38's in 357= chamber damage?

[castalott]

Hi All!

I have read that shooting 38s in a 357 chamber will eventually cause damage or erosion in the chamber. Anyone know for sure?

[45 2.1]

Hi All!

I have read that shooting 38s in a 357 chamber will eventually cause damage or erosion in the chamber. Anyone know for sure?

Clean the chamber and don't worry about it. I wore a Python down to a rattle trap years ago and never had problems with the chambers with loads of 38 specials being fired.

[GooseGestapo]

If it does, then all my .357's are TOAST.

That said, one has shot a National Record, and still continues to do so with .38spl loads.

You can develope some leading that makes it hard to chamber .357 ammo, but this is easily removed with a "CHAMBER" brush, which are nominally larger than a bore brush.

Just be sure to use a good solvent as well.

It is possible with enough rounds fired to get a light ring of erosion in the chamber, but this will not affect the accuracy or function with .357 ammo, as the case will cover this area.

Just another "old wives" tale.

[NickSS]

I have fired thousands of 38s in a 357 with no ill effect. In fact in my Marlin I have used 38 long colts so that it will hold more rounds when I use it for rabbit hunting. My marlin holds 9 357s, 10 38spl and 11 38 colt cartridges. When the action is fast and close the extra round or two make a difference at times.

[KCSO]

I have a Rossi Carbine in 357 that has shot probably 25 thousand rounds of 38 special. It was our familys main fun gun for years. It was cleaned after each use and is in as good a shape today as it was when new. When I was on the PD we shot 10,000 rounds a year in 18 guns all 38's in a 357 with no ill effect in the guns that were cleaned. Occasional I would have to ream the cylinders on a gun that was left uncleaned and leaded, but some folks won't do a lick of work even when their life depends on it. Clean your gun and don't worry.

[keeper89]

KCSO has it all in a nutshell--clean your gun and motor on.....[smilie=1:

[David R]

I just bought a 38.

David

[J Miller]

castalott




I have read that shooting 38s in a 357 chamber will eventually cause damage or erosion in the chamber. Anyone know for sure?

For sure there won't be any damage. Just a bit more work in cleaning the fouling out of the forward part of the chambers.

Quality guns made for the .357 Mag cartridge have always been made from high strength steel. Much more durable than the older alloys used in the .38 Specials and other low pressure cartridges.
Erosion of the chamber will be non existant.

I have a 1959 vintage S&W Mdl 28 that had so many .38s put through it that when I got it .357 mag cartridges could not be chambered. It looked like the cylinder was chambered for .38s. It took me many hours of cleaning to remove all the fouling. You can still see the difference in the chambers from the polishing effect the shorter cases had made, even AFTER I've put almost 8K .357 rounds through it. Yet it doesn't have any measureable wear or any erosion at all.

Go shoot all the .38s you want, just don't forget to clean the fouling out of the chambers.

Joe

[Baldy]

My 30yr old Python hasn't got the message yet I guess. I have shot thousands of .38s & .357s in it and its still shooting good. Smooth as silk trigger and accuate as can be.