38 spl & .357

[beng]

I know it can be done, but firing a 38 spl (158 lswc) in a S&W 66, (.357) "Will it harm the barrel or chamber in any way due to the boolits being set back into the chamber? I have a TC (.410 & 45 colt) and the 45 is about 4" from the barrel and I do not see any harm. I was told, "It will work, but don't do it, it could harm your chamber." Thanks beng

[mehavey]

It's fine. In fact most run-of-the-mill fun shooting w/ the 357 uses 38 Special.

That said, clean the carbon ring out that can form (after a lot of shooting) just ahead of the shorter Special case in the cylinder.
If allowed to grossly build up, that carbon ring can interfere when trying to seat the longer 357 case later on.
Brush and solvent does the job w/o anything else special.

No big deal.

[1bluehorse]

I used to reload a lot of 38spl for my wife to shoot in her 357's for practise but decided that it was just as easy to load 357 cases to the same level and got better accuracy and a lot easier cleaning. Gave all the 38 cases to a friend of mine who had a 38.

[runfiverun]

my dan wesson is more accurate with 38 cases in it's 357 chambers.
you are talkng about .10 inch.
i'd bet a lot of rifles case mouths are that far away from the end of the chamber.

[Wally]

I obtained a threaded fixture that I can chuck on my drill--I then screw on an old .38 Cal brush coated with 0000 steel wool or you can use Chore Boy----you spin in each chamber---cleans all the gunk out in seconds. It will not harm the chambers. I do the same thing with the .44SPL/MAG... My Ruger Superblackhawk has a most unusual affinity for accuracy when shooting .44 SPLs in it.

The brush and solvent works, but it is tedious & messy...

[Jal5]

I would think some folks have done 1000's of 38 spl in the M66, I know i have shot a bunch of them without any harm. Truth be told I would rather shoot them than the 357s!

[1bluehorse]

my dan wesson is more accurate with 38 cases in it's 357 chambers.
you are talkng about .10 inch.
i'd bet a lot of rifles case mouths are that far away from the end of the chamber.

So what seems to offend you so much, that my wifes guns are more accurate with 357's than 38s, or that your Dan Wesson isn't. That .10th is about the same difference in a 44 colt and 44 spl, and my 44spl. didn't shoot the colts well either. It also wasn't a Dan Wesson....

[Recluse]

I would think some folks have done 1000's of 38 spl in the M66, I know i have shot a bunch of them without any harm. Truth be told I would rather shoot them than the 357s!

That would be me. I rarely fire magnums in my K-frames as I rarely keep them loaded with magnums. I've got L-frames for that.

The .38 Special is, for me, the most enjoyable centerfire round to shoot, period, and definitely for my wife.

:coffee:

[Recluse]

So what seems to offend you so much, that my wifes guns are more accurate with 357's than 38s, or that your Dan Wesson isn't. That .10th is about the same difference in a 44 colt and 44 spl, and my 44spl. didn't shoot the colts well either. It also wasn't a Dan Wesson....

I didn't see anything in Lamar's post where he seemed offended, just rather a comparitive statement of his own experiences with his own gun. . .

Had a Super Blackhawk that seemed to favor Specials over Magnums, while one of my shooting buddy's Redhawk was just the opposite.

:coffee:

[Char-Gar]

I know it can be done, but firing a 38 spl (158 lswc) in a S&W 66, (.357) "Will it harm the barrel or chamber in any way due to the boolits being set back into the chamber? I have a TC (.410 & 45 colt) and the 45 is about 4" from the barrel and I do not see any harm. I was told, "It will work, but don't do it, it could harm your chamber." Thanks beng


Here is a popular thread turned into a "sticky" that is posted above yours. It speaks to your issue.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=156622

[williamwaco]

Old wives tale.

I have been firing thousands of .38s in my .357 Smiths for almost 60 years. It will cause only one small problem. You will get a ring of powder fouling just in front of the .38 special case mouth. This is a build up not a wear down and causes NO harm to the cylinder.

Note that this is normal fouling and cleans out easily with a brass brush. You do clean regularly i am sure.

Incidentally, this fouling is MUCH less than the fouling caused by .22LR cartridges in a .22 LR revolver.


.


.

[MikeS]

If you shoot even just one 38 Special in a 357 Magnum it will destroy them. No amount of cleaning can help. The best thing is to dispose of them properly. Properly would be sending it to me of course!:bigsmyl2:

Now anyone that truly believes that shooting 38's in 357's is bad, probably should get rid of them, as well as all other firearms. The rest of us will thank you! It really is amazing how this wives tale has survived this long.

[trapper9260]

You just need to clean the cylinder and you good to go and for those that one shoot better then the orther adjust you powder load and then you will get what you looking for .I do it all the time and not only on my 357 with 38 but also I do it with my 327 to shoot all the orthers that I shoot in that ,and that is 32 S&W ,32 S&W Long and 32 H&R Mag and then 327 all in the same gun.like what was said that too many think that you can not shoot the lower cal when they are just a little shorter then the bigger one .That why we reload beside save money .But you make it work .

[runfiverun]

i could care less what your gun likes.
i was tellin you that it don't matter and the 38 in a 357 chamber ain't no big deal.
i guess i could have went on and on about my levergun not shooting 38's worth beans.
or my rossi revolver likes 357 brass better too.
or how my 445 super mag will shoot 44 mag and 44 special roundswith excellent [for me] accuracy.
i was however pointing out that much higher intensity rounds are fired with cases just as short as the 38 is in a 357 chamber.
i don't ever hear how thier 300 win mag is all ruined by the shorter brass.
but i probably would if more people measured the most critical measurement in thier rifle.

[Seth_AZ]

It's certainly a preference thing. I tried shooting a bunch of .38 SPL cases in my S&W 586 a bunch of years back, but I wanted to shoot .357 rounds during the same outing, without having to deal with the powder ring. The times I tried this it didn't take really that many .38 case shots before I had trouble loading .357s. I decided that it wasn't worth the hassle, and I dumped all my .38 SPL brass (wasn't a huge amount) and haven't loaded .38s since.

Is my way the One and Only True Way? No, of course not. With my shooting habits, I prefer not to mix .38s and my .357. Your mileage may vary.

[Char-Gar]

It's certainly a preference thing. I tried shooting a bunch of .38 SPL cases in my S&W 586 a bunch of years back, but I wanted to shoot .357 rounds during the same outing, without having to deal with the powder ring. The times I tried this it didn't take really that many .38 case shots before I had trouble loading .357s. I decided that it wasn't worth the hassle, and I dumped all my .38 SPL brass (wasn't a huge amount) and haven't loaded .38s since.

Is my way the One and Only True Way? No, of course not. With my shooting habits, I prefer not to mix .38s and my .357. Your mileage may vary.

You could just hunt up some of that sooper dooper clean burning powder that everyseems to be looking for these days..or..you could just clean you pistol ever time you shoot it. I do the latter.

[FLINTNFIRE]

It to me is one of the best reasons to buy a 357 or 44 mag so i can shoot the shorter ones also, and I shoot mostly 38 for practice , cheaper and easy to clean the fouling out and still shoot 357 , I would like some of that super clean burning powder , but I also clean my pistol every time , never think I am going to wear my 357 out from 38 specials , enjoy whatever one you like

[1bluehorse]

I keep reading this "cheaper to shoot 38s'", I don't get it...what do you load, 4gr. unique in 38spl and 5gr in the 357mag brass for about the same end result??? wheres the big savings. 38 brass is cheaper?? Not if you already have 357 brass, then the 38 brass is "extra cost". Oh well, matters not a bit to me, was just much simpler for me to handle the one size brass. (accuracy notwithstanding) As a matter of fact I just got rid of my 44spl, so will have some brass to move. I don't shoot that in my 44mag either. If I don't want full house 44mag (which I don't) I reduce load the mag brass. Lasts longer that way also...YMMV...[smilie=p:

[Recluse]

I keep reading this "cheaper to shoot 38s'", I don't get it...what do you load, 4gr. unique in 38spl and 5gr in the 357mag brass for about the same end result??? wheres the big savings. 38 brass is cheaper?? Not if you already have 357 brass, then the 38 brass is "extra cost". Oh well, matters not a bit to me, was just much simpler for me to handle the one size brass. (accuracy notwithstanding) As a matter of fact I just got rid of my 44spl, so will have some brass to move. I don't shoot that in my 44mag either. If I don't want full house 44mag (which I don't) I reduce load the mag brass. Lasts longer that way also...YMMV...[smilie=p:

If you're looking to dump some .44 Special brass. . . let me know. Shootin' you a PM as I type.

:coffee:

[jdgabbard]

I shoot literally hundreds of .38spl rounds through my 357 during each trip to the range. Then turn around and fire about a box of magnum loads. Its part of my practice. I start out with a 22 target pistol. Warm up with about 1-200 of those. Then move to the 38spl loads. After 150-200 of those, I move to the magnum loads. And shoot around 50-100 of them. By the time I'm done, my S&W 65 looks like it has be dunked in hot charcoal colored wax. But it cleans up just fine, and I have had no problems with it thus far. I probably have 20K+ 38spl rounds through it, and probably 8K 357mag rounds through it. Its still in great shape minus a little bit of beating on the cylinder. Oh by the way, I bought it used. Its a late 80s, early 90s gun. I bought it in 2004.

[357shooter]

The 357 brass is more accurate in my revolvers, and Rossi lever action too. Since it's easier to just have one size of brass (no sorting etc) and more accurate with 357 brass, that's all I use.

They download nicely to 38 spl loads so there is no cost increase, unless I choose to load magnum rounds.

[Raygun]

Do what works for you. The great thing about the 357 is it's versatility. I load it down more than up.

If it were not for the ability to shoot 38 special ( or load down the 357 ) in the 357 magnum revolver, I would not have much use for the 357 magnum cartridge in a revolver. Sure you can load a 357 down to 38 special loads and that is a good thing. You can also load 38 special up to near 357's hottest loads and that is a good thing.

Let me explain my position on the 357 revolver....I love it. But in all my years of shooting, I have not had that many occasions or need for full house 357 loads.
On the other hand the 38 special has served me well in many situations from informal target shooting to small game hunting. I sometimes carry 38 specials in my CC revolver's due to short barrel's or a situation where I wouldn't want over penetration and fast follow up shots are more desirable.

There is a very legimate need for the power of the 357 in a revolver and I am confident it is one of the best ever defense revolver/pistol cartridges. It has served well in hadgun hunting on larger game and is just awesome in a carbine.

If I could only have one or the other , I would choose the 38 special for my do what I need cartridge in a revolver. The good thing is, I don't have to choose and that gives me such a great range fo versatility in 357 handguns and carbines. How fun is that!

The 38/357 gives me great pleasure in handloading . They are the most handloader friendly ( 38 special..."the handloaders cartridge" ) and versatility cartridges I can think of. I like to shoot'em too!

[Char-Gar]

Here is the bottom line on this subject...at least for me...it is the bottom line.

1. Shooting the shorter Special case in the longer Magnum charge hole will present no safety or other issues as long as you clean the cylinder on a regular basis.

2. If you took a couple of dozen 357 magnum handguns and fired them from a rest of some kind, you would find out that the average of the groups would be a smidge larger with the Special cases. But in that same test, you would find some handguns that turned in accuracy as good or better with the Special cases as they did with the longer Magnum cases.

I once had a Moran tuned Python that would shoot smaller groups with the Special cases. But that hangun would shoot just about any good load with either case like a house-a-fire.

So, this back and forth about which case is better and produces better accuracy is really meaningless. It all depends on the individual handgun, load and shooter.

One of the major benefits of owning a 357 Magnum handgun, is it's ability to use 38 Specials.

[Raygun]

Here is the bottom line on this subject...at least for me...it is the bottom line.

1. Shooting the shorter Special case in the longer Magnum charge hole will present no safety or other issues as long as you clean the cylinder on a regular basis.

2. If you took a couple of dozen 357 magnum handguns and fired them from a rest of some kind, you would find out that the average of the groups would be a smidge larger with the Special cases. But in that same test, you would find some handguns that turned in accuracy as good or better with the Special cases as they did with the longer Magnum cases.

I once had a Moran tuned Python that would shoot smaller groups with the Special cases. But that hangun would shoot just about any good load with either case like a house-a-fire.

So, this back and forth about which case is better and produces better accuracy is really meaningless. It all depends on the individual handgun, load and shooter.

One of the major benefits of owning a 357 Magnum handgun, is it's ability to use 38 Specials.



You speak truth! The 357 magnum revolver is so versatile and given that the 38 special and 357 cartridge are also so versatile, it's a moot point to argue which cartridge is best in a 357 revolver.

I've never had a problem with shooting quality 38 special's in a 357 revolver.