caliber cross compatibility

[Indifferent]

I tried a search for the above and nothing came up that was similar

So my Question is, what calibers work within other calibers of handguns or long guns, like a 357 will run a 38.

I am very interested to see, thanks in advance.

 

[never_retreat]

WRONG
You can put 38 in a 357 not the other way around.
Usually in a gun chambered for 460 you can use 454 and 45 lc.
But you have to read the directions specific to the gun.

 

[akodo]

lets see
this is a one way swap i.e. the 2nd can go in the first, but not vice versa

460<--454 casul<--45longcolt<--45 coltgovt

44 magnum<--44 special<--44 russian

357 maximum<--357 magnum<--38 special<--38 long colt<--38 short colt

10mm<--40S&W

327 mag<--32 H&R mag<--32 S&W long<--32 S&W short

this is of course most appicable to revolvers and single shots like the TC Encore/contender etc.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Revolver cartridges in the same "family" but with straight-walled cases of differing lengths are about the only ones I can think of. These would include .38 Spl. in a .357 Magnum, .44 Special in a .44 Magnum, .45 Colt in a .454 Casull, etc. (but not the other way around.) In each of these cases (pun intended), the latter load was a development from the former. To the best of my knowledge there is no such interchangeability in autoloading pistol or rifle cartridges. In other words you cannot safely fire, e.g., a .380 ACP in a 9mm Luger chamber, .308 Winchester in a .30-06, etc.

Short of some improbable "Armageddon" scenario in which you have no other choice and nothing left to lose, there is never a reason to use the wrong ammunition in any firearm.

 

[hockeybum]

i can't think of any others. I was shooting .38's out of a .357 today though

 

[Eric F]

isnt 9x21 the same or close enough to a 38 super?can a 38 s&w run through a 38 special?

 

[Indifferent]

WRONG You can put 38 in a 357 not the other way around.

Thats what I meant
like a 357 (gun) can run a 38 (cartridge)

 

[.cheese.]

.22lr revolver can shoot .22 short... don't expect accuracy though.

 

[Regolith]

In other words you cannot safely fire, e.g., a .380 ACP in a 9mm Luger chamber, .308 Winchester in a .30-06, etc.

I have read somewhere that you can load .30-06 Springfield in a firearm chambered for .30-03 Springfield. Given that the .30-03 was the immediate predecessor to the .30-06, which itself is just a slightly shortened version of the .30-03, this isn't too surprising.

Good luck finding any rifles chambered in .30-03, though. If you do, they're probably a collector's piece. IIRC, they stopped making rifles in that chamber (and the ammunition for it) soon after the .30-06 was developed.

.22lr revolver can shoot .22 short... don't expect accuracy though.

Many older .22LR bolt action rifles can shoot .22 longs and .22 shorts as well.

 

[Claude Clay]

32 acp in a 380.....wont cycle the action or carry much power but wont hurt gun either.......and ua get funky form-fired brass too.
ok, cause i have a p32 & p3at and it was bound to happen......(32 mags will fit & feed in a p3at)

 

[MachIVshooter]

Many guns will chamber, and even fire, rounds that were not intended to be used. Generally speaking, the only firearms it is acceptable practice to do this with are revolvers that were built for a longer and/or higher pressure cartridge of the same diameter. I have fired .40 in 10mm's, .45 GAP in .45 ACP's, 9x19 in 9x23, .380 ACP in 9x19, etc. just for personal satisfaction in knowing that it can be done, but I don't make a habit of it or recommend the practice.

Firing the wrong cartridge is not always dangerous, but will often give very poor performance; you could fire .25-06 or .270 in a .30-06 rifle safely, but you wouldn't be able to hit a darn thing. On the other hand, you could force the bolt of a .30-06 closed on an 8x57 mm Mauser cartridge and firing it could have catastrophic results.

 

[mgregg85]

can a 38 s&w run through a 38 special?

Yes it can, but why? I own a .38 S&W revolver and its such a pain to find ammo for, usually expensive. I would never waste the ammo for that revolver in a .357/.38 special.

 

[HungSquirrel]

Short of some improbable "Armageddon" scenario in which you have no other choice and nothing left to lose, there is never a reason to use the wrong ammunition in any firearm.

I see economical practice with a .38 in a .357 frame a great reason to run the "wrong" ammo. It's more pleasurable to shoot as well. One can always switch back to the "right" cartridge for carry.

 

[Sunray]

"...can a 38 s&w run through a 38 special..." No. The .38 S&W uses a .360 bullet and has a larger case diameter. .386" vs .379".
This doesn't really help a whole lot, but it'd be handy nonetheless.
http://www.saami.org/Unsafe_Combinations.cfm
"...One can always switch back to the "right" cartridge for carry..." As long as you clean the cylinders first. Shooting .38 cases out of a .357 leaves a ring of lube bunk in the cylinders. Loading .357 cases to .38 velocities makes this go away.

 

[Maplicito]

458 Win Mags will fire out of 458 Lotts. No need for an Armageddon to do this either... people often use the Win Mags for most of their practice as the recoil is lower, then use the Lotts for the real deal. Also - if you take your 458 Lott with you, and find you're short on ammo, the Win Mags are easier to find.

 

[Triphammer]

The 38 S&W is several thou larger diameter than the 38 S&W Special. The 38 special was developed from the 38 COLT ( short & long) series of cartridges. Some of the VICTORY model S&W revolvers were originally chambered in 38 SW were rechambered in 38 Special but leave an odd bottle necked fired case & are prone to split cases w/ 38special

 

[SDC]

There are a whole lot of POSSIBLE substitutions, but not many of them can be considered SAFE (for example, shooting 22 LRs out of a 22 Magnum); they may actually fire, but they can do as much damage to do as they can at the muzzle end.

 

[CB900F]

Fella's;

One interesting variant of the straight walled pistol case development process. There's one exception to the shorter one came first scenario. That's the .475 Linebaugh & the .480 Ruger. The more powerful Linebaugh came first, the Ruger was a later development.

900F

 

[tkendrick]

I used to have a nifty, cherry condition little Colt Police Positive in .32 S&W Long.

Note I said used to have.

I loaned it to a freind who thought that .32 S&W Long and .32 Long Colt were the same cartridge.

I now have a paper weight that used to be a nifty, cherry condition little Colt Police Positive

 

[mgregg85]

.38 S&W cases fit just fine in my GP-100... with the soft lead bullet i'm 100% sure there would be no damage from firing them.

 

[kingjoey]

Here's an idea guys, when in doubt just use the damn ammo the gun is made for. There are known interchanges such as the 357mag/38spc, but when people are espousing shooting .32ACP (.308" bore) out of a .380" (.354" bore) its time to stop with the internet stupidity before someone loses body parts There are plenty of proven lists out there on the net, lets not risk life and limb of people on the armchair academics

 

[CmpsdNoMore]

I heard somewhere .308 rifles will fire a smaller caliber. .260 comes to mind, but I'm probably wrong.

What kind of accuracy would you get out of something like that?

 

[ZeSpectre]

In post #3 Akodo said...

10mm<--40S&W

This is WRONG!

Rimless cases headspace with the front of the case. Putting .40 S&W into a 10mm results in incorrect headspacing and is DANGEROUS!

DO NOT DO THIS!

(And for the same reason you don't put .380 ACP in a 9mm Luger)

 

[Auburn1992]

I thought a .40 S&W could shoot safely in a 10mm revolver?

 

[SDC]

I thought a .40 S&W could shoot safely in a 10mm revolver?

Yes, but this is because the rounds will headspace off of the clips; if you try this in a semi-auto, the shorter rounds would have to be held back by the extractor in order to fire (which may or may not work), and which will leave a bunch of crud and shavings at the chamber mouth which will prevent the proper ammunition from being used.