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Old 09-16-2010, 02:10 PM
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The 357 Mag is a thinner walled case than the 38 super. The magnum has an average OD of .379" and an ID of .358". The rim is .060" thick and .440" wide.

The Super is also a straight walled case with an OD of .384" and an ID of .384". The semi rim is .050" thick and just .406" in diameter.

The bullet is .003" smaller in OD in the Super than it is in the Magnum.
The Super is also much shorter.

So - this all tells me that with a larger OD of .005" some .357 Mags might not even chamber the slightly larger Super.

If you do chamber it, the rim thickness will allow the primer to be .010" farther away from the firing pin. The rim is also .034" smaller in diameter (.017" on each side of center)

So those are the differences in dimentions ... the .357 Magnum has a maximum chamber pressure of 44,000 psi .vs only 36,500 psi for the 38 Super. So - a firearm designed for the magnum, should easily handle the lighter 38 Super.

There - now that is all out of the way .... Conventional wisdom says that you should only ever shoot ammunition that is specifically designed for that firearm. There are some exceptions; shooting 38 Special from a .357 Magnum is fine, as is 44 Special from a 44 Magnum, and there may be others. But it is pretty common in the firearms world to accept that shooting ammo other than that is designed for the firearm can lead to unexpected consequences.

Were it me, I think that I would just go out and buy a 38 Super (now that I have all the ammo) ......... Barring that, I would just sell the 38 super ammo and buy some .38 Special, or some .357 Magnum ammo.
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