38 / .357 Compatibility

[Greg All Calibers]

I've been shooting .357 for years, sometimes using 38 loads.

For someone who has a .38, what would keep them from shooting .357's in it (aside from shear stupidity?). The casings are the same diameter but not length, right?

If one was using wad cutters (zero bullet length), do the .357 casings actually stick out past the cylinder on the 38 revolver? If so, then how does a .38 fit in there with ball ammunition.

Thanks. Always learning.

 

[AC]

You won't be able to chamber .357s in a .38 unless there was a bad mistake made by the person who does the cylinder reaming. There is a step down in diameter at the end of the .38 case in the .38 chamber, just as there is at the end of a .357 chamber. The holes in the end of the cylinder are bullet diameter (usually either .357 or .358") and the holes in the other end of the cylinder are bullet diameter plus case thickness times two, plus a little slop so the bullet can release easily. So the end of the .357 case where it crimps the bullet hits this step and will not go the rest of the way in.

Supposedly some very early .38 revolvers were bored straight through without this step and would chamber a .357, but this was back when the nineteenth century turned to the twentieth. All manufacturers have been aware since the mid 1930s when the .357 was introduced that there could be problems if chambers weren't cut correctly.