Which 38?

[syh]

I have an old 38 that I got from my grandfather (not as old as the antiques I got from him~) that I'd like to start shooting, but it doesn't have a caliber written on the barrel.

I thought it was a 28 special, but the shells are .258 too long. That puts it right at the length of .38 Super Automatic, but it's a revolver.

Any ideas what it might be?

Also, any guesses as to what year it might be? s/n 229xx.

Thanks ahead of time!


(oh also, can I use reloading equipment for this one, and for 38 special?)

[syh]

Oh, barrel diameter is in the .360 neighborhood.

[chevyiron420]

sounds like a 38S&W

[Ben]

syh :

You give the s/n of the revolver but don't tell us who made the revolver and you want us to tell you how old the revolver is ? ?

You say the " shells " are .258 " too long. Too long for what ?

Have you attempted to chamber a 38 S & W cartridge in your revolver ?

Did you slug your barrel to get the .360 " figure you give ?

Do you mean that a 38 Spec. won't chamber in the cylinder. Where are you getting this .258 figure from ?

[captaint]

syh, If you can drop a .357 case in the cylinder and it goes in about halfway, it's probably a 38 S&W. Is the pistol a Smiff?? Is it a breaktop?? Breadtop actions are inherently weak by todays standards. Good luck Mike

[NickSS]

It probably is a 38 S&W and you can make them from 38 spl but that is a hassle. Brass is available from Starline and Dies from Lee. I have an old colt police positive, an Enfield revolver, and a couple of old Iver Johnson break open revolvers in that caliber. It's not a bad round but in the old Iver Johnson's I shoot either black powder or very reduced loads.

[Leftoverdj]

The cartridge is probably the .38 S&W, but that's no reason to assume the pistol is. Amazing junk in great number was chambered for the .38 S&W. Compared to some of the Belgian and Spanish monstrosities, an Iver Johnson would be pretty good,

[Rockydog]

There is an article in this months Handloader Magazine about the .38 S&W and the .38 Super. Good info. RD

[Bret4207]

Need a lot more info. Could be a 38 Long Colt, a 38 S+W, some old oddball we haven't thought of. What make, model, can you post a picture?

[syh]

Oops! I must have been half asleep when I posted, I left out all the important info.

It's a hammerless breaktop Iver Johnson. 5 round cylinder.

I'm using a micrometer to measure the distance from the face of the cylinder the the inside/top of the rim to get that figure.

I didn't slug the barrel, just eyeballed with a mic.

.38 s&w seems like it would be too short. case length is only .775.

[sheepdog]

sounds like a 38S&W

Yup, that would be about the era those were popular too. 38S&W is .361 rather and .357 so a 38 special with feel slight loose. Slugging would be recommended though. If you try a 38 special in that revolver (if it even fits) it will go off like a grenade. Could be the old brit variant 38/200.

[syh]

yeah, 38 special is loose in the barrel, and is way too long.

Could I shoot 38 s&w even if it seems way too short?

[Ben]

The overall length of the 38 S & W with the factory 200 gr. bullet isn't all that short.

Sounds like 38 S & W is what you've probably got.

Have you tried fitting a 38 S & W loaded factory round in the chambers yet ?

[wiljen]

yeah, 38 special is loose in the barrel, and is way too long.

Could I shoot 38 s&w even if it seems way too short?


I wouldn't shoot anything in it until you are 100% certain of that cartridge belongs in it. Have you considered making a casting of one chamber and then measuring that to see what dimensions you get or is the cylinder bored through? It might have been a 38 S&W that somewhere back along its history Bubba tried to "fix" so it would shoot 38 Specials. Unfortunately, more than one gun has been ruined in attempting to do that. (No offense to anyone's family intended).

[sheepdog]

yeah, 38 special is loose in the barrel, and is way too long.

Could I shoot 38 s&w even if it seems way too short?]

Ok so 38 special is 1.55 in, and too long. A 38 S&W is 1.240 in, and too short (also ruling out 38 shorts and longs). Thats not leaving alot in the contained cartridge era.

Whatever it is you need to get it slugged and measured. Look like any of these?

http://metaldetectingforum.com/catalog/iver-johnson-automatics.jpg

[KCSO]

IF it is an Iver and If it is a 360 barrel it would have to be 38 S and W because they were offered in 32 and 38 S and W, although some of the older ad's will also name 38 Short Colt. The 38 S and W of years ago is a different cat from what comes out today. Today's loads are uniformly too small having a bullet of 357-358 diameter and the original loads were a 360 to 362 bullet. My Ideal tool drops a 362 bullet and sizes it to 360+. The Ivers are not a particularly strong gun and only very light loads should be used. They can be suprisingly accurate. Most of the small springs that WILL break if you use the gun much are either no available or they are repros that will require considerable hand fitting. All in all this is a good one to hang on the wall.

[TAWILDCATT]

a 38 colt would except a 38 spec in diam.its a 38 S&W I have had 100s.I have a H&R.it should take any factory load.they never changed the power.and the bullet should be 158 gr.the 200 was for the british enfield pistol.those guns were well made I have been to the factories/H&R and Iver Johnson.the small police dept used to carry H&R and Ivers.I load 38 S&W.:coffee::rolleyes:

[sheepdog]

Just for clarification a 38S&W is just a longer 38 long colt with smokeless. Same diameter bullet, same rim style.

[Bret4207]

If it's a CF 38 IJ I think we can safely say it's a 38 S+W. I've never seen any IJ's like you describe, and I've seen a bunch, that were anything but 38 S+W or 38 Colt New Police which is the 38 S+W with a flat point bullet.

[syh]

I'll pick up some 38 s&w and see how it fits. The gun looks like the second one on the right in the sears catalog. The hammerless. Thanks for the replies!