.357 magnum/.38 special and others..

V

Visaman

New member
I know that a good .357 Magnum revolver will happily shoot .38 Special ammunition with good results.
Are there any more ammunition that can "co-exist" in the same gun ?
 
My S&W Model 1917 (1937 Brazillian contract) revolver will shoot 45 ACP in moon clips and 45 Auto Rim (a revolver cartridge). There are a few more modern guns that can do this too but I don't know the models.
 
Single Action Ruger Blackhawk Convertible models can do some calibers switches by swapping out the cylinder.

They either offer or have offered in the past (some very limited!) these:
.45 Colt with a swappable .45 acp cylinder
.38-40 with swappable 10mm cylinder
.357/.38 with swappable 9mm cylinder
.22 Mag with swappable .22 LR cylinder
...and probably some that I have forgotten.

I don't think you can just order or purchase an extra cylinder in another caliber, I think it must be fitted to or supplied with the revolver, but I don't really know.

Worth mentioning is that while you can shoot .40S&W out of the 10mm chambered S&W revolvers, you shouldn't try .40S&W out of 10mm pistols for a couple of reasons. One is that it's only held in the chamber by the extractor, and even that takes luck. Second is that these headspace on the case mouth, and shooting short ammo in a 10mm chamber won't do any favors to your chamber, for sure.

Also worth mentioning, though not exactly the same is that most pistols designed for .40 S&W can shoot .357 Sig with only a replacement barrel in that caliber. For a Glock, you are talking like a hundred bucks, and even use the .40 magazines.
 
.38 Long Colt can be fired in a .38 Special or .357 Magnum revolver

.44 Russian can be fired in a .44 Special or .44 Magnum Revolver.

.480 Ruger can be fired in a .475 Linbaugh revolver

.500 S&W Special can be fired in a .500 S&W Magnum revolver
 
The very powerful .445 Supermag introduced and chambered by Dan Wesson will shoot the .44mag and .44 special as well. The .357Maximum will also shoot the .357mag and .38 special. Can't find many of either around much anymore. :(
 
.32, .32 long, .32 H&R mag, can be shot from the .327....I think.
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Correct; however, the proper names of the first two are .32 Smith & Wesson (.32S&W) and .32 Smith & Wesson Long.

Another really obvious candidate is .22 Short, .22 Long, and .22 Long Rifle.
.500 S&W Special can be fired in a .500 S&W Magnum revolver
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FWIW .500 Special really isn't a legitimate factory-loaded caliber. It's a handloaders' nickname for a reduced-power .500 S&W Magnum load.
 
Can't properly chamber .22 short, long or LR in a .22 Mag. Can use a convertible cylinder in a single six or NAA min-revolver. But the bore is built around the specs for .22 Mag, which is a larger diameter than the shorter .22s, so it's not as good a platform for .22LR as a dedicated .22LR.
 
FWIW .500 Special really isn't a legitimate factory-loaded caliber. It's a handloaders' nickname for a reduced-power .500 S&W Magnum load.
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See my link in post #11, .500 Special ammunition is loaded by Cor-Bon and was introduced at the same time as the .500 Magnum. It is also a dimensionally different cartridge than the .500 Magnum as it is shorter.
 
Here is one of my .357's...I usually shoot .38 Special's and save the .357 for the serious stuff...

65-3007.jpg
 
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