Shooting .38 in a .357?

[MichiganScott]

You forgot to list "I shoot mostly .38 Special velocity handloads in .357 brass".

I primarily shot full bore jacketed .357 handloads when I bought my first revolver in 1974. What I mostly accomplished was to empty my wallet faster and do more harm my hearing sooner, even with muffs.

I eventually decided my skills would progress faster if I shot cheaper ammo that kicked less. Although my .38 Special reloads are very accurate, the reloads in .357 cases are marginally better and cleaning is easier.

 

[Chrisj357]

I shoot very little >38 from my .357's

And I clean them well, there is no discernable ring in the chambers. Todays factory load .357 dont have near the punch they used to so anything less than a magnum load for me is just not fun to shoot. So therefore, I really only shoot .357.

When My wife is out shooting with me, she ONLY shoots .38sp out of her Rossi .357 and when I clean it there is only shiny holes in the cylinder... I sometimes shoot some .357 out of her gun and she has shot .38sp from mine, and neither are any worse for the wear

 

[sps282]

I don't shoot .38's in my .357's because basically I'm lazy and don't like to clean the ring the .38's leave in the cyclinders. I have several .38's & .357's so there is no need to switch cartridges. It is nice to have the option if needed with the .357 but why mess up a good thing!

 

[TrueTexan]

I shoot 38 spl loads using 357 brass saves cleaning and is more accurate

 

[ArchAngelCD]

IMO you should have has at least one more choice. I shoot both .38 Special and .357 Magnum rounds in my M686 but pretty much 50/50, not mostly .38's like the 3rd choice.

 

[Roadtrash]

When I take the 586 out I always start with 38's and after 50 or so I clean the cylinders and barrel and do about 50 357's. I enjoy both through the gun with the 38 being warm up.

 

[Neumann]

I shot mostly .38 SPL in a .357M revolver in my salad days, partly for cost, partly for accuracy punching paper. Forty years later, I have two 686+ revolvers which have never seen a .38 SPL round - all .357M, as hot as I dare load them.

I have 500 .38 SPL cases and 1500 swaged 148 gr wadcutters waiting for their time on the press. I'm not bothered by recoil, but I have two grandsons who needn't be put through shock and awe at this stage in their training. I expect they'll be ready for handguns next Spring, after a steady diet of .22LR and .223 Remington rifles.

 

[alwslate]

I load lots of 38 spl plinking ammo with cast bullets and I like the
fact that I can shoot them in any of my several 38 spl and 357
revolvers.

 

[kdailey]

I shoot .38's mostly, but mix in .357's. I love recoil and go to my N-Frames .44 full house mag. for that. When I yearn for more recoil, I simply take the X Frame 500 440 grn. out for a shoot. That satisfies.

 

[Kouki]

I shoot 38's 90% of the time, mainly for cost.

I do prefer the extra recoil with the 357, but shooting cans, and paper with 357 feels wasteful to me. I love pinging steel with 357 though.

 

[Steve C]

I shoot both .38's and .357 mags from by .357 chambered revolvers, probably 60/40 38's to 357's.Own enough .38's so I never load .38 brass to magnum pressures.

 

[k53]

Well Im not much help, becouse I dont shoot a ton... but I shoot mostly 38. I almost never shoot over 50 rounds at a time, most of my shooting is 22, so I have never had a issue with the carbon ring. Ill shoot around 40-50 38.. then send down range a cyl or two of 357. Im planning on reloading soon, and at that time Ill load the 38s for mild target, and load up the 357 for a nice mid range plinking load. I have a ton of brass for bolth.

 

[Ranger98]

I usually shoot the 38 caliber ammo in my J-Frame model 60-14 at an indoor range where we are not aloud to shoot magnum loads.
But I follow the advice already mentioned here and clean the chambers afterwards so there is no residue build up caused by the shorter round.
On Occasion, I will go to an out door range and shoot the magnum ammo.

 

[silentflyer]

A mix of both...

 

[johngalt]

I load .38 target loads in my .357 brass. Cylinder is MUCH easier to clean afterwards.

 

[PJS50]

However:: After shooting the shorter .38 Special in the .357 cylinder, a ring of fouling will form in the front of the cylinder. When you shoot a .357 Magnum full power load, the brassw will expand into that fouling ring, and make ejection difficult to impossible without a rawhide mallet.

Bottom line: yes you can do it, but keep that .357 cylinder scrubbed clean. As you should do anyway.

Fuego,

I assume you are shooting cast bullets? This residual ring shouldn't be an issue with jacketed projos, correct?
I really haven't reloaded .38 or .357 ammo yet, but .357 brass should help with this issue, no?
I have found the Rig brand Lead Wipe Cloth works great for removing leading issues like you describe, as well as removing the black powder-flash stains from cylinder fronts/forcing cone areas on stainless steel. But, NEVER use that cloth on blued areas, as it will also remove the bluing...

 

[badge 851]

My wife shoots mostly 38 Special in our three 357 Magnum revolvers. I OTOH shoot 357 Magnum in these guns.

 

[mike from st pete]

I have one Magnum and two Special revolvers so the majority of the handloading brass is from the Special side of the fence.
I fire both in the 681 but of course only 38SPL in the 60s.

 

[GLV]

Started doing it

in 1962. No money to buy .357 brass, but lots of .38 brass available, free. Gun was an 8 3/8 " 27--alas sold many years ago.

 

[Nevada Ed]

When I was wet behind the ears,young and did not know any better I shot lots of magnum load out of my mod. 19 6" from
110 to 160 Speer semi-jackets. With all the super fast loads I finally cracked the forcing cone and learned a valuable lesson
on how not to treat a super nice revolver.
Today I shoot factory and my reloads out of a 6" S&W 686 but no more super hot 110Jhp's and I keep the 125's at 1450fps but most are around 1250fps to make this pistol last a lot longer. I would say that 80% of my loads are 38 spl, just because they are easy on the wallet and fun to tinker with but I still enjoy a good "BANG" now and then and some 200 yard shots with iron sights, just for giggles. (not hunting)