Should 38 S&W ammo fit into a 38 Special/ 357 mag cylinder?
Went shooting today and went to load up some 38 S&W and it wouldn’t fit....
PPU ammo with a 145 g LRN bullet...


Let me hear from you

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/.38_S%26W

38 S&W is shorter and fatter than 38 S&W Special (just about everyone just calls it 38 Special). They are NOT interchangeable. A 38 S&W will not fit in the hole of a 38 Special, and a 38 Special is too long for the cylinder of a 38 S&W. - via a quick internet search.

no

38S&W is a .360 bullet and 38spl 357 is a .357 barrel

there is also a 38 colt long and 38 colt short they are .357 and could be fired in a 38spl or 357 however the real danger is firing 38spl or 357mag in the 38 colt long as it has a cylinder with no throat so the longer too powerful cartirdges fit .

Great rule to follow is The 'head stamp' on the cartridge matches what is stamped on the barrel.


(Got a whole bunch of 'dumb arse' stories that are too long to type here.) SMH !



Charlie

I have shot plenty of 38’s in my 1969 Model 19 K Frame .357. What am I missing here ?

38 s&w round is shorter and fatter than a 38 special round.

there are smith and wesson handguns chambered in 38special and 357 mags

there are also a glut of H&R and iver johnson and several other makes of pistols as well as old s&W pistols chambered in the 1877 cartridge 38 s&w there was also a 38 s&W long and short they were actually black powder cartridges

38 S&W https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.38_S%26W

38 colt long 1899 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.38_Long_Colt

38 S&W special aka 38 special aka 38spl https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.38_Special

with the current ammo situation , people see the obscure 38 S&W as the only thing on the shelf and think hey maybe that would work in my 38 spl handgun but it is .360 and not the .357 projectile of the 38 special.

you would not belive the number of people who get to the gun store and say they need X by giving you a number and have no idea there are several versions


guy walks in hey my buddy said pick him up some 270 ok 270win , 270 win short mag or 270 wheatherby magnum

you can probably assume 270 win since he is a WI deer hunter however ammo is not returnable so go get your buddy to check the barrel of his gun


oh and yes you can have a 270 winchester chambered Weatherby rifle to confuse it even more.

Yep thanks guys...bought a milk carton of ammo and these were part of the package. Should know better.

This ^^^ is why I don't send my wife to buy ammo for me. She's not dumb, just different in her areas of expertise... And it's why I don't buy kitchen stuff for her. If she asked me to buy her a mandolin she would get a small gutar-like instrument from me... Not a vegetable slicer.

Mike

I learned from this too. I may not ever apply it, but at least I know. I consider myself fairly around about rifles. But basically stick to what I know where pistols are concerned.

Never hurts to ask... Somebody else might learn something too.

Mike