Good evening all. I'm new to this site and thought it would be a good forum to ask a question regarding one of my new firearms. I just picked up a new S&W .38 Ultralight Bodyguard tonight. I noticed while shopping online for ammuninition that there is the option of .38 Special and .38 S&W. What is .38 S&W and how much does it differ from .38 Special ammo?
38 Ultralight ammo
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BlackTalonJHP
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I'm too tired to type, so here it is from Wikipedia for you.
"The .38 S&W is a revolver cartridge developed by Smith & Wesson in 1877. Though similar in name, it is not interchangeable with the later .38 Smith and Wesson Special due to a different case shape and slightly larger bullet diameter."
"The .38 S&W is a revolver cartridge developed by Smith & Wesson in 1877. Though similar in name, it is not interchangeable with the later .38 Smith and Wesson Special due to a different case shape and slightly larger bullet diameter."
rburg
Member
Yep. The 38 S&W is a different bore size, too. Its normally stated as .360 instead of the .357-8 that the 38 Special is accepted as being. There are some guns that are sloppy enough to allow the larger size ammo to chamber and fire. Probably won't hurt the gun once or twice, but unwise.
The 38 S&W is what we normally consider a low performance round. Its most recent major use was by the British during WWII. Our country produced millions of guns for them (they didn't believe in firearms, apparently until they needed them).
The best advice is to just ignore the round and buy 38 S&W Special.
The 38 S&W is what we normally consider a low performance round. Its most recent major use was by the British during WWII. Our country produced millions of guns for them (they didn't believe in firearms, apparently until they needed them).
The best advice is to just ignore the round and buy 38 S&W Special.
Alnamvet68
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....and a picture always helps...
If that is the old ultra-light Bodyguard..................
you should only use the standard 38 Special ammo in it as it was not designed for +p back in those days , since it had not been invented yet.
The cylinders were not heat treated and the weight of that revolver does much better with the low pressure 38 spl loadings.
Great gun,by the way.......enjoy.
you should only use the standard 38 Special ammo in it as it was not designed for +p back in those days , since it had not been invented yet.
The cylinders were not heat treated and the weight of that revolver does much better with the low pressure 38 spl loadings.
Great gun,by the way.......enjoy.
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