Is it safe to fire .38 rounds out of a .357, or will it damage the revolver?

[jmca]

It's an excerpt from a post by The Hobby Gunsmith, farther up the page. It doesn't make sense to me, either.

Without going back up to read his post, I noticed someone went off on a tangent about Rifles. Maybe that is the refence to the bullet not engaging the rifling?

All I know is that unless I need more power, I rarely shoot 357Mag ammo. Hunting and Self-Defense is the only time the "Full Power" stuff gets used!

Sort of like the guy with the 44Mag and shoots 44 Special loads out of it!

Or the 45LC Bear Loads that get loaded only when in Bear country!

 

[dobegrant.45]

Welcome from Arizona

 

[Xrayist]

I bought a very nice 1954 production 3.5" S&W pre 27. The previous owner had shot nothing but 38 special in it, and was not very good at cleaning his guns. I could not get a 357 cartridge to chamber. Scrubbed for about an hour and was not getting much better. Found a neat little tool, sort of a 357 chamber reamer that had a slot in the back for a screwdriver. Put it in each chamber and a few quick turns later crud just fell out of each chamber. No harm to the cylinder whatsoever. Cleaned gun normally afterward and you could never tell there was any issue. No scratches from the reamer at all. 357's dropped in like it was brand new.

 

[the_leper_colony]

Just remember to load them in the right direction:

 

[Rclark]

Not sure about the above post has to do with revolvers ...

You probably don't reload, but I eliminate the .38 Special entirely by just loading 'down' the .357 cartridge to .38 Special power levels and anything in between. No worry on crud rings, etc. I've said it before, you can load from 600fps to 1300+ if you reload in the .357 cartridge... Or .44 Mag.

 

[Laserbait]

• Does shooting .38 harm when shot from a .357? Shooting .38 Special ammunition from a .357 Magnum revolver is perfectly safe. The .357 Magnum revolver is designed to chamber and fire both .357 Magnum and .38 Special cartridges. The .38 Special cartridge is slightly shorter than the .357 Magnum, so it may not engage the rifling as fully as the longer .357 Magnum cartridge. This might affect accuracy to a small degree, but it won't harm the revolver.

Hope this helps.

357 Mag and 38 Special use exactly the same bullet diameters. The length of the cartridge has nothing to do the circumference of the bullet engaging the rifling.

 

[s4s4u]

It's an excerpt from a post by The Hobby Gunsmith, farther up the page. It doesn't make sense to me, either.

Thinking The Hobby Gunsmith missed the "revolver" detail. Everything has a jump to the rifling in a revolver.

As to OP, what I did was flare a 357 case and filed a few "teeth" into the case mouth. I then drilled the primer out and threaded small bolt so I could chuck it in my cordless to use as a scraper to clean up the residue from 38's at the end of the 357 chambers.

 

[CAJUNCHEF]

Thinking The Hobby Gunsmith missed the "revolver" detail. Everything has a jump to the rifling in a revolver.

As to OP, what I did was flare a 357 case and filed a few "teeth" into the case mouth. I then drilled the primer out and threaded small bolt so I could chuck it in my cordless to use as a scraper to clean up the residue from 38's at the end of the 357 chambers.

Good idea I have to try that.

Thanks

 

[the_leper_colony]

Not sure about the above post has to do with revolvers ...

If you're referring to post #25, it's just a little humorous content (& a poke at one of Ruger's competitors), for anyone who might appreciate it - no offense intended!

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Well Guys the top two shooters have had 1000s of 38s shot in SASS. The cartridges were loaded with 125gr LRNFP and 4gr 700X powder So you made me curious about the crud ring. A 357 jacketed round dropped right in the cylinder chambers. One did take a little nudge.
Now I do wipe the gun down with an oily rag after shooting. I clean a little better when the cylinder stops turning.

 

[rotor]

357 Mag and 38 Special use exactly the same bullet diameters. The length of the cartridge has nothing to do the circumference of the bullet engaging the rifling.

I believe the point being made is that a 357 magnum cartridge has a shorter gap before it engages the barrel rifling than a 38 special (which is shorter) but I don't know if it in anyway affects accuracy.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

As posted above, he may have been thinking rifle rather than revolver.

Now you have to remember that I am a SASS shooter so accuracy isn't my thing.
Speed is life But isn't one of the most accurate 38 rounds a hollow base wadcutter that has to go a long way to the barrel????

 

[arfmel]

"Thinking The Hobby Gunsmith missed the "revolver" detail. Everything has a jump to the rifling in a revolver."

"As posted above, he may have been thinking rifle rather than revolver."

I don't think so. If you read what he wrote, it includes the word "revolver" three times.

 

[kmoore]

Welcome Rlvr, I will add this trick, as I had to also clean many, over one hundred 3 times a year. I am talking.38 spl. loaded with lead bullets. The cylinder builds up a ring at some point your eye can see. At some point that ring gets so big a .357 round will not seat in the cylinder until it's removed by cleaning.
My trick: Use a cordless drill, place a short section of cleaning rod in the chuck. Get a .40 cal. cleaning brush attached to the rod, dip that into solvent and push into the cylinder from the rear. Use drill at any speed you want. It's more messy than if done by hand but is much faster. DON"T repeat that in the barrel. Lewis lead remover is safe when used by hand if shooting lead bullets and works great in the barrel.

 

[codebreaker]

Are those Birchwood Casey lead remover cloths bad for bluing or am I making that up? Been a long time and I can't remember.

 

[the_leper_colony]

Are those Birchwood Casey lead remover cloths bad for bluing or am I making that up? Been a long time and I can't remember.

Some lead remover cloths are NOT recommended for blued guns.

 

[varminter22]

Huh?

LOL, I got a kick out of that one also.

Hordes of run and gun match competitors (of all skill levels) shoot .38 Short Colt handloaded ammo in .357 revolvers! (Including me.)

 

[varminter22]

You need to get your terminology correct or don't handle firearms.
Or post online.
Great first post for an apparent clown.
Shaking my head…..

I agree. Terminology is important.

The .357 and the .38 Spec and the .38 Long Colt and the .38 Short Colt all shoot bullets of the SAME diameter!

 

[Sam Summey]

Now you have to remember that I am a SASS shooter so accuracy isn't my thing.
Speed is life But isn't one of the most accurate 38 rounds a hollow base wadcutter that has to go a long way to the barrel????

The whole bullet as you know is completely inserted in the case. The weight is 147 gr so the overall length is at least 1 1/2 the diameter. that said, a lot of the bullet is still in the case when the nose of the bullet reaches the cylinder face or even the barrel rifling lead. Recently a customer had a wadcutter stuck in the rifling lead thus locking the revolver (cal 38 sp) up. Knocking the bullet back into the case surprised me how far I had to knock it back into the case to free up the cylinder.

 

[s4s4u]

"Thinking The Hobby Gunsmith missed the "revolver" detail. Everything has a jump to the rifling in a revolver."

"As posted above, he may have been thinking rifle rather than revolver."

I don't think so. If you read what he wrote, it includes the word "revolver" three times.

Well, so much for coming to the defense. Makes me also go "huh"?