SW Bodyguard

i purchased a bodyguard 38. spl today! i wanted some thought on my theory here...being that you can shoot 38s thru a 357, can u shoot 357 thru a body guard being that its a 38 special +P and not just 38 sp? since its made to handle higher pressures i wondered if i could use 357s as my carry ammo in it?

Probably not a good idea if it's not rated for 357. I think you would find a substantial pressure difference between 38 Spl +P+ and 357 Magnum.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.38_Special

Unrelated to that question, why would anyone design a new gun around a built in laser and not equip it with a grip switch?

The 357 case is about a tenth of an inch longer that the 38 special so that they won't chamber in a 38. If due to sloppy work you can chamber a 357 in a 38 the gun is almost guaranteed to blow up and destroy your hand.

jeeper1 said:

The 357 case is about a tenth of an inch longer that the 38 special so that they won't chamber in a 38. If due to sloppy work you can chamber a 357 in a 38 the gun is almost guaranteed to blow up and destroy your hand.

Click to expand...

the chamber/ cylinder is a good quarter inch longer than a 38spcl so if the 357 is only tenth longer than it would fit no problem...dunno if im willing to try it untill i find someone that has already lol....

what is the 38spcl like compared to the 9mm, i noticed on the same ammo in those 2 calibers that the 9 shoots slighting faster and with more energy but how do they compare ballistically? being that the 38 is actually a heavier bullet and close to same size but it has a longer shell???

If your really planning on shooting 357s out of a 38spl I am gonna nominate you for a Darwin Award because it is only a matter of time before natural selection catches up with you

What I meant was the chamber pressure for the 357 magnum is 2.4 times that of the 38 special and if by some chance you were able to chamber a 357 in a 38 special marked chamber then you would be holding a BOMB in your hand.

I agree with Jeeper. Part of the reason the .357 was designated was so that they could have a pistol which could accommodate higher pressure loads. The .38 special could, and can be loaded to near .357 pressures and velocities, but there were so many old .38s around which wouldn't handle the pressures. So they increases the length of the case slightly so that they wouldn't fit in the cylinder on the .38s

celticredneck said:

I agree with Jeeper. Part of the reason the .357 was designated was so that they could have a pistol which could accommodate higher pressure loads. The .38 special could, and can be loaded to near .357 pressures and velocities, but there were so many old .38s around which wouldn't handle the pressures. So they increases the length of the case slightly so that they wouldn't fit in the cylinder on the .38s

Click to expand...

ok thanks for all the input, guess ill chalk that idea. so about my other question, u can get 9mm and 38spc. both in 125 grain...so how is it that 2 boxes of winchester pdx1, one a 9mm and one 38spc. have such a huge difference in speed and energy? same wieght and size bullet but the 38 shell is much bigger? and the difference is quite big. im not a revolver guy as this is my second revolver ever so im curious which round i like more. thanks for the help

A lot of it has to do with barrel length too. Try finding a 2-inch,or less-9mm.
Also the cartidges they are loaded in have different volumes of powder charge that can be loaded,and different amounts of pressure they can handle-1 vs. the other.
Neither of the rounds are ideal for defense-despite the hype of "modern" loads for them. Especially in shorter-barrel pistols/revolvers. They can do in a pinch,and sometimes you might luck out.
But-popular they may be with civies-there's very valid reasons all the PDs abandoned .38s ages ago, and went with 9s. And now there's very valid reasons nearly all of the PD's (and the U.S. Military)are running as fast and far as they can from 9's-and trying to move up to .40s/.357sigs (police) and .45s. (military) Because they just dont cut it when you need it to.

But they are handy as being fairly small/light/med. bore guns.There's that advantage-but at the compromise of the bad guy saying "err..what did u just throw at me" and the BG saying "...." well, nothing,because he's either dead or well on the way to being so.

Consider this, a 38 special is like a shortbed 1/2 ton pickup truck. The .357 Magnum is a full sized 2 1/2 ton truck.

Can you put the same load in both trucks? Maybe, but you should not. It is not a problem placing a 1/2 load in a 2 1/2 ton truck.

However, if you reverse that, you will most likely break the 1/2 ton. NO?

As several others have said, you should not be able to put a .357 mag cartridge in a .38 special revolver cylinder. It should be too long. Just like a full 8' load that will fit in a 2 1/2 ton will not fit in a 6' short bed 1/2 ton....

My advice would be that if you want to shoot a .357 then you should buy a .357.

But I assume that you were just curious and want to spend the rest of your life with both hands firmly attacked to your wrist.

And this is actually a valid question. As for your request I did a test. My mother keeps a .38 spl for SD and I have some .357 rounds. The .357 just won't quite chamber up, the case around the base has more of a flare on it. Probably to keep this from happening, other than that it should chamber up, but it is still not advised to fire anything through a gun that isn't recommended from the manufacturer.