[scrubbyhoover@msn.com]

hello to every one, i just created a problem for my self, i have my deceased pops guns, one of which is a s&w 38 special, us service ctgs, serial # 20977, ive tried to find bullets at most of the local gun shops with no luck, yesterday i found a shop that had them, i bought them and took them home without trying them in shop, they are s&w 146 grain rn r38sw by remington. they wont go into the cylinder, i cleaned it real good and still no luck so i miked the shell .380 by the lead and a small .382 by the rim, i measured the cylinder, .375 where the shell goes in and .355 by the lead, the end of the barrel is .347 and the lead measures .355 at its widest point but it does fit the business end of the barrel?????????????did remington package the wrong shells or is my gun a misfit. thanks any help will be highly appreciated

[kanook]

Welcome to THR.

Did you purchase 38 S&W for a 38 special?

[MrBorland]

Welcome to the forum.

Sounds like you bought .38 S&W ammo for a .38 spl gun. They're different cartridges and not interchangeable. How long are they? They should be about an inch and a half long. If they're an inch and a quarter, they're .38S&W.

If you post pics, some knowledgeable members might be able to offer you some additional info on your pop's gun.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.38_S&W
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.38_Special

[mnrivrat]

OK - I will make it times three in the likely hood that your gun is chambered for the .38 Spl (Special) cartridge and not the .38S&W .

With the ammo shortage still continuing you should easily be able to re-sell that box of .38 S&W and buy the proper .38 specials.

[scrubbyhoover@msn.com]

thanks for your help, when i brought this gun into a shop, basically for an appraisal of its value, and also buy some shells, the s.p. said that the s&w from that era cant use regular 38 shells., im not very educated with fire arms, i have owned many rifles and various handguns of which was a charter arms 38, i recently trained my daughter how to use it safetly and gave it to her, with a box of new shells that i bought not to long ago, i never really paid attention to my 38 that i am posting about untill now, so with all this said, i am not getting the difference between guns, yesterday a retired police officer of 20 yrs. showed me his s&w 38 special that was given to him to use from the p.d., it looked basically the same but was much heavier, i then started miking his gun and it matched mine, his shells fit perfectly, they were 130 grain 38 special, roughly 1.5- 1.75 long(didnt measure length), the shells i purchased for the s&w 38 measure a strong 1 1/4 and just the shell is a strong 3/4. im going back to the dealer today, i spoke with him last night, he too was a little confused, he has run a very sucessfull shop at the same location for 35 yrs, he is experienced, i will speak of your previous suggestions when i see him today, thankyou for your help and time, i will let ya know what i find.

[kanook]

38 S&W is a short fat cart. 38 special is longer and a little skinner then the 38 S&W. what is written on your casing, or end of box? Does it say 38 S&W CTG or 38 S&W special?

If you could post pictures we could help better.

[scrubbyhoover@msn.com]

i spent an hour trying to find yesterdays post on the forum i must be missing something, i just googled my guns specs and found my post at the top of the page. on my revolver is stamped 38 special, a gun dealer looked at it and said it takes the short s&w shells, i bought a box, didnt fit, dealer said clean the cylynder, i did, no dif. shells were still too fat and they were the short ones, i returned the shells and the dealer said he had the fix, i needed long which he had to order, i asked him if they were the same dia., he said nothing, on the shelf were 38 specials 130 gr., let me see a box, they fit fine, then the dealer said they are the correct shells. i am a welder by trade and am famaliar with decimal tollerances, i know very little about the spec. on these older guns, i am bassically a beginner, i feel that these sales people have given me miss info or i have something that has been altered, what really confuses me is that the shells that came with the gun from my dads house were small short things that fit, 3 were s&W and 1 was colt, i dont have them or the box, i gave the shells to the dealer for the lead, i never should of thrown the box away, isnt a 38 a 38? thankyou for all of your patientence. kevin

[22-rimfire]

38 refers generally to the caliber or diameter in inches (english). European calibes are in millimeters generally (ie 9mm). Of course there is marketing involved and sometimes the number does not correspond exactly to the diameter. The 357 mag is actually a 38 caliber bullet which is 0.357 inches in diamter. The 38spl bullet is 0.355-0.358 inches in diamter according to one of my reloaders manuals. You can shoot 38spl rounds in a 357 mag revolver, but not the other way around.

[madcratebuilder]

Welcome to the forum hoover. Sounds like the sales guy gave you bad info. There are several .38 caliber cartridges and they do not all interchange. .38spl, .38S&W, .38 long and I believe a .38short and there may be others. You well see minor differences in case diameter and case length. After a hundred and thirty five years of cartridge revolvers there are a lot of different variations with in the same caliber.

[Guillermo]

if your gun says "38 spl ctg" on the barrel it takes .38 special. Unfortunately things are not always what they seem. A 38 special is actually .357 caliber and a 38 SW is .361 caliber.

The grain only refers to the weight of the projectile. (example, a hollow point is going to weight less than a round tip lead bullet)

Please only shoot 38 specials out of your gun. And yes they are hard to get right now. But it will get better.

[ArthurDent]

ScrubbyHoover,

A "38" is NOT a "38"... sorry. Read the links in post #3, above. They are most informative.

I am almost certain that you have bought "38 S&W" cartridges. (What you say in post #1 is exactly what is written on that box.) The 38 S&W is a fairly rare thing these days.

In post #7 you say on my revolver is stamped 38 special so that is what you have. You then say a gun dealer looked at it and said it takes the short s&w shells which is a completely different type of round. It sounds like your dealer does NOT know what he's talking about!

Please, run away from that dealer as fast as possible!!!

Go here: http://www.nrainstructors.org/searchcourse.aspx and search for someone in your area who teaches the FIRST steps pistol course. They should hopefully know what they're talking about.

P.S. Good work on being scientific and measuring things! :)

[kanook]

Please, run away from that dealer as fast as possible!!!
This is true.

Find another dealer in your area fast.

How much were the first box of 38 S&W shells they sold you?

I have one and am looking for some ammo.Go here: http://www.nrainstructors.org/searchcourse.aspx and search for someone in your area who teaches the FIRST steps pistol course. They should hopefully know what they're talking about.
This is great advice too. In the class it's about 1 3/4 hours on caliber ID