After the First World War, it was decided by the British Government that a smaller and lighter .38 calibre (9.2 mm) sidearm firing a long, heavy 200 grain (13 g) soft lead bullet would be preferable to the large Webley service revolvers using the .455 (11.6 mm) round.Stamps, Mark, and Ian Skennerton, .380 Enfield Revolver No. 2, page 9.Smith, W.H.B, 1943 Basic Manual of Military Small Arms (facsimile), page 11. While the .455 had proven to be an effective weapon for stopping enemy soldiers, the recoil of the .455 cartridge complicated marksmanship training.Shore, C. (Capt), With British Snipers to the Reich, Paladin Press (1988), pp. 200-201 The authorities began a search for a double-action revolver with less weight and recoil that could be quickly mastered by a minimally trained soldier,Weeks, John, World War II Small Arms, London: Orbis Publishing Ltd. (1979), p. 76: "the standard pistol training ammunition allocation per soldier was only 12 rounds per year" with a good probability of hitting an enemy with the first shot at extremely close ranges.Shore, C. (Capt), With British Snipers to the Reich, Paladin Press (1988), p. 201 By using a long, heavy, round-nosed lead bullet in a .38 calibre cartridge, it was found that the bullet, being minimally stabilised for its weight and calibre, tended to 'keyhole' or tumble longitudinally when striking an object, theoretically increasing wounding and stopping ability of human targets at short ranges.Shore, (1988) p. 202Barnes, Frank C., Cartridges of the World, 6th ed. DBI Books (1989), p. 239 At the time, the .38 calibre Smith & Wesson cartridge with lead bullet, known as the .38/200, was also a popular cartridge in civilian and police use (in the US, the .38/200 or 380/200 was known as the ".38 Super Police" load).
