Spooky said:Garabaldi said:Thanks.
Do police use these bullets or civilians?
Both... that cartridge should be post 1930s to about 1970s (not EXACT, I would have to look it up, or maybe somebody else can chime in)
It was the #1 Police caliber from about 1920 til the 1980s when Autos starting becoming standard.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.38_Special
It's pretty common for civilians and a lot of PDs still use it in some form as a back up revolver cartridge.

Interesting I found a 1899 Barber Dime right next to it.DigginThePast said:UMC has been in business nearly 140 years.
The .38 special was developed by Smith & Wesson and introduced in 1899. The round was first developed for the Army and in the 20's gained wide use in police departments. The round was popular with many departments into the 90's.
As Spooky said, yours is probably about fifty years old but there is no way to tell for sure other than perhaps other finds at your site helping to date it.
I also thought that was cool that the dime was minted the same year.DigginThePast said:Really cool, dime minted the same year that caliber was introduced. It could be older than we first thought, but doubtful that it is older than 20's or 30's though.