disadvantages to shooting 38 spl out of a 357.

The only one I've ever heard is that you get carbon rings around the front of the cylinder that need to be cleaned, or else after a while the .357s won't fit.

Yep! That's about it.

Hard Carbon ring cleaning is easily handled with a cordless drill and a bore brush in a few seconds.

In theory, the 1/10"+ extra jump should effect accuracy and velocity.
But i know of no one who has been able to prove it.

rc

I'd say that 99.99% of shooters don't shoot well enough to be able to tell the difference in the accuracy between a .38 and a .357.

I'd say that 99.99% of shooters don't shoot well enough to be able to tell the difference in the accuracy between a .38 and a .357.

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+1 on this.

Accuracy should be virtually the same. As already mentioned, keep the carbon cleaned off in the chambers so you wont have any problems when you shoot 357.

I just went through what skribs described with a Dan Wesson 715 I picked up in a trade. It almost needed a crowbar to get the .357 casings out of the chambers, forget about using the ejector rod.

Anyway, a few seconds in each chamber with a chucked brass bore brush, followed by a few seconds with a nylon brush and: problem solved

I went though 2 boxes of PMC .357 today and they all ejected with the same ease as .38 special.

With an 8" barrel that revolver is more accurate than I am, I could discern no difference between the loads and accuracy.

Greetings
I shoot mainly 38 Special out of my caliber .357 S&W 19-5 down here. There is just not enough accuracy difference to be concerned about. Do not know for sure how many rounds of 38 Special you would have to fire to get a sizable carbon ring but I know 50 is not enough in my S&W. Cost of ammo down here is prohibitive of shooting more than a box at a time.
Mike in Peru

Can't believe there would be enough accuracy difference to matter at self defense ranges. The length difference is tiny.

I shoot 90% 38 Spl and 10% .357 magnum out of my S&W M&P 340CT, clean it after every range visit, and have not seen any sign of carbon build up in the cylinders.

I'd say that 99.99% of shooters don't shoot well enough to be able to tell the difference in the accuracy between a .38 and a .357...

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I assume that means .38 vs. .357 shot out of the same .357.

Just out of curiosity, lets assume a S&W M64 .38 vs. a S&W M65 .357, 3 or 4" bbl, both shooting 158gr bullets. Is either the .38 shot out of it's intended platform or the .357 shot out of it's intended platform considered to be inherently "more accurate"? (Let's also assume shooting at 20 yards.)

Sorry to split hairs here...

I was shooting a Folgers coffee can at 50 yards a while back with a 4" S&W .357 using .38 Spl handloads.

I was also shooting the same coffee can using a 4" Colt Commando .38 Spl with the same loads, the same day.

If there was any difference in accuracy or percentage of hits on the can at 50 yards, I couldn't shoot well enough to tell it that day.

rc

The only disadvantage I know is that your not shooting a .357 Magnum.

No problems from what I've seen so far, just make sure you clean your gun more often than I did! I ran about 400-odd 38 rounds through my GP100 without cleaning the cylinder. Yup, .357 wasn't too happy about chambering after that... Some elbow grease got most of that taken care of, I might have to think about the power drill suggestions though too...

I have 2 .357 revolvers and i'm not sure I ever have fired .357 thru them. Yes you do get the buildup in the chamber but other than that I don't see any real disadvantage aside from power. I'm sure accuracy does suffer but not so's you'd notice.

I have fired .38 spl., .38+P, and .357 through my Ruger Security-Six and my S&W Mdl.19 . No problem with clean up. When I am at the range I fire 200 rds. mixed and again no problem.

My PS6 is 38 Special only and only differences between a 357 Magnum Sixes and a 38 Special Sixes is the honing of the cylinder. Accuracy is excellent.

At 25 yards and 1st time shooting her…..

Does the small length of freebore effect velocity or acuracy at all.

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Velocity, insignificant. Accuracy depends more on the individual gun, even two consecutively produced identical guns. But the difference is small and will likely only be found by shooting the gun from a rest - either hand held or mechanical - at 25 yards or more. It is of no consequence in a gunfight at the typical ranges at which these take place.

needed a crowbar to get the .357 casings out of the chambers, forget about using the ejector rod.

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Most folks assume the problem with .38 Spl carbon rings in a .357 is going to only cause problems loading the longer rounds.

But thats the least of your worries.

The real problem is, the carbon rings are taking up real estate in the chamber right where the Magnum case needs to be able to expand to full chamber diameter to release the bullet from the case.

If it can't release the bullet cleanly when it fires, pressure can increase well above accepted limits.
And that will make for very hard extraction of the fired cases.

rc

SS Chamber Brush from Brownells. Since it pulls a little hard, run the empty rod through the chamber, place the brush on, pull back through. Do this 1X every time you clean after shooting .38's in a .357 and you'll keep the chambers clean. I've shot countless thousands of .38 wc through .357s and the chambers look like new.

Having a 2 1/2" and a 4" .357 mag and having shot hundreds, if not thousands of rounds of .38 spcl through them both, I'm trying to remember ANY disadvantage and I can only come up with one.

The .38spcl are not .357 mag rounds. Other than that, I see no disadvantage at all. Just keep it clean and it'll be fine.

I personally see none. My .357 is a S&W Model 60-9. I chose the .357 because I planned on using .38+P as my carry ammo. Never had any plans of shooting .357s in my J frame.

A stainless steel brush in my chambers? Not likely. For plinking, I'll just put plated 38 loads in 357 cases and save myself a whole lot of labor. My SD rounds are made with XTP's at full power.

I use a .38 powder charge in a .357 case and seat the LSWC a bit deeper.

rcmodel said:

Most folks assume the problem with .38 Spl carbon rings in a .357 is going to only cause problems loading the longer rounds.

But thats the least of your worries.

The real problem is, the carbon rings are taking up real estate in the chamber right where the Magnum case needs to be able to expand to full chamber diameter to release the bullet from the case.

If it can't release the bullet cleanly when it fires, pressure can increase well above accepted limits.
And that will make for very hard extraction of the fired cases.

rc

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rcmodel has this exactly right. this is the problem i am having with my model 28 i bought recently. i bought it in a dimly lit gunshop and didnt bring a light with me. got it home and gave it a quick clean and off to the range. .38s shot great but .357s shot ok but would not eject at all. i had to push the emptys out with a screwdriver.stopped the .357s at that point. looked at the chambers closely and realized there was 50 years of carbon in there from someone only shooting .38s in it. scrubbed it when i got home and shot it yesterday. 4 chambers eject well, 2 still dont. looks like i have to pull the cylinder and soak it now.