I spoke with a guy that said he never shoots .38 Specials in his .357 magnum Smith and Wesson because he was told that the .38's aren't good for the gun. He said the gun is about 15-20 years old and it is a large frame Smith revolver. He said he can shoot .38's in it but he was told that the .38's are a different diameter and there may be other differences. Sounds like someone is misinformed to me? How many years have Smith revolvers been designed to shoot .38's and .357 magnums? About 40 years?...more? I know he is wrong, but I have never heard this, so is it a common mistake or something someone thought up on their own?

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I spoke with a guy that said he never shoots .38 Specials in his .357 magnum Smith and Wesson because he was told that the .38's aren't good for the gun. He said the gun is about 15-20 years old and it is a large frame Smith revolver. He said he can shoot .38's in it but he was told that the .38's are a different diameter and there may be other differences. Sounds like someone is misinformed to me? How many years have Smith revolvers been designed to shoot .38's and .357 magnums? About 40 years?...more? I know he is wrong, but I have never heard this, so is it a common mistake or something someone thought up on their own?

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All guns made for a .357 have always been able to shoot .38's safely. Just clean the cylinder well afterward.

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ASA/NSA 67-71
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The only difference between the two is case length, overall cartridge length, and maximum chamber pressures… well, and of course bullet velocity. Since the 38 was originally developed as a (bulky) black powder cartridge and later made the transition to smokeless powders (much more volume efficient) there is a lot of unused space in a .38 special case. So, the added length of a .357 isn’t needed for case capacity and is only there as a safety measure. When the .357 magnum was first produced they lengthened the case by 1/8” to prevent it from being able to be chambered and fired in older, weaker .38 special guns.

The only harm in firing .38 special rounds from a .357 magnum is due to this difference in case length. Since the .38 is shorter it will cause a build up of fouling at the forward end of the chambers which will make it difficult or impossible to chamber .357, depending on how much fouling builds up. The confusion of your friend probably stems from this issue and has probably just gotten blown out of proportion at some point as it traveled ear to ear through people that weren’t that knowledgeable about it. This fouling is relatively easy to remove by simply cleaning the chambers and causes no permanent harm.

I would venture to say that most .357 revolvers see far more .38 special fired from them than .357. I know mine do, always have, and always will.

Pilgrim is absolutely right, but I just couldn't resist. "How many years have Smith revolvers been designed to shoot .38's and .357 magnums?" Since 1935, the year the .357 was introduced. It is nothing more than the .38 S&W Special with the case lengthened .135" and loaded to nearly 4 times the pressure with a Semi-wadcutter gas-checked bullet (original loads).

Yes, you are correct in assuming your acquaintance is mis-informed. The only problem is shooting a lot of .38s without cleaning the charge holes. A ring of fouling forms at the case mouth which can be hard and high enough to make loading the longer .357 cases difficult and frequently causing extraction problems if you are successful in loading them into the gun.

Cleaning is best done while the gun is still warm from shooting. When cold the fouling ring sets up like concrete and is just about as hard to remove. The best thing is to carry a cleaning rod and a .375 (not .38/357) rifle brush. Every 3-4 cylinders just take a few strokes in each charge hole and you should have no problem at all. It's amazing how many problems with guns, particularly handguns, can be avoided/fixed by the simple act of cleaning the thing once in a while.

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Gunsmithing since 1961

if a man doesn't know how to clean his weapon well maybe he shouldn't shoot .whenI hear this stuff I just smile and keep sending 148 gr w/c's down range with a smile and I am sure I have ruined my 14 in the process

I own at least (5) 357 revolvers currently and I have never fired a 357 through any of them. And never will.

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[QUOTE]Originally posted by chrislind2:
He said he can shoot .38's in it but he was told that the .38's are a different diameter and there may be other differences. QUOTE]

Someone he was listening to was confused between 38 S&W Special and 38 S&W.

Lead bullets of course are most prone to fouling build-up; mostly from accumulated lubricant, in my experience.

Alk8944 is quite right in that if not removed, this crud will eventually make it difficult or impossible to load with full length .357's. I would add that it may also be dangerous: the obstruction may possibly raise chamber pressures too high.

Sacrilege!

Every revolver owner needs to shoot some .357 Magnums at least once in a while.

I never think about problems that could arise when a weapon is not cleaned properly. When I got my first .22 rifle at 14 I knew how to clean it and purchased a cleaning kit before I ever fired it. Over the years I am sure I have become better at cleaning a gun. I have never once put a gun away dirty. Kind of like putting a good horse away without brushing him down, its abuse! When I go to shoot, the day includes the time it takes to clean any and all weapons that are fired, even one round through a weapon will require it to be cleaned.
I will fire a .357 though my S$W M&P at some point, but I have not yet. I think I will buy a better cleaning brush for the M&P to make sure I scrub out all that residue. My brush is almost worn out.
I will tell my friend that he can fire the .38 Specials without any concern and add that regardless of what he shoots through it he should always thoroughly clean it after.

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Methinks he possibly has the .38S&W confused with the .38 Special. The .38S&W does indeed fire a larger caliber bullet than a .38Spl/.357Mag, which is theoretically dangerous.

OTOH (1) a .38S&W cartridge won't chamber in a properly manufactured .357Mag gun due to the larger case diameter, and (2) a "full-power" .38S&W is only slightly stouter than a .38Spl "mouse phart" target load, so it's hard to imagine a .38S&W blowing up anything chambered in .357Mag, esp. because the .38S&W is usually loaded with soft lead bullets.

Thank you for that, I will offer my friend that info.

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I shoot mostly lead reloads, it doesn’t take long for the build up of lead and lube mentioned to happen if I mix .38/.357 brass. I had it happen yesterday in my 640 after about 50 rounds of .38, I couldn’t get a .357 in one chamber To avoid the problem I usually use .357 brass all of the time, even with lower velocity target loads, but I had some old commercial .38 stuff to shoot.

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Ipsis Rebus Dictantitbus

I have a Model 640 and a Colt Peacekeeper in 357 Magnum and I shoot 38 cal all the time.The only thing you need to remember is to clean you firearm well paying careful attention to the cylinders.The 38 cal is about a tenth of a inch shorter and there is a tendency for lead to deposit in the extra cylinder space.I bought the 357 because you can shoot any variety 0f 38 cal ammo to your hearts content without having to worry about hurting your gun + you get 2 for the price of 1...God Bless.....Mike

I shoot mostly 38 in my 686 but I always clean my guns after every shoot.

No problems when I want to shoot some 357.

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Mike
686 no dash

All 357 magnums will safely shoot 38 specials. I thought everyone knew this. In these strange days we live in it seems a whole generation of people have never shot, much less actually learned, on revolvers.

It fine to shoot a 38 in a 357, just like a 44 in a 44 mag. I like a gun that I can pick the ammo for.