[Bullethead67]

Howdy, new here, got a question.

My buddy just scored a Ruger Speed Six in .357 and called to ask what he can run in it.

I said how should I know, but let me ask around a little.

I have heard you can feed several cartridges but I dont want to give bad information.

Anyway, what all will fit/function properly in a .357 magnum?

Thanks for any/all replies,

Jim

[rswartsell]

.38 spl and .357 magnum.

[ArmedBear]

.38 Special and .357 Magnum are the two that matter.

Not sure about some old .38 Colt rounds, but you won't find those at the gun shop anyway.

[rswartsell]

.38 S&W and .38 Short Colt are larger diameter and CANNOT be used in a gun chambered for .357 Magnum. I have heard of .38 Long Colt being used in them but cannot recommend it. As a matter of fact I would strongly urge that NO OTHER rounds be attempted in .357 other than .38 Special and .357 Magnum.

[rswartsell]

.38 Long Colt was the predecessor to the .38 S&W Special or .38 Special. The case is 1/8 shorter than the .38 Special and even if it will function in the .357 Mag there is no reason to attempt it. It will be greatly more expensive than .38 Special and will perform poorly.

[rswartsell]

It looks like I was wrong about .38 Short Colt having the larger diameter of the .38 S&W. It appears that beginning with the black powder .38 Short Colt load which was developed as a cartridge conversion for the .36 Navy Colt cap and ball, the .38 Smith & Wesson Special is a culmination of 2 length increases in the .38 Short Colt and a change to smokeless powder. It remains that neither of the .38 Colt (Short or Long) are a good choice for feeding a .357 Mag. Performance from the shorter (originally black powder) cartridges cannot be expected to be very good in the very long .357 Mag. chambers. I also see that Cowboy Shooting popularity has made these 2 obsolete rounds obtainable and perhaps affordable. I am NOT however a fan of using a cartridge other than that which a firearm was designed to chamber and you can rest assured that the producers of .357 Mag. revolvers envision the use of .38 Special and .357 Mag only.

[rcmodel]

Get a .38 cal. bronze chamber brush, or a .40 cal bronze bore brush.

You need to clean the chambers very throughly after shooting .38 Specials before switching back to .357 Mags.

The shorter .38 Specials leave fouling in the ends of the longer chambers that can make chambering .357's more difficult, and can raise pressure if severe enough.

rc

[mcdonl]

Other then cost, I prefer shooting the .357 - I seem to shoot better with it then the .38 SPL ...

Leroy

[wep45]

only use .38 special and .357 magnum cartridges

[Bullethead67]

Thanks everyone, Ive been lurking here for awhile and thought you guys would be the ones to ask.

Jim

[kmrcstintn]

.38 special, .38 special +p, .38 special +p+, .357 magnum

[ArchAngelCD]

Tell him he bought a good revolver. BTW, what's the barrel length?

[The Lone Haranguer]

Any and all .38 Special, and any .357 Magnum load that fits in the chambers without protruding beyond the front of the cylinder. The limiting factor is not the strength of the revolver, but your hand. ;)