"I don't understand your question. A .38 semi-automatic pistol as opposed to a .38 revolver. Some refer to the semi-auto as self-loading, is that the source of your confusion?"
He is indirectly pointing to the questionable identity of a >38 semi-auto. I have never seen one myself. .380 are common but a 38 caliber?
They aren't made any more, but there are quite a few Colt 1911 pistols chambered for the .38 Super cartridge still in use. The .38 Super was developed from loading the old .38 Colt Auto cartridge to much higher pressure in the late 1920s, and it's a pretty hot round that's ballistically just below the .357 mag class in power.
I once had a model 1902 .38 Colt Auto caliber pistol that was known as the slide rule pistol because of the way John Browning designed the locking mechanism. It was in near perfect condition and I sold it cheap to get cash for another gun I had my eye on, and then I later discovered that it was a valuable collector's item that I could have sold to a serious Colt collector for enough money to buy a half dozen of the guns I was interested in. Story of my life, a day late and a dollar short.