True stories - this is a little long but it leads up to the question:
Story the 1st -
It's very early in 1980. I'm a new Texan, I've settled in, and it's time to buy my first revolver (I'd say "handgun" but I had two little .25 ACP pistols already). I venture into the only store I actually know at the time, Oshman's in Highland Park Village. A nice, older gentlemen (older at the time; now, probably he would be a peer!) assisted me and I wound up buying a lovely 4" Model 19 (I daresay it was under $200 at the time but I could be wrong). Armed with very little knowledge about certain aspects of shooting, and calibers, at the time, I asked the salesman for just a box of .38s, not .357s. I take my prize home, totally delighted.
That evening, because I'm sure I didn't wait for the weekend, I tried to load the revolver. The ammunition does NOT fit - it's too large for the chamber. I am thoroughly confused but, okay, maybe I'm an idiot, so in the next day or two I meander back over to Oshman's (it was very easy to get to because back then I drove by Oshman's daily [I guess Beretta is in that space now, or close to it]) with the box of cartridges and I tell the salesman my problem. He looks at the box and mutters, "That's .38 Smith & Wesson; I don't know what I was thinking", he takes the box, and hands me a box of .38 Special, and I learn a valuable lesson about calibers, yes? [I recall the conversation and what he said like it was yesterday; same for the next one.]
Okay, end story 1.
Story the 2nd -
It's a few years later, not too many, I have learned some things but I'm no genius in re calibers, and I have also learned how to shop at real gun stores, not just sporting goods stores. I drive across town to a store I heard about to see if I can buy a magazine for my Remington Model 788 rifle, a .308 that I've had for some time and I'd like a second magazine. The nice person behind the counter who helped me was the owner and is a friend of mine presently. I can still picture the store as it was configured back then. Anyway, I told him what I wanted and he said he had one for me and we do this deal and then - here's where I'm fuzzy - I either asked him right there or called him after I got home, to inquire: "The magazine says .243, not .308." He advises, "Don't worry about it, it will work fine, it's the same size ammunition" or words very similar to that (I'm not as clear on the words as I am from Story 1) and, again, I learn a valuable lesson about calibers, yes? The magazine does function perfectly in the Model 788 and I still have it.
Okay, end story 2.
Commence the really fun part.
Story the 3rd -
Last Saturday, in a discussion with this same gentleman at the gun store, albeit several decades later, I tell him that I recently acquired a Smith & Wesson Model 32-1, a cute little J-frame in .38 S&W. Meanwhile, he did me a favor and checked my recently acquired Model 12 to ensure that I didn't crack it. Having accomplished that, and before I left, I told him that I shot that 32-1 using some cowboy action loads that I had in .38 Short Colt, not .38 Smith & Wesson. Then I said I better buy some .38 S&W if he had it, he says he has two boxes left, wadcutters, I'm good with that, and that's what I bought and brought home, in old boxes originally marked $5.97 from some long closed store somewhere, which we discussed for a moment. I did ask if they'd work for self defense if I chose to carry the little 32-1 and Ron says "They'll put a hole in someone", I laugh, end of story.....almost.
So, I bring the ammo home, toss it in my guest room where I keep ammunition, and I don't think about it again until a few days later, when I decide to play with some toys, ammunition, etc. I pick up the "new" .38 caliber ammunition and, obviously for the first time, I focus on the box. Hello? It says .38 Special. I laugh out loud! Okay, these tiny wadcutter rounds DO look a lot like tiny .38 S&W rounds. But, seriously, I ask myself, nearly three and a half decades and LOTS OF KNOWLEDGE later and I did it again, only in reverse? Really made me laugh.
So, y'all enjoy these stories, and then riddle me this - because here's the rest of the story, and my questions:
I went back to the store, we swapped the .38 Special wadcutters for .38 S&W LRN rounds and I remarked about them not fitting into cylinders, telling the shop owner the story above, again. He says, "The bullets are the same size". I shot back, "No, aren't, .38 Smith & Wessons true .38s, point three eighths of an inch, whereas .38 Special are point three five sevenths of an inch, like .357 Magnum? He says no and he's going to show me with calipers. I am with friends so I take out the loaded .38 Special J-frame I am carrying, unload it, and try to get a .38 S&W round into the cylinder. POOF - it goes in easily, with maybe just a touch of a shove. He measures the bullet at its base with the calipers and it's more like .342 and not .38 and he tells me if I couldn't get the .38 S&W rounds into my Model 19 the crimps were thick or the brass was thick or something. He even tells me they'd work if I fired the gun with them in there.
Question for you re-loaders and bullet experts - What's the deal here with bullet size? Why was I so very wrong for thirty plus years?
What are the bullet sizes in re ".38" caliber handguns, and the rest of the common calibers, like .44s, .45s (I know they're not true to those numbers), .380s/9mms, etc. Avoid a rifle discussion please - that's a whole different subject. I added the rifle magazine story just for fun.
I gotta know!!!!
Thanks.
***GRJ***
Story the 1st -
It's very early in 1980. I'm a new Texan, I've settled in, and it's time to buy my first revolver (I'd say "handgun" but I had two little .25 ACP pistols already). I venture into the only store I actually know at the time, Oshman's in Highland Park Village. A nice, older gentlemen (older at the time; now, probably he would be a peer!) assisted me and I wound up buying a lovely 4" Model 19 (I daresay it was under $200 at the time but I could be wrong). Armed with very little knowledge about certain aspects of shooting, and calibers, at the time, I asked the salesman for just a box of .38s, not .357s. I take my prize home, totally delighted.
That evening, because I'm sure I didn't wait for the weekend, I tried to load the revolver. The ammunition does NOT fit - it's too large for the chamber. I am thoroughly confused but, okay, maybe I'm an idiot, so in the next day or two I meander back over to Oshman's (it was very easy to get to because back then I drove by Oshman's daily [I guess Beretta is in that space now, or close to it]) with the box of cartridges and I tell the salesman my problem. He looks at the box and mutters, "That's .38 Smith & Wesson; I don't know what I was thinking", he takes the box, and hands me a box of .38 Special, and I learn a valuable lesson about calibers, yes? [I recall the conversation and what he said like it was yesterday; same for the next one.]
Okay, end story 1.
Story the 2nd -
It's a few years later, not too many, I have learned some things but I'm no genius in re calibers, and I have also learned how to shop at real gun stores, not just sporting goods stores. I drive across town to a store I heard about to see if I can buy a magazine for my Remington Model 788 rifle, a .308 that I've had for some time and I'd like a second magazine. The nice person behind the counter who helped me was the owner and is a friend of mine presently. I can still picture the store as it was configured back then. Anyway, I told him what I wanted and he said he had one for me and we do this deal and then - here's where I'm fuzzy - I either asked him right there or called him after I got home, to inquire: "The magazine says .243, not .308." He advises, "Don't worry about it, it will work fine, it's the same size ammunition" or words very similar to that (I'm not as clear on the words as I am from Story 1) and, again, I learn a valuable lesson about calibers, yes? The magazine does function perfectly in the Model 788 and I still have it.
Okay, end story 2.
Commence the really fun part.
Story the 3rd -
Last Saturday, in a discussion with this same gentleman at the gun store, albeit several decades later, I tell him that I recently acquired a Smith & Wesson Model 32-1, a cute little J-frame in .38 S&W. Meanwhile, he did me a favor and checked my recently acquired Model 12 to ensure that I didn't crack it. Having accomplished that, and before I left, I told him that I shot that 32-1 using some cowboy action loads that I had in .38 Short Colt, not .38 Smith & Wesson. Then I said I better buy some .38 S&W if he had it, he says he has two boxes left, wadcutters, I'm good with that, and that's what I bought and brought home, in old boxes originally marked $5.97 from some long closed store somewhere, which we discussed for a moment. I did ask if they'd work for self defense if I chose to carry the little 32-1 and Ron says "They'll put a hole in someone", I laugh, end of story.....almost.
So, I bring the ammo home, toss it in my guest room where I keep ammunition, and I don't think about it again until a few days later, when I decide to play with some toys, ammunition, etc. I pick up the "new" .38 caliber ammunition and, obviously for the first time, I focus on the box. Hello? It says .38 Special. I laugh out loud! Okay, these tiny wadcutter rounds DO look a lot like tiny .38 S&W rounds. But, seriously, I ask myself, nearly three and a half decades and LOTS OF KNOWLEDGE later and I did it again, only in reverse? Really made me laugh.
So, y'all enjoy these stories, and then riddle me this - because here's the rest of the story, and my questions:
I went back to the store, we swapped the .38 Special wadcutters for .38 S&W LRN rounds and I remarked about them not fitting into cylinders, telling the shop owner the story above, again. He says, "The bullets are the same size". I shot back, "No, aren't, .38 Smith & Wessons true .38s, point three eighths of an inch, whereas .38 Special are point three five sevenths of an inch, like .357 Magnum? He says no and he's going to show me with calipers. I am with friends so I take out the loaded .38 Special J-frame I am carrying, unload it, and try to get a .38 S&W round into the cylinder. POOF - it goes in easily, with maybe just a touch of a shove. He measures the bullet at its base with the calipers and it's more like .342 and not .38 and he tells me if I couldn't get the .38 S&W rounds into my Model 19 the crimps were thick or the brass was thick or something. He even tells me they'd work if I fired the gun with them in there.
Question for you re-loaders and bullet experts - What's the deal here with bullet size? Why was I so very wrong for thirty plus years?
What are the bullet sizes in re ".38" caliber handguns, and the rest of the common calibers, like .44s, .45s (I know they're not true to those numbers), .380s/9mms, etc. Avoid a rifle discussion please - that's a whole different subject. I added the rifle magazine story just for fun.
I gotta know!!!!
Thanks.
***GRJ***
