Different "calibers" in one gun have accuracy & performance issues?

[borrowedtime69]

So, I've been into guns and hunting for over 42 years now and I've still got things to learn, case in point:

So, I've heard that revolvers need to have the chambers made to be as consistent as possible to have the bullet enter the forcing cone, travel the barrel and be accurate after all that travel through the gun. This is why good quality revolvers cost more, for the precision. Do I understand that correctly?

If so, heres the question after the set-up: when shooting .22L & .22S out of a firearm that's chambered in .22LR, say, in a Henry lever action, or say a .38 SP out of a .357 MAG pistol or rifle, what effect does that gap between the end of the case and the throat of the lands and grooves have on accuracy and performance if any?

Does the bullet stabilize in the barrel? In that micro-second the powder goes off, does the bullet have time to expand and shave copper or lead at the throat and cause it to destabilize if the lead/copper isn't evenly shaved? Will shooting shorter ammo in a firearm damage the throat where the chamber ends and the barrel starts?

These are just questions in the interests of scientific firearms & ammo performance, I really don't shoot much if any .22l or .22s in my Henry, which is the only firearm I own that'll shoot all 3 of the .22s. I have no other guns that shoot longer and shorter case ammo. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and experience here!

 

[Rock185]

I have used .38 Spcl. in various .357 revolvers, no issues with accuracy or overall performance at all. My .22LR/.22WMR revolvers have, of course, different cylinders, so no issues there. No issues at all with .22 Short in the .22LR cylinder.
I did have an extra S&W 686 .357 revolver cylinder converted to 9mm. Due to the freebore in the .357 cylinder, chronographed velocities tend to be much lower them might be expected in a firearm originally chambered in 9mm. I've devoted very little effort to accuracy work, but have noticed that POI at 15 yards is close to POA with 9mm ammunition. I was mostly testing to see what ammunition would function properly in the converted cylinder, and chronographing velocities. I need to reinstall the converted cylinder to do some actual accuracy testing..

 

[Jim Watson]

It can matter at the extreme limits... sometimes.
Three friends and I bought Pythons to shoot PPC with in the 1970s. The .135" jump (Not a @#$%^ "eighth of an inch" as so often stated.) of Specials in Magnum chambers did not affect accuracy enough to keep me from making Expert and at least one of the group reaching Master.
But the big name bull barreled Smiths are usually Specials, leaving nothing to chance.
One shooter has a Fred Schmidt revolver with the cylinder shortened to just accept wadcutters, that is one of those extreme limits guns.

The .22 should be little affected, its heel bullets are the same diameter as the case, at or slightly over groove diameter. So a Short just gets some freebore with no jump through a longer chamber. I once read of the guy who set up an ISU Rapid Fire short-shooter with a LR barrel because he thought the faster rifling twist would more than outweigh the longer chamber.

BUT you will hear from people who make up target loads in Magnum brass because they do not want to foul that .135" with Specials and then get hard extraction from Magnums dragging in the dirt. But that only takes cleaning, it would take a whale of a lot of shooting to actually erode the chamber.

It used to be a factor in .22s though. Soft steel barrels, harsh priming compounds, and infrequent cleaning could ring the chamber after enough shooting with Shorts. A Brownell's Gunsmith Kink said that a Chevy 283 pushrod was the same I.D. as a .22 chamber and could be used to make a bushing to salvage such a rifle.
Fresh ammo and the lack of a price advantage for Shorts make that unlikely now.
For that matter, it was usual to watch for throat erosion in a LR target rifle and set the barrel back when it got to the point of affecting accuracy. We are talking tens of thousands of rounds for that, though.

 

[borrowedtime69]

Awesome, thank you for your knowledge and experience on this! Sometimes things just pop into my head and curiosity gets the best of me. Looks like I'll try shorts in my Henry as soon as I can get out.

 

[jmr40]

I've never had any issues with 38's in a 357 mag revolver. But a lot depends on the skill of the shooter. The really good shooters who compete at a high level will tell you there is a difference. But I'm not good enough for it to matter.

I did once have a Ruger Blackhawk with both a 45 Colt cylinder and a 45 ACP cylinder. It wasn't accurate with either and worse with 45 ACP.