.38 special used on .357 magnum gun?

[Guest TargetShooter84]

I just recently purchased a Ruger SP101 .357 magnum and I was told that I could use .38 special with the gun also too?

This true?

I looked in the manual for a few minutes (I need to sit down and read through it all sometime) and saw that it will take .38 special along with .357 magnum too.

Just wanting to make sure before I buy .38 special....

Thanks

[gsbell]

Yes it is true

[nightrunner]

yes, it works on ALL .357 magnum revolvers.

[Guest TargetShooter84]

Sweet, I just wanted to double check to be sure before I shell out for .38 special if I see any in stock.

Kinda new to the revolvers since I've owned semi-autos for a long time.

[Guest fourspdRAT]

So which bullets aren't true to size to their name? I've always wondered why .38s can be fed through a .357 barrel.

[Garufa]

The 38 Special uses a .357 diameter bullet. The 357 Magnum was invented by enlongating the 38 Special case to hold more powder.

[Guest DeadEye]

Just never fire a .357 bullet in a .38 Gun!

[nightrunner]

Just never fire a .357 bullet in a .38 Gun!

a .357caliber bullet in a .38spl gun is just fine. but i wouldnt try firing a .357mag cartridge in a .38special gun, even though it wouldnt fit anyways.

[Guest goomba]

.357 magnum is a .38 on steroids!

[Garufa]

.357 magnum is a .38 on steroids!

The same could be said of the 38 spl. Everyone knows how roids shrink things.

[Guest DeadEye]

a .357caliber bullet in a .38spl gun is just fine. but i wouldnt try firing a .357mag cartridge in a .38special gun, even though it wouldnt fit anyways.

Bubba has been known to work Wonders!

[Oh Shoot]

I just recently purchased a Ruger SP101 .357 magnum and I was told that I could use .38 special with the gun also too? ...

Noticed quite a few at the show today, most all under $500, so not bad pricing at all.

Didja get hammer version or the DAO?

Btw, if you shoot a bunch of .38 through it you might find .357 hard to chamber or eject until you clean cylinder, as might have shorter powder residue rings in the cylinder left from the .38. Probably take more than 50 to do it, though, just depends on the ammo type.

Good score...

- OS

[Guest TargetShooter84]

Noticed quite a few at the show today, most all under $500, so not bad pricing at all.

Didja get hammer version or the DAO?

Btw, if you shoot a bunch of .38 through it you might find .357 hard to chamber or eject until you clean cylinder, as might have shorter powder residue rings in the cylinder left from the .38. Probably take more than 50 to do it, though, just depends on the ammo type.

Good score...

- OS

I did see a couple that was well over $550 and said no way, and saw few under $500 and I remembered you people talking about how good T&T was so I checked there and there they had one in stock so I bought it from there since it was pretty much the same price as in other booths.

I bought the hammered version. Thought about the DAO but went with the hammer version for few reasons.

[Oh Shoot]

I did see a couple that was well over $550 and said no way, and saw few under $500 and I remembered you people talking about how good T&T was so I checked there and there they had one in stock so I bought it from there since it was pretty much the same price as in other booths.

I bought the hammered version. Thought about the DAO but went with the hammer version for few reasons.

Yeah, all in all, I kinda wish I had, too.

Bought the DAO to carry, but wound up not carrying it, and somewhat miss the single action option when I shoot it at range.

Sorry didn't get to meet ya, today.

Guess we oughtta make a TGO flag or something next show.

- OS

[DWARREN123]

357 mag is a longer, more powerful round of the same diameter. You can use 38 spl in a 357 mag but not 357 mag in a 38 spl.

Try it and see if it works for you, sometimes they do not have as much accuracy because of the longer bullet jump.

[krunchnik]

I recently picked up a Taurus M627 Tracker in .357 Mag,38 special shoots absolutely great in this piece,puts them all in the 3 inch black circle at 30 foot.Its a lot friendlier to fire 38's and a lot cheaper also.pistol ran right at $500.00 new with 4 inch ported barrel,and Yes the porting does make an incredible difference.

[Currently]

I have shot well over 20k target rounds of .38 special in my security-six Ruger.

It is very enjoyable to shoot and putting a couple of hundred rounds through it in an afternoon became a habit.

My uncle used to cast bullets and for several years, he used to give me a 5 gallon bucket that was about half full of cast and swaged semi-wadcutters with a copper gas check on the base for X-mas. He'd put a layer all standing up, cut and insert a circle of cardboard and add another layer to preserve the shape integrity.

He used a "secret" recipe of wheel weights and linotype and they were quite hard and did not lead the barrel. He has since passed away and I really missed those presents!

I loaded them light ... about 650 fps and would get about 15-20 loadings per case before they started splitting down the sides. Usually this was caused by the flare I put on the case so I wouldn't shave the lead and then would crimp them down. If you had the sun at your back, you could actually see the bullet flying down range.

I got to the point where shooting targets was boring so I would stand spent shotgun shells up on the ground (this was in a gravel pit ... a big one.) and snap shoot at them. My brother and I got to be pretty good shots and this accuracy translated well into other pistols and revolvers. One of the few things I missed about Maine is their gravel pits, no glass was allowed and you were far enough away from civilization where a couple of hundred rounds did not annoy anyone.

I still have that .357 and rarely shoot that caliber in it. It still is a lot more fun and your wrist and hand lasts much longer with lighter target .38 loads.

[VERO1]

Can't you just replace the hammer OhShoot?

[eapking]

.357 mag revolvers are the cat's pajamas. Practice with .38spcl and carry .357mag.

[gregintenn]

There's a whole lot of ammo swapping you can do with revolvers. There's also some that would seem to make sense that you should never try. Alway make sure before you try it.

[Oh Shoot]

Can't you just replace the hammer OhShoot?

Well, maybe, but there's more to it than just the hammer itself I guess. I mean, the gun is DAO only, not like you can "cock" it at all, so I guess there's a different sear or something would have to changed out too? And I sure don't claim to be much on gun smithing.

- OS

[Guest BEARMAN]

Guess we oughtta make a TGO flag or something next show.

- OS

TGO hats or T shirts would work nicely too...hint, hint, David.

[Magiccarpetrides]

Well, maybe, but there's more to it than just the hammer itself I guess. I mean, the gun is DAO only, not like you can "cock" it at all, so I guess there's a different sear or something would have to changed out too? And I sure don't claim to be much on gun smithing.

- OS

Im pretty sure your right about this...hammer is a gunsmith only kind of thing. I bought my dad a really nice Canadian mounted Police GP100 in DAO...I feel for the person who doesnt shoot very often(like my dad) this is really the best kind of pistol.

Good first gun OP...the SP101's are really nice.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

To echo OS's earlier comment-- If one shoots a lot of 38 in a 357 revolver, one might have a tough cleaning job to get the cylinder friendly to chambering 357 rounds again.

It may depend on the chamber material or dimensions, dunno. A long time ago I had shot a few hundred rounds of 38 in a little stainless S&W 649 snubbie, and it took a whole lot of wire-brushing to get the crud off the front-shoulder of the cylinder chambers.

The stainless being so shiny, it was kinda hard to put a bore-light in there and get a good visual of the crud on the shoulders. It was like repeatedly scrubbing against invisible stuff, until .357 rounds would fully fit once again.

Could be written off as me being inexpert at cleaning. Maybe someone more mechanically inclined wouldn't have the problem.

[Currently]

Take the cylinder off and soak it in Hoppes overnight or for a day or two.

Same with the barrel/frame.

I used to take a metal two pound coffee can with the plastic snap lid and fill it about a third with Hoppes. Every month or so, I would drain out the clear fluid on top and dump the 'sludge' on the bottom.

Five or six passes with a bronze brush after a good soaking will do the trick.

Canned air does a great job at drying it off. Do it outside cause the wife won't be happy. I now have an air compressor. Make sure you wear thick vinyl gloves when blowing it off.

Got the idea from watching a mechanic using a parts washer when he was rebuilding my carbs.

Edited May 23, 2010 by Currently