Hey all,

I found this old box of ammo...
Remington Kleanbore, 38 special, Police Service, 158 Grain metal point Bullet.

I know this ammo is old. but i was wondering if i can use them on my S&W revolvers.

I have 2 S&W revolvers.

One is a 5 round 38 special revolver, its small and silver. on the gun itself says "Made in USA, marcas registradas, Smith & Wesson, springfield, Mass"

The other is a 6 Round 38 special revolver, its bigger than the silver one and this one is black. on the gun itself says "Smith & Wesson, .38, .767, 3 1/2 tons"

Now my question is can i use the ammo on these 2 revolvers?

i know the ammo has a harder punch on them. i can feel the recoil when i shoot the ammo.

Will the ammo expedite the wear and tear on my revolvers?

Thanks for all your help in advanced.

Welcome to the forum.

First the ammo.
Most Remington ammo has/had a part number assigned to each load and the ones right before the war, and some during, had an R before the number. If I remember correctly, the box you refer to has no number on it but it should be a WWII-era box.
A 1938 Remington ammo publication has that load traveling at 870 fps, the same as the other 2 lead bullets in that size (158gr). So, while recoil might seem to be more than other loads you have shot, it should be on a par with 158 grain loads from that era. The metal point bullet back then was most likely just a copper coating as it is round-nosed and not metal piercing.

Second, your guns.
The first sounds like a J frame chambered in .38 special and this ammo should be OK in it.
The second gun sounds like a war time British gun chambered in .38 S&W (not Special) and the ammo should not be shot in it as it is a different round altogether.

Good luck.
Ed

If you can, show a picture of the box- which can help us identify which ones exactly they are.

__________________
Lost it all in a boat accident

The Remington .38 Special Metal Point actually does have a gilding metal nosecap (jacket) over the point of the roundnose bullet. The bearing surface is lubricated lead just like a LRN. This is, as noted, a different round from the .38 Special Metal Piercing.
Hope this helps.

Larry

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the fast response. Below i uploaded a picture of the box of ammo and the two different S&W guns.

Once again thanks for the advice.

Attached Images

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	DSCN0789.jpg (66.0 KB, 252 views)
	DSCN0791.jpg (61.7 KB, 259 views)

That ammunition is not very common, however it is not really collectible, especially if the box ends are missing.

Perhaps if someone is looking for it to "fill" a collection or something...

Just good old ammunition that will likely hit as hard today as it did when made.

__________________
Lost it all in a boat accident

If you look closely, there appears to be at least 3 different shells in the box. Two with the metal coating (1-brass, 1-nickel) and one with a semi-jacketed soft point.
None of my Remington ammo guides include the part number for the rounds but the postwar Police Metal Point has the same velocity as the pre-war, 870fps.
Ed

Good catch! There may even be reloads in there. I would not sweat any factory ammo in the Chief, but you can never really be sure about reloads. Any cartridge with a bullet or case that doesn't match the majority, which is fairly obviously factory ammo (I don't think that a lot of folks used metal-cased bullets for reloads), is simply not worth, in nickels, dimes or quarters, risking your revolver. As already suggested, I would make some effort to find out the proper cartridge for your M&P before putting anything into it.

I was just watching some old TV show from the '50s called "Highway Patrol" this morning and in one scene an actor pulled a box of those out of the glove box of a car. I rewound and paused so I could read the box.

Chris

On the right hand side of the barrel of the larger (generally called the Victory model) revolver is the caliber the weapon is chambered for. I expect yours will show ".38 S&W ctg". This is the .38 S&W cartridge,which is not the same as .38 Special, which will be marked to indicate ".38 S&W Special" or possibly ".38 Special".

It isn't terribly unusual for those Victory models to have been rechambered to .38 Special, I know of one done by one of the premier gunsmiths in London after the war, and so stamped. This isn't too bright, it reduces the collector value. If your revolver has been converted, I'd stick to standard pressure loads for it.

Would be a shame to plink away that classic ammo. Set it on a shelf.

If the side of the barrel doesn't say .38 SW SPECIAL and it only says .38 SW, but a .38 special cartridge will still fully insert into the cylinder then I wouldn't shoot it at all. The .38 SW is a larger diameter cartridge than the special. The special may split and rupture in the cylinder venting gas. I have seen a picture of one that split the cylinder but I don't know what ammo caused this. If it is still uncut and won't allow a special to chamber then you can still find .38 SW ammo for it, keep it as a collector, or sell it off. I'm not sure what the market is in uncut collector value but I know cut modified guns are unsafe and undesirable to a collector. Worst of all, it isn't going to be cost effective to try and find a replacement cylinder and have it fitted to your gun by a professional gunsmith. I find it sad that so many of these have been butchered. I have yet to ever see one for sale at a gun show that hasn't been cut. If you see one for just a couple of hundred bucks on the price tag... It's likely it has been cut...

Also, swing open the cylinders and see what is stamped inside the frame. Your smaller silver gun should be stamped Model 60 I'm guessing. Not sure what the stamp would be on the other. That looks like a pretty clean 60. If I saw one for sale for a decent price I would snap it up. I find those to be highly desirable guns. The original wood stocks look to be in good condition as well. OK, I admit it, I'm a little green with envy on that one...

If you want to avoid wear and tear on any gun, avoid +P rated ammo and with your current guns I would try to stick with lead bullet ammo and avoid copper jacketed ammo. Copper isn't going to wear it out any time soon, and it would take buckets for it to happen... BUT... I'm not even sure if lead bullets will even wear out a barrel. You have a nice start to a great collection. Hope you get the S&W disease like many of us here. It's the only disease I would ever wish on anyone!!!!

On the .38/200 revolver, go to Gunboards.com and scroll 'WAY down to the British Gun Pub topic. Ask in there for value of the gun. Collectors of UK and Commonwealth surplus may pay more for these guns than shooters will.
(Assuming that they weren't converted to .38 Special.)

The .38 Special is a better cartridge, but that is an unwise conversion.

When I was sworn in as a reserve officer in 1978, I was issued 18 rounds of the metal point ammo, but they were Winchester brand.