Explain to me the difference between .....

[hittman]

.38 S&W and

.38 S&W Special Ctg.

I've bought an older S&W wheel gun that says .38 S&W Special Ctg. on the right side of the barrel. Just wanting to make sure it's okay to shoot "regular" (mild, no +P) .38 Specials through it.

 

[Tellico]

The .38 S&W is an older, less powerful round than the .38 Smith & Wesson Special. It also uses a different case and bullet (.361" for the .38 S&W, .357" for the .38 Smith & Wesson Special.) If your gun is marked 38 S&W Special it should be fine for regular 38 spl loads. If it is in good condition! If you have any doubts about the condition have it looked at by a gunsmith.

 

[mr surveyor]

I had an old military S&W (used by the Brits in WWII), chambered in .38 S&W, that I used for a "field gun" for a couple of years. I called S&W just to get some historical info on the gun, and of all things I got to talk to Roy Jinks himself. He said it was safe to shoot standard "low powered" .38 spl rounds, but not to be too surprised by the occassional split brass.... not unlike shooting 22 lr rounds in your .22 mag Single Six. Shooting .357 dia bullets were obviously not the most accurate, but for my main needs for snake shot it was fine. Also did have a couple of pieces of pretty deformed brass from round nose rounds on occassion.

 

[WESHOOT2]

Uh, perhaps that marking describes the '38 Special' we're all familiar with?

 

[mr surveyor]

he did say "says .38 S&W Special Ctg. on the right side of the barrel", you're most likely correct

 

[DGW1949]

Some old .38 Spl guns pre-date +P ammo. Somewhere along the line, materials and/or heat treating got changed on account of that.

I've seen milsurp revolvers that were rechambered from .38 S&W to .38 S&W Splecial and they always created bulges in the fired cases.

Just sayin', you guys be carefull out there.

DGW

 

[Sugar River]

As noted above, 2 very different rounds. And not safely interchangeable, IMHO.

38 S&W is also known as 38/200, 380 Webley, 380 Rim, 38 Colt New Police, and probably a few I've forgotten.

Confused yet?


Pete