LV_Tom
Member
I inherited my brothers .357 Dan Wesson revolver. Most of the ammo that came with it is .38 SPL. I've been told that this will work in the .357 and is cheaper than shooting .357 ammo. Is this valid?
You can use any .38 Special ammo (including .38 Special +P) in a .357 Magnum revolver but not the other way around.
There used to be a writer named Russ Gaertener. In one article he mentioned he discovered the hard way shooting a lot of +P .38s in an unplated carbon steel .357 cylinder can literally corrode the small areas of chambers where the case mouths of .357s would normally cover the chamber walls. Seems this was in a Model 27 or 28 Smith. He did not say whether he left it uncleaned and it got damp or if this was merely from firing.The only downside is the carbon buildup just in front of the .38 Spl case mouth. If left unchecked it can make chambering .357 difficult and make pressures go up due to the restriction.
Clean it out every once in a while and no worries. Millions of .38 Spl rounds are shot through .357's, if not billions.
A search will bring up many discussions here on the subject.
Okay wlewisiii, I looked it up. Just for you! Took awhile to find it.Please do look it up. I find it hard to believe that if it were such a problem that so many would fire so many rounds of .38 special out of so many .357's with so little publicized problems if it were even half that much of a problem.
I think too much is made of this "carbon ring", "residue" stuff because people don't clean their guns properly and/or often enough.
Because I like to shoot both .38 Specials and .357 Magnums in my magnum revolvers I carry a simple little fix for the carbon ring "problem." I carry a fired .357 Magnum case with a chamfer in my range bag. If I get a carbon build up in the cylinders all I need to do is insert the case in in each charge hole and it will clean out the carbon ring. If the fouling is extensive all that's required is a slight tap on the case to remove the carbon. Problem solved...
Thanks for the kind words SR.Good point, RetDac, and I'm impressed with your memory!
"... and only the mildest .38 Specials should be fired in .357 chambers. Full .38 loads can erode chamber walls ahead of the case mouth, as I discovered to my sorrow."