38 S&W- .38 Special

[gaucho1]

Gentlemen

Please be patient with me, I have seached a bunch, but I am
unclear about something.

Will a .38 special wadcutter chamber in a 38 S&W cylinder?

Shortened .38 special brass?

I am aware the brass may split when fired.

Thank You for your help.

 

[murphydog]

The .38 Special case is longer and smaller diameter than the .38 S & W, so an unaltered Special round will not seat fully in an unaltered .38 S & W revolver. A shortened Special will chamber but may split as you noted.

Many of the WW II era .38 S & W K frames were modified after the war by reaming the cylinder bores straight so Specials would chamber, but with the same splitting issue. Since .38 S & W is still commercially loaded, if you have a .38 S & W revolver and will not be firing large numbers of rounds, using this is the safest option. Hope this is helpful.

 

[Hobie]

I would get the correct brass... The story has been told before...

 

[gaucho1]

Thank you both for your very clear answers.
Hobie, your site is very well done.
The reason I am asking is a first issue colt police positive is available.
I will pass if I am unable to use .38 special.
It really is extremely cool!

 

[GyMac]

On a side note, I saw a (British) Victory Model .38 S&W some time back that had a second cylinder for .38 special. I really liked the gun and wanted to buy it, but was afraid about what kind of accuracy I might get firing .358 bullets through the .38 S&W bore. Of course, I would have been reloading, but I wanted to stick with the .38 special. What do you think? Should I have bought it?

 

[CTSixshot]

gaucho1:
I'm not sure if you are going to trim the .38 Special brass, but if so, I'm assuming that you reload. .38 S&W or Colt NP brass is not that hard to come by. At worst, order some from Starline, or similar, or keep your eyes open for older boxes of 38 S&W; they seem to pop up often enough in estate collections and such. They might be balloon-head cases, of course.
If you really are having problems finding brass, let me know what you seek and I'll accumulate some over time from a local gunshop and ship it to you at cost (I think there's a small amount of old Peters or REM-UMC ammo down there now).

Good luck.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

AFAIK a Colt Police Positive is chambered in 38 S&W or 32 Colt new Police, a Police Postive Special is chambered in 38 Special.
I have used Speer HBWCs in my Enfield No. 2 Mk I with good results.

 

[gaucho1]

CTSixshot

That is a very kind and generous offer,Thank You.

I really do not want to get into another ammo requirement.

I am trying to stick to .38 special-.357 and .45acp for revolvers.

The police positive I am interested in is indeed 38 S&W.

If I could sneak .38 special wadcutters it would be a go.

Oh well, I will keep looking for that early snub in the right cartridge.

Thank You All for your help and knowledge