.38 in .357 cylinder

S

slab jockey

New member
is it true that when .38 special rounds are fired in a
.357 magnum that the cylinder becomes burned or "scored"
and that future .357 rounds will not load properly? do the
use of .38 rounds ruin the gun?
 
No.

It is true, however, that the .38s will tend to leave a ring of crud, crap, debris, and assorted junk (it's a LOT worse with lead bullets) piled up against the chamber shoulders, which can make it hard (sometimes impossible) to chamber .357 Mag. ammo.

The crud ring must be removed by cleaning.

You can remove some of it by pushing fired .357 cases into the chambers after you're finished shooting, but you'll still need to do a thorough cleaning eventually.
 
it would take a great deal of shooting to do that.i'm talking reloading economics level. if your worried just shoot the milder 357 loads and/or reload them to your specs.
 
.38 rounds do not damage the gun. just clean thoroughly after using them. My favorite method is a NYLON bore brush and an electric hand drill to get the burn ring out.
 
Will not damage the gun with reasonable loads.

Will leave crud immediatly ahead of the shorter case.

If left to build up, this crud can inhibit bullet release when firing the longer mag rounds......possible high pressure situation

Like Mike says...push fired mag case into each chamber after each session of using specials and before reloading with magnums. This won't clean it but will make it safe for the longer rounds.

be sure to thoroughly clean it someday.

Enjoy.

Sam
 
Most of my shooting that is done with my Smith & Wesson
6" 686-5 is with handloaded .38 Special ammunition. I do
stress the importance of a through cleaning after each
range session!:cool: :) :D

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member
 
All of the above.

In years past when corrosive .38 ammo was the norm, a lack of cleaning could mess up your cylinder permenently. It did require however abuse on your part and corrosive ammo. Not a problem today.

I Repeat... all of the above.
 
I have a ruger .357 and when ever I bring a new shooter to the range I let them start with .38's. I used to buy lead reloads but the amount of crud was incredible, they gummed up everything. After about a hundred rounds I would have a very hard time chambering full .357 loads. I clean my guns dilligently after every shooting session and the lead was just too much. I now spend the extra buck or two for FMJ practice rounds. Another thing that works well to remove lead is made by Kleen Bore and is called the lead away cloth. All you do is cut a patch from the large cloth a put it on a jag and run it thru the bore. This works best with the solid jags, the ones that have the little spike rather than the ones that have a little loop on the end. One of the best things about a .357 is that it can chamber .38 and as long as you take care of the gun you should have no problems.
 
A .375 (repeat 3 7 5) caliber brush is a very handy tool for cleaning out cylinder fouling when using .38's. I load all my ".38's" in .357 cases so I don't have this problem, but when I bought each of my .357's they needed a harsh cleaning before they'd even chamber a magnum round.
 
Good advice--just keep it clean. I have shot around 23000 .38 spl in my revolvers chambered for .357 magnum. I intentionally use clean rounds with copper plated West Coast bullets and clean every few hundred rounds or a long day on the marksmanship range. Very unusual for me to find the chambers too dirty for .357 magnums and a brush and Hoppe's #9 take care of that.
 
I just don't shoot naked lead...period

I simply do not shoot "nekked" lead slugs out of any of my revolvers.....no, not ever. There are simply too many choices out there that are jacketed, or clad in something a lot cleaner than ordinary lead. The clean-up hassle is drastically simplified.

Although I'm aware of the effectiveness of certain bare-lead bullets.....thanks but no thanks, nevertheless.
 
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