstanding. I never said "whole" and in California, everything east of Arizona/Nevada is considered central to eastern United States. Texas is a wonderful place and I have done some work with agencies there. They are excellent peace officers but have a different training and certification system there. Just as an additional piece of information, in addition to being the lead sniper, our instructor was also the master armorer for the FBI HDT unit. I tend to listen to people with that level of certification and expertise.

Information

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[Singer B]

Sorry, I meant FBI HNT. Our agency had an HDT so I get them mixed up!

[vintage hunter]

Singer, I'm sure your instructor is/was the best at what he did. Nobodys trying to take anything away from him or you but his toothpaste myth is just that, a myth.
In this modern day and age if there was ever a case of toothpaste damaging a rifle bore you can bet your bottom dollar it would be all over the internet but there's not one iota of evidence to support it.
Thanks to the both of you for your service.

[Singer B]

Singer, I'm sure your instructor is/was the best at what he did. Nobodys trying to take anything away from him or you but his toothpaste myth is just that, a myth.
In this modern day and age if there was ever a case of toothpaste damaging a rifle bore you can bet your bottom dollar it would be all over the internet but there's not one iota of evidence to support it.
Thanks to the both of you for your service.

No problem. Remember, it is the internet, not an expert, and the internet is often incorrect or lacking in knowledge. The great thing about this site and the main reason I use it is that I regularly run into questions that I cannot find on the internet, but is residing in the personal knowledge of someone who has experienced it and is willing to share that knowledge with those who ask. It is not a myth and there is evidence to support it, just not where you are looking or available to you. It was taught in a certified State of California law enforcement training course, utilized personally, and therefore shared for those who may wish to utilize it. You are free to discard it or use it as you please.

[bob q]

I will do a test . I have new barrel sections at my custom rifle shop . I will measure one for land and groove and then scrub it 100 times with crest tooth paste and measure it again . If you are correct I can save a bunch of money by replacing my metal cutting tools with tooth paste .

[Singer B]

Sounds good. You may want to Google "will toothpaste hurt my rifle barrel." I went on the internet and found several articles/discussion threads about the topic. Some said it could definitely be harmful and some said it wouldn't be since the toothpaste of today isn't as abrasive as toothpaste in the past. The results of your test would be pretty cool to see!

[Bruce McAskill]

In the past, tooth paste used to contain pumice. I don't think it does now. The pumice is used more for cleaning teeth today in dentists offices. Tooth pastes are now aimed at making teeth whiter with chemicals.

[bob q]

I used modern Crest white toothpaste on a 12 inch 30 cal barrel section . Cleaned the bore , measured the lands and grooves . Scrubbed the bore 37 times before I got tired and bored . It took 3 patches of Hoppes to get the crest residue out of the barrel . Measured again and there was no change at all in size , shine , or patch resistance down the bore . After cleaning barrels 10's of 1000's of times I have a pretty good feel for a bore . So I do not see how " more than once " would burn out a bore .

[Singer B]

I used modern Crest white toothpaste on a 12 inch 30 cal barrel section . Cleaned the bore , measured the lands and grooves . Scrubbed the bore 37 times before I got tired and bored . It took 3 patches of Hoppes to get the crest residue out of the barrel . Measured again and there was no change at all in size , shine , or patch resistance down the bore . After cleaning barrels 10's of 1000's of times I have a pretty good feel for a bore . So I do not see how " more than once " would burn out a bore .

Sounds good, thanks for doing that. Perhaps Bruce is correct and they are much less abrasive today. Some of the articles I saw on internet said the same thing that Bruce mentioned. I leave it to the individual who may need to do it to determine what is best for their firearm and I would always recommend using a tried and proven product before using something experimental. Thank you for conducting that experiment!

[bob q]

As far as I can tell by just looking it up , major US toothpaste has not used pumice since about the 1930's . So your instructor must have had some really old toothpaste . All of that aside there was never an abrasive used in toothpaste that would cut steel in a few uses or nobody would have any teeth left after a month , let alone 40 years of use .