shoot 38 s in 38 s&w
- Thread starter ivan
- Start date
Register to hide this ad
Babalooie
US Veteran
Does the barrel say .38 Special? If not, you probably can't.
cgt4570
Member
First off, welcome to the forum!
Do a search on this forum. There are tons of threads concerning this subject.
Many of the .38 S&W British WW2 purchase or lend-lease revolvers had their chambers reamed out to accept .38 Spl cartridges when they were re-imported into the US years ago in order to make them more marketable.
Two problems here:
1.) The case diameter of a .38 S&W is larger than that of a .38 Spl so the .38 Spl brass will expand and deform in the sloppy chamber when fired. You will probably see balloon'd cases, and possible case head separations.
2.) .38 Spl bore diameter is .357 and .38 S&W bore is .360. Shooting undersized bullets is not dangerous, but unless they are very soft lead, accuracy will probably be attroceous. Expect lots of key-holing and flyers.
The good news is that for all of these that were poorly converted, I haven't heard of a single one turning itself into a hand grenade!
If its chamber wasn't lengthened, then the answer is "NO". You cannot shoot .38 Spl rounds in a .38 S&W cylinder. They are too long and will hit the shoulder inside. You won't be able to close the cylinder.
Hope this helps,
Chris
Do a search on this forum. There are tons of threads concerning this subject.
Many of the .38 S&W British WW2 purchase or lend-lease revolvers had their chambers reamed out to accept .38 Spl cartridges when they were re-imported into the US years ago in order to make them more marketable.
Two problems here:
1.) The case diameter of a .38 S&W is larger than that of a .38 Spl so the .38 Spl brass will expand and deform in the sloppy chamber when fired. You will probably see balloon'd cases, and possible case head separations.
2.) .38 Spl bore diameter is .357 and .38 S&W bore is .360. Shooting undersized bullets is not dangerous, but unless they are very soft lead, accuracy will probably be attroceous. Expect lots of key-holing and flyers.
The good news is that for all of these that were poorly converted, I haven't heard of a single one turning itself into a hand grenade!
If its chamber wasn't lengthened, then the answer is "NO". You cannot shoot .38 Spl rounds in a .38 S&W cylinder. They are too long and will hit the shoulder inside. You won't be able to close the cylinder.
Hope this helps,
Chris
