38 SPL blanks in my older 38 S&W revolver?

M

M88

New member
I have an Iver Johnson Safety Automatic revolver made in 1901 that takes older 38 S&W bullets. Putting modern 38SPL rounds through it would be dangerous, as that revolver was not designed for that kind of pressure. However, I picked up couple boxes of 38SPL blanks at a gun show recently, and wondered if I could safely fire them in my Iver Johnson. My perhaps flawed reasoning is that the blanks would not have that pressure, and in fact would be far less than the 38 S&W I put through it now.

Btw, my 38SPL cases are .375, and my 38 S&W cases are .382. When I drop a 38SPL blank in the Iver J cylinder I can't really notice any more "slop" than when there is a 38 S&W round there. Seven thou isn't a lot, but then in this arena thousandths count!

Any advice?
 
I think the .38 Special rim is thicker too? I tried cutting down .38 Special cases to make .38 S&W, and the cases would stick in the chambers even when loaded light. (the end of the case blows out, but not the web area. I don't know why that made them stick) They are not really hard to extract and probably not unsafe, but still I called it a failure and abandoned that idea.

Blanks should be fine, if the cylinder closes and turns without interference.
 
Blanks develop no back pressure , the problem might be if they fit into the chamber.
Hollywood used a lot of 5 in one blanks. The blanks could be used in 45 Colt, 44-40 pistol and rifle , 38-40 pistol and rifle. With the advent of 45 Colt rifles now they could be called 6 in one blanks.

Warning...blanks can be dangerous at close range, some stuff comes out the barrel when fired . A friends son thought he would play Russian Roulette with a blank in a revolver , the blank fired and killed him . I attended the boy's funeral...true story.
Gary
 
Thanks for advice so far... looks like I MAY be safe doing this. Yes Gary thanks for posting that warning. I'm fully aware of how dangerous blanks can be. Fire a blank at close range at a paper target and you can see the kind of damage it can do. If you Google it, you will find many deaths from people being shot at close range with blanks.
 
If the blanks you have in hand will physically fit, there is NO problem with firing them in a safe direction & not AT anybody CLOSE.

They will have, IF THEY FIT, zero negative effects on your gun.
As Bob said- the pressures are negligible.
Denis
 
Lee n. the OP posted the revolver was dated to 1901, Iver Johnson did not go to a smokeless frame until 1909. It is a black powder frame. As noted, blanks has no pressure to speak of, so they should be safe to use.
 
Yes, this Iver J break top is a black powder revolver. The lady who gave it to me told me the person that gave it to her years ago read the riot act to her about how serious it could be to use modern rounds in it. My thinking was that the 38 SPL blanks would have no pressure to speak of that could hurt the gun. THAT said, I did more careful measurements after some of the posts here and other than the 7 thou larger case dia of the 38 S&W black powder round, there are other differences as T. O'Heir pointed out. So decided not to do this... I picked them up at a show for $5/box of 50. I will shoot the blanks in my SP101 or Chiappa Rhino. But... they're just not as "fun" to shoot as this old Iver J, which is small, balanced and just "feels" good shooting it. Was only something I was going to do purely for fun since I don't regularly shoot that Iver J since the bp ammo for it is available but not everybody carries it and it's pricey. Supply and demand. At some point I may reload my own (WITH BLACK POWDER!) if I can find bullets for it. OR... does Lee make a mold for 38 S&W bullet?
 
I'm unclear on what your measurements have to do with anything.
Drop one of the blanks you have into your gun, and if it chambers far enough to close the cylinder, the blank is shootable.

Quick & simple.
If they fit, they shoot.
If they don't fit, they don't shoot.

In older cheap guns there's often enough slop in the chambers of a .38 S&W to fit a modern .38 Special blank, some of which are not strictly the same specs as a blank that a .38 Special cartridge would be anyway.

The simplest ultimate test of whether you can shoot YOUR blanks in YOUR gun is not T O'Heir's loaded ammunition figures, but just trying to load your blanks in your gun.

You're overthinking this.
If they fit, they shoot.
That's all there is to it.
Really. :)


If you wanted to shoot your blanks in that gun, as you originally posted, YOU hold the answer to your question at this point.
There were only two issues- pressure and fit.
We've answered the pressure, YOU answer the fit, and the only way to do that is to try it.
Denis
 
You're overthinking this.
If they fit, they shoot.
That's all there is to it.
Really.
Click to expand...

Well... I suppose if we're JUST talking about a little "bang" without much pressure, then yes I suppose I'm overthinking. That 38SPL blank round does fit nicely in the cylinder of the old Iver J...
 
Then you've answered the only remaining question yourself.
Go shoot your blanks in your IJ & have fun with it.
Denis
 
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