I read several of the prior threads on this subject, i.e. C&H's conversions of .38 S&W Victories to .38 Spl. Most addressed either the sleeving or boring of the chambers to accept the .38 Spl. (I believe my C&H conversion only involved boring the chamber depth and I've been shooting .38 S&W through it.)
There did not appear to be any discussion of any barrel changes.
Was there any change(s) made to the barrels because of the smaller .38 Spl bullets?
The ones that I have owned and seen had the original barrels, usually shortened with a new front sight. I would not expect the difference of about .002" (38 Spl = .357, 38 S&W = .359 per Cartridges of the World) to make much difference with lead bullets.
There has also been some question as to which bore diameter S&W used on the Lend Lease revolvers. I’ve seen bore sizes posted by people who know how to use a caliper and take measurements from a bore with an odd number of land and grooves that suggest S&W used the tooling for 38 Special barrels on Lend Lease revolvers. I know how to use a caliper but get inconsistent results measuring slugs from barrels with an odd number of lands. Personally I believe that from a production standpoint for a wartime contract it makes sense that S&W would have used existing machinery. Some sources list the Webly revolvers as having .358 bores.
There is a way to measure bore diameter from a barrel with an odd number of grooves. It involves measurement of a slug or Cerrosafe casting of the bore using a 60 degree machinist's V-block and some geometry, but I do not remember the details.
I have never had any problem in firing .357-.358 lead bullets in .38 S&W-chambered revolvers, and have reloaded thousands of them. Recovered bullets clearly show the grooves. I have always assumed that the softer lead upsets under pressure enough to fill the grooves.
Cogswell & Harrison Conversions
Linear Mode
