Just bought Hammerless top break pistol. Serial number 25912. Told me it shot 38 shorts. Is it 38 shorts or 38 Smith and Wesson. Want to make sure I get the right ammo.

Most likely .38 S&W NOT S&W Special.

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Old paratrooper in NC

Welcome to the Forum. You have a 38 Safety Hammerless, 2nd Model, shipped in the late 1880s. It is a 38 S&W cartridge and is available from most ammo manufacturers. S&W never manufactured a revolver for the 38 Short cartridge.

Thanks, now I know what to buy

The .38 Short Colt and the .38 S&W appear nearly identical, the main difference being that the cartridge and bullet diameter is slightly less for the former vs. the latter. One can actually fire .38 Short Colt in a .38 S&W chamber. I have done it. Not a recommended practice, but possible to do. You are much more likely to find .38 S&W ammunition than .38 Short Colt (which is still available, and has a certain following for use in .38 Special revolvers in ICORE revolver matches)

Just to make this as confusing as possible, European manufacturers of .38 S&W ammunition often label it .38 Corto, or "short."

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David Wilson

Other designations for the .38 S&W are .38 Corto, S&W .38 Kurz, .380 British MkII , and .38 Colt New Police. Aside from the British military cartridges (.380 Mk II), virtually all ammunition manufacturers worldwide place an S&W or S W on headstamps and box labels, i.e. .38 Corto S&W. Strangely I have seen one European .38 S&W cartridge headstamped as 38 Special. Go figure.

In addition the 9mm federal rimmed will usually fit the chamber, though it is a modern 9mm cartridge loaded to modern pressure. It would probably destroy a nice old gun, though if you happen to come upon some brass I hear it can be reloaded correctly, though i never tried it myself.. The cartridge is rather rare though, even less common than the correct one.

Correct. I have heard that there was one incident in which a 9mm Federal round was fired in an old .38 S&W, doing some serious damage. Beyond that, I have no details. But 9mm Federal was very short lived in the marketplace. I ran across 3 boxes of it at a gun show about a year ago, seller was asking $100/box. I almost bought it. Dimensionally, I don't know how the 9mm Federal compares to .38 S&W. But I'd guess it is much closer to the .38 Short Colt. The 9mm was a stupid idea on someone's part. I don't remember for sure, but I think the only revolver ever chambered in 9mm Federal was a Charter Arms. There was talk of a Ruger revolver in 9mm Federal also, but I do not think that ever came to pass.