38 Special vs 38 S&W
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PuertoRican
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No. A .38 S&W round shouldn't even fit in a Special cylinder. Its fatter.
I have a Taurus small frame revolver sitting on the bench in front of me . Chambered for 38 Special .(model 85) The 38 S&W rounds will chamber and cyl. will go to battery . This type of response is typical . Heard it from someone .Someone else ?
BARTGN, I'm surprised about your Taurus M85; I also have one and a similar Rossi M68?, both blue, 5 shot, 2" revolvers; neither one will chamber 38 S&W. I also have 2 old topbreaks chambered in 38S&W, neither of which will chamber 38 spl because the cylinders are too short.
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The rounds (38S&W)Chamber in 38 SpL. Cyl . What happens if you fire it ? Are you quoting something you heard Puerto Rico?I am looking at the rounds chambered in Cyl. They are not too fat .damienph I know it is a different cartridge altogether . What happens if you fire it . Personal experience please no hearsay .
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You are asking one question and expecting the answer from a different question.
"Can" a .38 S & W round be fired from a .38 Special gun? Well, you have the gun and can certainly try it, but if you have a gun that is chambered for .38 Special and it chambers .38 S & W the cylinder bores may be out of spec, or it may have a .38 S & W cylinder. Does it also chamber .38 Specials?
The real question is "should" you fire .38 S & W in a .38 Special. The answer is no.
"Can" a .38 S & W round be fired from a .38 Special gun? Well, you have the gun and can certainly try it, but if you have a gun that is chambered for .38 Special and it chambers .38 S & W the cylinder bores may be out of spec, or it may have a .38 S & W cylinder. Does it also chamber .38 Specials?
The real question is "should" you fire .38 S & W in a .38 Special. The answer is no.
pilgrim6a
Member
This IS A VERY GOOD QUESTION !
The answer is not as simple as it sounds.
The 'BOOK' says 'NO'.
.38 S&W has a case dia of .380" (from reloading books).
.38 S&W Spl case dia is .379" ( Reloading book)
So I measured some factory ammo.
.38 S&W case dia, .382"
.38 S&W Spl. case dia. .375"
But It gets better! Will it fit?
1948 K38? NO. In fact NO WAY.
1979 10-8? Yes,with a little push.
2010 642-2? NO.
Next question. Can you shoot it if it fits your gun?
The bullet is .003" over size for the .38 Spl. barrel, but it's soft lead and moves slow. It probably won't hurt the gun. THAT"S PROBABLY ! As they say 'Your results may vary'.
Why you would want to only you can answer.
The answer is not as simple as it sounds.
The 'BOOK' says 'NO'.
.38 S&W has a case dia of .380" (from reloading books).
.38 S&W Spl case dia is .379" ( Reloading book)
So I measured some factory ammo.
.38 S&W case dia, .382"
.38 S&W Spl. case dia. .375"
But It gets better! Will it fit?
1948 K38? NO. In fact NO WAY.
1979 10-8? Yes,with a little push.
2010 642-2? NO.
Next question. Can you shoot it if it fits your gun?
The bullet is .003" over size for the .38 Spl. barrel, but it's soft lead and moves slow. It probably won't hurt the gun. THAT"S PROBABLY ! As they say 'Your results may vary'.
Why you would want to only you can answer.
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murphydog
The cyl. will chamber 38 s& w , 38 spl. And believe it or not 357 rounds ,although marked for 38 special . Go figure.... Take that back will chamber 357 but will not go to battery .None of this info is conjecture ,rounds, pistol are in front of me . .
Do you know anyone who has fired a 38s&w rd. in 38 spcl. ?
The cyl. will chamber 38 s& w , 38 spl. And believe it or not 357 rounds ,although marked for 38 special . Go figure.... Take that back will chamber 357 but will not go to battery .None of this info is conjecture ,rounds, pistol are in front of me . .
Do you know anyone who has fired a 38s&w rd. in 38 spcl. ?
hudsonvalley
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Sounds to me like an accident waiting to happen....anyone ever stick their tongue to a frozen metal pole?
To answer pilgrim6a"s Question ; Why you would want to only you can answer . The pistol in question belongs to a widow friend .Her dead husband bought it in early 90"s I believe . She fired it once with God knows what ammo and was completely intimidated .When she brought me the pistol she brought two boxes of ammo .One was 38 spl. one was 38 S&W .The box of 38 spl. ammo had 10 rounds missing the 38 s&w 5 which were in cyl . Started me thinking ,would be much less intimidating rd . That is how this discussion started .
Well, I know that you want personal experience only but... The few thousands of an inch larger shouldn't hurt anything, especially with lead bullets. Typically the problem that people have is when firing 38 spl in a 38 S&W; case tends to swell and sometimes split. That is from personal experience, Years ago, my brother and I shot a box of 38 Long Colts in my Dad's Victory Model. Didn't split any but they did swell. Accuracy was poor, had to have been the gun, couldn't have been our shooting skills.
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No, I don't know anyone who has, because your Taurus is the first .38 Special that I've read that will take .38 S & Ws. Personally, I would not do it, and I would take advantage of the Taurus lifetime warranty and send it back for a proper cylinder. No use in damaging the gun over curiosity and a box of ammo. Good luck.
murphy dog
If I fired it with 38 s&w and it damaged itself would not Taurus repair it ? Aren't you curious ? If and when I fire it ,it will be from a drill press vise with remote trigger pull ,para cord ."I gots to know" Dirty Harry
Ron
If I fired it with 38 s&w and it damaged itself would not Taurus repair it ? Aren't you curious ? If and when I fire it ,it will be from a drill press vise with remote trigger pull ,para cord ."I gots to know" Dirty Harry
Ron
mesinge2
Member
I am far from an expert and it was explained to me by a member here years ago and I saved the response. But as I understand it the .38 S&W has different case shape and slightly larger bullet diameter it is not interchangeable with the later .38 S&W Special. .38 S&W is wider than the short colt which is more similar to the .38 long and special cartridges. While pressures are similar, they are not the same. The short colt was designed for use in converted .36-caliber cap-and-ball (muzzleloading) Colt 1851 Navy Revolvers, which had cylindrical firing chambers of approximately .374 inch diameter, requiring "heel-based" bullets, the exposed portion of which was the same diameter as the cartridge case with the common bullet weight in the 125–135 grains range. It is the parent case for the .38 Long Colt and .38 Special.
The .38 S&W was a different idea which was to use a 200 grain bullet at 600 fts. Furthermore, the diameter of the short colt is too small for .38 S&W guns so the casing will expand too rapidly and because the bullet diameter is smaller (.38 S&W is .361 and the .38 short colt is .357) you will lose accuracy as well. Today it will be harder to find the 200 grain load. But the lighter loaded ammunition is still available.
The .38 S&W was a different idea which was to use a 200 grain bullet at 600 fts. Furthermore, the diameter of the short colt is too small for .38 S&W guns so the casing will expand too rapidly and because the bullet diameter is smaller (.38 S&W is .361 and the .38 short colt is .357) you will lose accuracy as well. Today it will be harder to find the 200 grain load. But the lighter loaded ammunition is still available.
mesinge2
Say what ? Want to fire 38 s&w in 38 spcl. How ,as well as why did short colt get in this coral ? Mind set : CAN'T SHOOT 38 SPECIAL IN IN REVOLVERS CHAMBERED FOR 38S&W .All right already .I know that. Not the bone of contention .
Say what ? Want to fire 38 s&w in 38 spcl. How ,as well as why did short colt get in this coral ? Mind set : CAN'T SHOOT 38 SPECIAL IN IN REVOLVERS CHAMBERED FOR 38S&W .All right already .I know that. Not the bone of contention .
In my own experience (S&W, Charter, and Ruger revolvers)I have found that Remington brand 38 S&W cases will, in fact, fit and fire in my revolvers, but that Winchester and Federal brand 38 S&W cases will not chamber in the 38 Special revolvers. I had alot of Rem 38 S&W shells and no gun chambered for them, so shot them in an old 38 SPL. Fair to good accuracy, easy ejection, and quiet compared to 38 Spl.
