nonameisgood
Regular Member
I think we have a bit of confusion:
The .38 series all use approximately the same diameter bullets, and approximately isn't good enough. At the tolerances provided in modern guns with jacketed bullets, 1/1000 of an inch is huge.
9mm, .38 Special, .357 Sig, .357 Magnum, .357 Max, .380 ACP, .38 Super all have different cases and very different charges behind the bullet. Firearms manufacturers try to make it so we cannot chamber and fire the wrong round, but us idiots are clever.
357 Mag is in every way identical to .38 Special, except overall length and, more importantly, chamber pressure. The overall length _should_ prevent one from putting 357 Mag in a .38 Spec revolver.
And because a round seems to fit a chamber does not mean it is safe...
SAAMI is the keeper of the data for the maximum pressure behind each bullet and the associated dimensions.
Please do not attempt to do what we have all done by accident. I once "tried" to run a Walther P99c 9mm mag thru my HK P2000sk 357 Sig, which didn't quite work. The 9mm case is sitting on my nightstand as a reminder to not do that again.
A friend of mine (very smart PhD type) still gets confused about which ammo is which. He knows his decimal fractions well enough that he doesn't get the 38/380 nuance. And it is all about nuance.
The .38 series all use approximately the same diameter bullets, and approximately isn't good enough. At the tolerances provided in modern guns with jacketed bullets, 1/1000 of an inch is huge.
9mm, .38 Special, .357 Sig, .357 Magnum, .357 Max, .380 ACP, .38 Super all have different cases and very different charges behind the bullet. Firearms manufacturers try to make it so we cannot chamber and fire the wrong round, but us idiots are clever.
357 Mag is in every way identical to .38 Special, except overall length and, more importantly, chamber pressure. The overall length _should_ prevent one from putting 357 Mag in a .38 Spec revolver.
And because a round seems to fit a chamber does not mean it is safe...
SAAMI is the keeper of the data for the maximum pressure behind each bullet and the associated dimensions.
Please do not attempt to do what we have all done by accident. I once "tried" to run a Walther P99c 9mm mag thru my HK P2000sk 357 Sig, which didn't quite work. The 9mm case is sitting on my nightstand as a reminder to not do that again.
A friend of mine (very smart PhD type) still gets confused about which ammo is which. He knows his decimal fractions well enough that he doesn't get the 38/380 nuance. And it is all about nuance.