Does anyone have or shoot a .38 rimfire?

Can ammo be obtained for this?

About 30 years ago I had a Remington New Model #3 revolver in 38 Rimfire. It was basically a scaled up NAA mini revolver. It was 5 shot, and was in mint condition. In those days I could usually find 1-2 boxes of original Remington ammo at each local gun show. The ammo was said to be pre-WWI. Supposedly they never made more after the war. At any rate, I really liked the gun, snd shot it a fair amount. Only about 1/2 of the ammo would shoot.If the bullets were in the box with the bullet end down, it would shoot. If the cartridge was in the box with the bullet end up it wouldn't. The accepted explanation was that the lub would seep down and poison the priming compound. Dixie Gunworks also made some cases that used a 22 blank as a primer. I got 4-5 of these cases and fired them usinground balls just pressed in the cartridge mouth. I don't remember the diameter balls I used. At any rate, I shot the gun for a few years, and then sold a mess of my antique guns all in one big lot to a collector.

I have my Grandpa's .38 short rim-fire. Still functions. Ammunition for it is found in firearms museums.

Howdy

38 Rimfire ammunition production pretty much ceased when we entered WWII.

I have at least one box of 38 RF in my cartridge collection, but I don't have any revolvers chambered to fire it.






I do have a few 32 Rimfire revolvers. This S&W #2 (Old Army) shipped in 1870. No, I have not actually fired it, the ammo is too hard to come by.

Driftwood Johnson said:

Howdy

38 Rimfire ammunition production pretty much ceased when we entered WWII.

I have at least one box of 38 RF in my cartridge collection, but I don't have any revolvers chambered to fire it.

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I do have a few 32 Rimfire revolvers. This S&W #2 (Old Army) shipped in 1870. No, I have not actually fired it, the ammo is too hard to come by.

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Wow, that's a cool gun.

Gumby0961 said:

Just curious about them.

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Don't know whether your's is safe to fire, that is a gunsmith's job, but there is a guy in Texas that did handcraft obsolete ammo including rimfires that made them in his garage or something. I read about him in one of the gunmags several years ago.

And I believe there is someone in France that sells a kit to change some of these cartridges to centerfire or something using percussion primers. Dixie Gunworks use to sell the same. https://www.ammoland.com/2017/12/32-rimfire-obsolete-round/

Old thread about a similar issue,
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...re-revolver-to-fire-modern-cartridges.816416/

H&C is the French company offering reloading kits and brass for .38 Rimfire, along with several other "impossible" cartridges. Really good quality, but expensive.

I don't know anything about a .38 rimfire rifle,so I have to say no.

If you have old ammo of the vintage shown by Driftwood Johnson, you cannot assume that it will still shoot. I had some really old 32 rimfire ammo that fired 50 years ago, but did not fire recently.

I see what you did there...

Gumby0961 said:

Hi Bushmaster,
That's the reply I was seeking. It's your lucky day I have nearly a hundred rounds of 38 rf shorts. They are yours if you want them. You pay the postage. You should break one open to see what powder is in them to make sure they are safe in your pistol.

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Answered...

That's why they call this The High Road.

Admirable and gracious

Driftwood Johnson said:

I do have a few 32 Rimfire revolvers. This S&W #2 (Old Army) shipped in 1870. No, I have not actually fired it, the ammo is too hard to come by.

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Back in 1972 I had the great privilege of shooting a mint condition S&W #2 in .32 rim-fire that a friend owned.
Ammunition was out of production even then, and not inexpensive, but he had obtained a box.
We were young guys then and it was a 100+ year old gun even then.
But we tried it out and found it quite accurate.
And it survived with no harm done to it, thankfully.