Quote:
Originally Posted by bmcgilvray
I think it's laughable that the .38 Special (1899) is supposedly held back "because there's millions" of old .38 Special revolvers out there, while the 9mm Luger (1902) gets a pass with all the supposedly latest expanding bullet technology and +P and +P+ loadings, though there are also millions of old 9mm automatics out there, some of quite poor design strength and durability.
Nobody's concerned that any current 9mm Luger ammunition might be fired in any 9mm pistol design, materials, and degree of workmanship fielded in the last 121 years.
Why is that?
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I'll explain why:
There's a difference between the 9x19 and 38 Special.
The Special was designed as a revolver cartridge, and as a black powder cartridge.
Revolvers don't need any special level of pressure to operate them.
Black powder cartridges create far less pressure than smokeless.
These two factors make the 38 much different. 9mm guns were designed from day 1 to operate right at 100% of the cartridge's potential (with smokeless powder!). Since 9mm was introduced in semi-autos, they HAVE to in order to operate the gun. The 9mm is a result of newfangled smokeless powders, allowing high pressures to be developed in tiny cases that work in newfangled semi-autos in the very early 1900s.
The 38 Special was designed to operate at black powder pressures, which equate to about 50% of its potential with smokeless! That giant case was needed to pack in as much black as they could.
The 38 Special in terms of POTENTIAL with modern smokeless propellant, is in a different league than 9mm. Just look at the two side by side. The 38 has far more powder capacity.
The reason they are perceived differently is what I said...the 38 was born in a different era (black powder) and didn't need to run at high pressure to operate the gun.
The "modern" version of the 38 special is the 357 Magnum. It changed shape and name just a little so that it would not be chambered in the old guns designed for BP pressures, but with smokeless powders and a strong gun, there isn't much difference between them. Think 308 Winchester vs. 30-06.
But this why no one is concerned about 9mm ammo firing in old guns. It's because 1902 9mm and 2023 9mm are very close to the same in terms of peak pressure. Every 9mm gun was designed to handle it.
1899 38 Special and 2023 38 Special are VERY DIFFERENT in terms of what you COULD do if you wanted.