Shooting 38 special cartridges in 357 magnum revolver

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oldcrab

Bearcat
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Nov 23, 2022
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Mukilteo, WA
I have seen two "positions" on the internet, as it relates to firing 38 special cartridges in 357 mag chambers:

- No problems at all, as long as you clean the revolver well and keep the additional carbon ring scrubbed out.

- No safety problems, but you can cause some cylinder wall etching if firing lots of 38 special cartridges that can cause some binding problems on 357 mag cartridges.

So, what is the "truth" here???

Crab
 
Joined
Apr 2, 2014
Messages
3,201
I have a Security Six that I bought new over 40 years ago. It's had many thousands of rounds of 38 special fired in it and as long as I
clean it before switching to .357 I've never had a problem and the cylinder bores still look good.
One of those things that.... could... happen with enough rounds, but I'll never worry about or even think about it.
 

noahmercy

Blackhawk
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Jun 13, 2015
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Sheridan, WY
Chamber cavitation (a slight enlargement of the chamber immediately in front of the case mouth) CAN happen, and that may result in difficult extraction when shooting the longer cases. I have an old Remington rifle that was my great grandfather's; it is chambered in 22LR, but he shot it exclusively with 22 Shorts. It will chamber and fire Long Rifles just fine, but will not extract them, as the fired case bulges into the slight groove eroded into the chamber where the mouth of the 22 Shorts sat. The cases have to be driven out with a cleaning rod. 22 Shorts function fine.

Usually it occurs with older firearms, or those containing substandard metallurgy, but can affect modern steels with extensive use of high-pressure rounds featuring light bullets. So if one were to shoot thousands of 38 +P 110 grain loads, it is possible one could see cavitation even in a quality domestic 357. Not saying it is probable, just possible. My own GP100 has probably over 100,000 38 Specials through it, and no issues, but they have been target loads with 148-160 grain cast bullets.
 
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So, what is the "truth" here???

Crab

My truth is,

- No problems at all, as long as you clean the revolver well and keep the additional carbon ring scrubbed out.

I've shot revolvers all my life, often switching back and forth with magnums and Specials, even during the same outing. I clean my guns when i get home, and I've never encountered a downside.
 

Paul B

Hunter
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Dec 4, 1999
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Tucson, AZ
I came to the point where all I shoot in my .357 magnum is .357 magnum ammo with the proper brass. If I want to shoot really hot .38 Spl. ammo, I shoot them in an S&W 38/44 Outdoorsman which is a .38 Spl. gun on a 44 frame. Most of the time though my .38 Spl. shooting is with my home cast wadcutters and W231 or a gas checked 158 gr. semi-wadcutter and Unique. My handguns are always cleaned after a day of shooting.
Paul B.
 

dannyd

Buckeye
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Aug 10, 2016
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1,984
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Florida
Well for me (Being a Knuckle Dragger) is just go shoot;

This week only 400 rounds; 300 in 357 magnum cases and 100 in 38 cases. I only clean my revolvers when the spirit moves me. But unless your going to shoot more 38's or 357's than I do I would not worry about the Ring.

(disclaimer all my rounds are mouse fart just for Paper out to 50 yards)

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DutchV

Bearcat
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Apr 8, 2022
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21050
I had a Rossi lever action that had a bunch of .38 Special shot in it before I bought it. No, I didn't clean it before I shot it - completely my fault. The ring of crud made a .357 case stick hard, then ejection ripped the case in half. Had to pour Cerrosafe in the chamber to get the broken piece out.

In a revolver, you'd feel that a .357 case was hard to load, but in a lever action, it wasn't noticeable at all.
 

jgt

Buckeye
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coleman texas
As with anything else, there is no hard fast rule about shooting 38 specials in a 357 chamber. What I consider is the time frame the gun was manufactured. Heat treating of cylinders didn't start for some until 1935. Then there is the type steel the cylinder is made of. Next, how hot is the round being fired. And then what type of powder is being loaded.
Hi velocity loads using ball powders seem to be more likely to cause the erosion of the chamber at the case mouth area in guns that are vulnerable to this condition occurring. Guns like Ruger are made of steel that is reported to be hard as woodpecker lips so I would think they are less apt to this type damage than say an early Smith & Wesson hand ejector. There were many others like Colt and clones that could also likely suffer damage from this practice. But there is no set, chiseled in stone answer to that question.
 
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no it has never been an issue with me and all the 38s I have shot in all my 357 mag guns,,,,a little trick we were taught many years ago,,,simply keep a couple of "empty" 357 mag cases that came out of YOUR gun, and after shooting .38s , simply run one of the 'empty' 357 mag cases in and out of the chambers and it scapes off most , if not all of any residue in the last, front end portion of the chamber it self,,,and then later when you clean the gun use the brass brush for a 38/357 in the chambers/bore, its NOT 'rocket science'...........:cool::rolleyes:;)
 

contender

Ruger Guru
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My first centerfire handgun I got for myself was a Ruger Blackhawk in .357 mag. That was in the mid 1970's. Being on a budget,, I snagged all the brass I could find,, and .38 spl was PLENTIFUL! So, I loaded & shot a lot of it. And I mean a lot of it.
I've had some ammo over the decades that leaded badly,, causing more than normal cleaning. But I've never, in about 47-48 years,, with a good variety of .357's, had any damage caused by .38's in a .357 mag gun.

To address the info you've found from the internet "experts" out there.

There are people who've abused firearms in many ways. As noted above,, lots & lots of excessively hot ammo in a .38 Spl case,, when fired in a .357 MIGHT cause chamber erosion a little. And as noted above,, it MIGHT be the type of firearm metal that experiences fatigue vs a properly heat treated quality metal. But in all my decades,, & hundreds & hundreds of .357's I've handled or shot,, I've never seen the type of damage you mention.

If the desire to shoot "hot" .38 spl ammo exists,, then do as noted above. Load the hotter stuff in .357 cases.

Now,, if you buy a Freedom Arms revolver in .454 Casull, they do not recommend you shoot .45 Colt ammo in THEIR guns,, even though others do it in different brands of firearms. FA recommends a separate cylinder for any of their guns to shoot different ammo. Why? They cut their chambers to very close tolerances, and they know that even with the top quality metal,, no EROSION will occur,, BUT,, they do know that carbon build-up can cause sticky cases or failure to load a longer case. I own a .454 Casull FA myself. And because of THEIR recommendation, I load any milder charges in .454 cases just to follow their recommendations. NOT because I'm worried about any damages.

In short, load .38's in your .357 & just clean it afterwards.
 

dhains1963

Single-Sixer
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Dec 24, 2022
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I bought a 357 magnum because I wanted to shoot 357 magnum ammo and ccw with it. I practice with a half and half mix of standard 38 special 158 grain and 158 grain 357 magnum ammo at the range. Never considered using +p 38 special ammo. The 140 grain barnes vortex 357 have better ballistics than their 38 +p counterparts.
 
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