.38 Specials in a .357 Mag.

H

hemlock0013

New member
I use to rely on a Taurus .357 Magnum as my home defense gun. I usually loaded it with .38 Special +P HPs. I chose this load over the hotter Magnum ammo for a few reasons:
1. I lived in an apartment and overpenetration was an issue.
2. I didn’t want to risk going deaf if I ever had to actually fire the thing indoors sans protection.
3. .38 ammo was cheaper, so I tended to practice with it more.

If I ever switched back to a revolver for home defense (I currently use a Glock 19), I’d probably use the same strategy when choosing ammo. However, I’ve read several times that .38 Specials aren’t as accurate when fired from a gun chambered for .357 Mag. How true is this? It never was a problem for me,and I never had trouble getting the bullets to go where I wanted. Of course, I’m not a competition-class shooter or anything, so I might just be a bit less picky then other shooters regarding accuracy.

I guess my general question would be: Is a .38 shooter best to stick with a .357 Mag. for flexibility reasons, or just go with a .38 for accuracy reasons? (Personally, I’d tend towards the former.)
---hemlock0013
 
You do lose some accuracy, but it is NOT going to affect your use of the gun.

Groups fired with .357 ammo might be, say, 3", while groups with .38 might go to 4" at 27 yards.

In other words, for defensive use, it's a non-issue, really.

------------------
Beware the man with the S&W .357 Mag.
Chances are he knows how to use it.
 
I have been known to shoots JackRabbits with 38's from my 357. Not a problem for me.
 
Hemlock, you probably aren't going to get any appreciable difference in penetration through walls, etc. by using +P .38s compared to .357s.

There is another consideration that you didn't mention. Firing .38s in a .357 can result in sticky chambers (potential problems both loading and extracting) in two circumstances:

- you don't clean the chambers carefully enough and develop a carbon ring at the mouth of the .38 cases, which stalls the longer .357 cases, or

- eventually, you may erode/burn the metal itself in the chamber, making it rougher and also making it harder to load/extract .357 cases.

When I used to shoot .357s alot, I handloaded mild target loads in .357 cases. The load was something like 3 grains of Bullseye under a 148 gr HBWC. It was extremely accurate, no recoil, and very cheap. (I could easily be mistaken about the powder charge, so you must not use that load without checking good manuals to make sure that charge would be safe in your revolver.)
 
What I'd find really interesting is to Ransom Rest a gun ( say a 4" K frame ) to find one brand of full charge 357/125 gr ammo that goes into 1 1/2" at 20 yards ( a load the gun really likes ), and then find a 38 or 38+P load the same gun reviles and spits into 5-6" groups from the rest at 20 yards.

Then I'd like to run a group of a dozen intermediate shooters through 12 rounds of 38 on one target and 12 rounds of 357 on another target, both at 20 yards. Wonder what the results would be? I'd try it myself, but my Python only shoots 38 spl.

[This message has been edited by Rusty S (edited July 27, 2000).]
 
I agree with almost everybody. There's probably a theoretical difference in accuracy in .38's in a .357, vs. the same ammo in a .38, but it's of almost no practical issue. There's more difference between brands. I agree that after shooting .38's for a while, it will take some serious cleaning before the .357's will be easily chambered, but I DON'T think it is possible for us mortals to actually erode the chamber of a .357 by shooting any reasonable qty of normal pressure .38's. Just ain't gonna happen in my lifetime. (IMHO)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top