357/38

B

Bic

New member
I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation,but I don't know what it is, for some reason with the 38's I am hitting high and left consistantly, and the 357 rounds are dime on. can some one explain this little puzzler.
 
It Has To Do With Barrel Time...

And the time it takes the slug to exit.
Oh, and it is directly related to how you hold your tongue too.
 
You don't mention the barrel length, distance to target or make of the gun so some of this is guesswork.

First, the ballistic track of .38 special bullets vs. .357 magnum bullets will be different due to the difference in velocities. Most .357 magnum revolvers leave the factory regulated for a 158gr .357 Magnum factory load (Remington or WW). Shooting 158gr .38 specials will show a slightly different point of impact due to the lower velocity. If you are shooting 125gr .38 specials and 158gr .357's the difference in impact points may be more dramatic.

You might hunt up some ballistic charts for both calibers. It's been a long time and I can't remember exactly, but I think the .357's arc comes later than the slower .38 special. This may be why your .38's hit high.

You may, for some reason, be anticipating the recoil with the .38's and "pushing" the gun just as you fire. Try relaxing and not trying for perfect accuracy so you relax your body a little. Remember that the exact moment of ignition should always surprise you.

Another technique is to let someone skip-load your gun, randomly loading .38's and .357's. See if your pattern persists or if your .38's get closer to the bullseye.

If you can keep both groups on a paper plate at 25 yards, consider that to be "good enough" for combat accuracy.
 
Sorry about that missing info, cripes...S&W 586 6"barrel 357's are American Eagle Jsp and the 38 rounds were 158 swc, win. Distance to target would have been about 15-20yds. I fired approx. 15 rounds of each and everything stayed the same 38's high left 1-1.5 and the 357's on the money.
I like the idea of the skip loading, might try that, but I tend to think its more than that. Might try that tonge thing Wil Terry mentioned......
Bic
 
First differences in powders, primers, and loads can move the POI so loads from different makers can have different POIs. Second different velocities will shift the POI. Don't expect the slower .38 spl to shoot to the same POI as the faster .357 magnum.
 
I found that 357's were more accurate in my snubnose, until I found 38's that had longer slugs, almost the same overall length as the 357's. On my gun, the closer the slug is to the forcing cone, the more accurate it is, for some reason. :cool:
 
Thanks for the input gents, it just dosn't sound right, (not your explanation,) I can see it hitting slightly higher but can't make sence of the slightly to the left. Especially with a 6 inch barrel. I'm baffled!!!
 
It could very well just be the load. Every load will not hit to the same POI (point of impact). They can be higher, lower, to the left, or to the right. The bullet, powder, primer, case volume, or bore of the barrel can all affect the POI.
 
I had a Taurus 66 in 6" that did just that. Dead on w 158 gr 357 loads and off (the rear sight adjustment scale) to the left with std velocity 38's. Factory gave me some story about twist rate, etc to justify their refusal to get it to shoot POA w 38's. Never did buy or understand it. Sold off the gun.
 
The .38 is in the barrel longer than the .357.

Here's a theory/idea...

Since the rifling moves the bullet clockwise, the gun will attempt to twist in your hand counter-clockwise.

In a right-handed shooter, that translates into left-wards travel of your wrist. Since you are dead-on with .357, this means your wrist knows how to shoot it properly, but is trying to 'learn' how to hold for the .38.

Your POI is only off about an inch at 20 yards? Not a big deal, IMHO. As long as the big-kid stuff was on target, I wouldn't care.
 
I have a 357, and it was the devils own time to find the right 38spl ammo for it. Some of the 38spl, would go all over the place. The 357's were always dead on. I like the gun a lot, and now that I have it sorted out, it's fine.
But if I had started out with a gun chambered for 38spl, I can't help thinking I would have avoided a lot of trial and error. Just a thought.
 
JKWAS
What 38 ammo did you end up using to straighten things out??

AZredhawk44
Not a bad theory, better than what I could come up with...

thanks gents
 
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