A question to Ruger 357 owners...

[KimberLover]

For years I have been a 38 super fanatic.
One day I gave some thought to slipping a 38 super into one of my SS S&W 60-14 357's.
Well lo and behold the ejector grabed the 38 super and I was good to go from there.
I shot the 38 super in the S&W and tried it in my S&W 686. So here again the ejector worked well.
Now I'm thinking the 38 super is a little short, but about the same as a wad cutter in length.
I always clean my guns after range time so no problem there.
I've been tempted to try a 38 super in a Ruger 357, but have not had the opportunity.
Heres my question.
Have any of you tried to chamber a 38 super in your Ruger 357?
I have a buddy in a midwestern state that shoots 38 supers in his 357 SS Marlin lever rifle.
It all comes down to the ejector.
Keep in mind the 38 super is 36,000 psi and should not be put into a standard 38.
My reasoning for the effort, 38 supers are about $16/50 vs $24/50 for 357s.

 

[contender]

Welcome from the western part of NC.
I seem to recall some discussion somewhere in the past about this. But, I can't recall it as I disregarded it.
If you are discussing the DA revolvers,,, most of us know the Rugers are a bit "stronger" than the S&W's. So, the strength of the gun shouldn't be an issue.
If the cases seat, and extract,,, and you only used them in 357 marked guns,, neither should the pressures.
But, I would think the accuracy would be a bit of an issue due to bullet diameter. However, Ruger makes & sells a convertible 9mm & 357 SA revolver, and the accuracy is "ok" for the most part with the 9mm cylinder installed. Bullet diameters are .002 or .003 between the two. (Some 357's are either .357 or .358.)
The case rims are .406 for the 38 Super,, vs. .440 for the 357. The 357 uses the rim as the point to hold the case in the chamber,,, whereas the 38 Super headspaces on the case mouth. You do run the risk of having one round slip into a chamber, under the ejector star & becoming an "issue."
All this said,,, my biggest thought is "Why not reload?" That way,,, your costs are MUCH lower & put both on equal ground financially. Most folks I know who shoot 38 Super do reload. If you don't reload,,, find a friend who does and learn, use his equipment, and slowly build your own outfit.
BTW; the cost of 38 Super empty cases is much higher than 38 Spl or 357. Plus they are easier to find.
Just offering my thoughts on it all.

 

[6gun]

Wouldn't even waste my time or money on 38 super just go with the 357mag. learn to reload and the cost difference comes way down, just takes a tiny bit more powder.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

When I compared price they were almost the same. Not worth the trouble to shoot something not designed for a 357mag revolver to save $2 / 50. I guess to do it right you could have the gun modified to work with moon clips.

 

[Rodfac]

Sub-caliber rounds have a long history of use, but usually employing the pistol round inserted in a carrier to be used in a rifle of roughly the same caliber. The .32 ACP with carrier in .30-06 comes to mind as does the advertisement in the back pages of the American Rifleman...and there were others.

But this is the first time I've ever heard of this application, ie. using a .38 super in a .357. In the spirit of experimentation, I tried one of my own hand loads in .38 Super in my NM Blackhawk Flat Top .357. I was unable to get it all the way into the chamber...the same was true in a current production S&W M60. So for me, it's a no-go, at least with handloads.

Searching through my accumulated stray boxes of factory ammunition, however, I found a factory-fresh Winchester Silver-Tip, .38 Super with their 115 gr JHP bullet. That round chambered ok in the Blackhawk, tho it looked like it seated a little deeper than .357 Magnum rounds, due no doubt to that peculiar semi-rim. It fired just fine, with no damage to the case, or signs of over-expansion, and impacted 2" low at 10 yds. This adaptation is not a project I'd pursue, being first and foremost, a handloader, preferring to use my own loads when ever possible. Factory loads are reserved for CCW.

I do wonder what kind of accuracy you'd get with that undersized bullet when fired that far from the cylinder throat. I have used 9mm bullets in a .38 Special using an undersized sizing die to get the case neck tension right. Accuracy was nothing to write home about...3"+ at 25 yds from a rest...not good enough for me.

HTH's Rod

 

[357Nut]

For years I have been a 38 super fanatic.
One day I gave some thought to slipping a 38 super into one of my SS S&W 60-14 357's.
Well lo and behold the ejector grabed the 38 super and I was good to go from there.
I shot the 38 super in the S&W and tried it in my S&W 686. So here again the ejector worked well.
Now I'm thinking the 38 super is a little short, but about the same as a wad cutter in length.
I always clean my guns after range time so no problem there.
I've been tempted to try a 38 super in a Ruger 357, but have not had the opportunity.
Heres my question.
Have any of you tried to chamber a 38 super in your Ruger 357?
I have a buddy in a midwestern state that shoots 38 supers in his 357 SS Marlin lever rifle.
It all comes down to the ejector.
Keep in mind the 38 super is 36,000 psi and should not be put into a standard 38.
My reasoning for the effort, 38 supers are about $16/50 vs $24/50 for 357s.

I tried the Winchester Factory 38 Super loads I had on hand. They would not seat in most of my GP-100s though they did seat in a newer 5" version and four of my older GPs (170 and 171 serial prefix). None of them dropped in and each round required some force to fully seat. The older guns extracted them fine with a bit of tapping on the extractor rod. The newer GPs all seem to slip past the rims.

Only one of four Security Six would take the 38 Super rounds and again they had to be tapped out but the extractor did catch the rims fine.

My Redhawk cylinder was too tight to seat the rounds but the rim grabbed them and pushed them out fine.

Out of curiosity I tried them in several 686s. Only had two 6 shot versions on hand. Only one chamber on one of the 6 shot guns would fully seat a 38 Super round and that required slight force. The other chambers were too tight to fully seat the rounds.

Multiple 7 round 686 guns were tried and only one 5inch version wouldn't fully seat any 38 Super rounds. None of the remaining 686s would fully seat more than two rounds with the exception of a 6inch "Talo DX" model. It easily seated six rounds with little or no force but the seventh chamber wouldn't seat a round more than about halfway.

All 686s seemed to grab the rims fine for extraction.

So out of over a dozen guns of each brand (Ruger and S&W) only a few would seat a full cylinder of rounds and this required some force. They would probably fire fine in those guns but what a pain it would be to extract them. Don't be in a hurry to reload.

Hope this helps.