Do all .357's shoot .38's also?

L

Lo-khem

New member
I noticed that a lot of .357's shoot .38 special also. I think that's cool because it's like having two guns for the price of one. However, do all .357's shoot .38? I noticed the smithy's do, but what about Taurus' and rossi's? I have a snubby .38, but if I buy a .357 I want it to shoot .38's as well. .357's are some tough shooters. So, I'm looking at getting a Taurus .357, but only if it shoots .38's.
 
All .357 Magnum revolvers will quite happily shoot .38 Specials.

Just clean the crud out of the chambers before reloading with Magnum ammo.

Sam
 
Yes. The .357 is simply an elongated .38 Special; they are of the same diameter. The chamber will also take the old .38 Long Colt and .38 Short Colt, which are also the same diameter, but obsolete now.

When the .357 Magnum was developed, the gun was made stronger and the case was made longer so the more powerful rounds would not fit in the chambers of weaker .38 Special revolvers.

You can get some lead buildup in the .357 chamber from extensive firing of .38 Special lead bullets, and that could interfere with loading .357 cartridges, but it is easily cleaned.

Jim
 
I have never seen a .357 that would not fire .38 special perfectly. The barrels are the same diameter and the .38 cartridges fit the .357 cylinder fine, although they are about 1/10" shorter than the magnum cartridge. A .357 magnum cartridge will not fit into a .38 spcl cylinder for that reason.
 
Yes, all 357 magnum caliber revolvers, rifles and single shot handgun (rifles too) will work perfectly with 38 specials. Only 357 guns which will not work with 38 specials are pistols. Only IMI Desert Eagle and Coonan pistols come to mind right now. Actually, even in these pistols 38 specials will fire but will not cycle the action to feed the next round. However, Coonan used to come with spare recoil spring for use with 38 specials (I don't remember seeing such spring for Desert Eagle).
 
Mike:

I don't think any 38 special round will cycle Desert Eagle. Few that I've seen even had problems cycling with Winchester 110gr 357 mag ammo which is pretty mild ammo.
 
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