What do you folks think of this....

38 S&W is uncommon? Damn.

It's from the 1800s and only a few companies make those cartridges these days.

.38 Special, OTOH, is not a wildcat round.

I'm going to assume they're not interchangeable.

They aren't.

My bad, I looked at the ad again, it's 38 Special.

https://www.gunsamerica.com/9982395...40-4-BBl-New-York-Police-Officers-Revolve.htm

I'd change the barrel out.

Fixing it would cost more than a newer (and better) gun.

I wouldn't want anything to do with a gun that had that kind of, er, irregularity in the barrel. Something very bad happened. If it had been a little bit worse, it would've ruptured the barrel. My guess is there was an obstruction (water, mud, snow, an old cleaning patch) in the barrel and someone shot it out. Doubt it was another bullet. That usually causes things to come apart.

Seriously, don't cheap out on a gun for personal defense. Get a rock island 1911 or a used Glock 19 or even a S&W sigma.