Some general firearm queries, mostly pistols

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Hostile Amish

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I know that a .357 Magnum-chambered revolver will chamber .38 special and 9mm Parabellum-Luger. Will it also chamber .38 Super and .38 Super Auto? My guess is that it will, seeing as those cartridges are derived from .38 Special, which is in fact .357 caliber.

Is there also any other 38/357-caliber catridge I can chamber in my .357?

Can a .22 LR pistol be converted to fire .17 HM2, and who sells the best conversion kits, if there are any sellers at all.

Can an on-slide scope mount increase the weight to a point where recoil operation is unreliable? (Slide too heavy, does not lock back)

Does a recessed target crown on a pistol barrel give any noticeable increase in accuracy?

Do full-length dust-covers on 1911's (STI, SV Infinity, etc.) give any advantage whatsoever?

Will reducing the weight (and thus speeding up cycling, so I'm told) of a recoil-operated pistol's slide damage the pistol over time?

If I shorten the bullet of a .17 HM2 (Hornady Mach 2) cartridge (namely, removing the plastic ballistic tip), can it still be sucessfully chambered in my bolt-action CZ 453 (obviously, without use of the magazine)?
 
A .357 revolver will not shoot 9mm or either .38 Super out of the same the same cylinder. The bullet diameter is different(.357" vs .355") and the 9mm and Super cases are rimless and much shorter. They're not derived from the .38 Special either.
"...any other 38/357-caliber cartridge I can chamber in my .357?..." No. Has to do with bullet diameter and case length.
And if you shoot .38's then want to shoot .357's you need to clean the lube gunk out of the cylinders first. If you don't, the .357's won't go into the cylinders properly.
"...Can a .22 LR pistol be converted..." Depends on the pistol. You won't likely find a .17 HM2 barrel for a .22 pistol anyway. The ammo's more expensive too.
"...reducing the weight..." You change the recoil spring to deal with it.
"...Can an on-slide scope mount increase the weight to a point..." Yep. Changing the springs might help.
 
"...any other 38/357-caliber cartridge I can chamber in my .357?..." No.
Click to expand...


au contraire - .38 colt and .38 long colt can also be shot in a .357.
 
Does a recessed target crown on a pistol barrel give any noticeable increase in accuracy?
Click to expand...

No. Assuming the crown is done correctly, any style is as good as any other. Recessing the crown is still a good idea, though, as it protects the crown from damage -- and it doesn't take much to really foul up accuracy.
 
.38 Colt ammo might be a bit tough to find off-the-shelf. It's been pretty much obsolete for about a century and hasn't been in regular factory production for several decades. No new revolvers (other than repro Richards-Mason conversions and some 1872 "Open Tops") have been made for 80 years or so, at least.

You can find factory ammo from some CAS-oriented specialty outfits and obsolete cartridge suppliers like Old West Scrounger. Expect it to be much pricier than even the best .38 Spl. defensive JHPs, though, and nowhere near as accurate.

Also be aware that the .38 Colt and .38 Colt "New Police" are not similar. The latter is simply the old .38 S&W load with a flat point on the bullet and will not chamber in either a .38 Spl. or a .38 Colt cylinder.

Since the feeble ballistics (150 gr. LRN/FP @ nom. 730 f/s), ineffectual terminal performance and reputation for mediocre (at best) accuracy of this old round was basically what prompted S&W to invent the .38 Spl., why bother? That cartidge's demonstrated superiority in all areas was what killed the Colt round off in the first place.
 
years ago, it seems like my brother had a ruger 357, that also had a 9mm cylinder. that would be the only way you could shoot a 9mm through a 357 or 38. both the 357 mag, and 38 special have a rim on the bottom of the cartridge that stops the case from going in any further. the 9mm lugher is a rimless case. there is nothing to stop that cartridge in that cylinder.
 
A .38 Special or .357 revolver will not accept .38 ACP/.38 Super Auto (they are the same case) because the case is too large in diameter, but the auto pistol cartridges will fire in many revolvers chambered for the .38 S&W, and there have been revolvers made for both the .38 ACP and the .38 Super. (This is possible because the .38 ACP/.38 Super are semi-rimmed and are supported for firing by the rim.) It should go without saying that firing .38 Super in some old revolvers will not do the guns any good at all.

Jim
 
You may be confused about some switch cylinder single action "convertible" revolvers by Ruger, the Blackhawk convertable in
.357 Magnum Convertible will shoot .357Mag, .38 special, and with the
9mm cylinder in place will shoot the 9mm Luger or Para , but not with the accuracy, because of the bullet size difference. The 9mm round though rimless is headspaced off the cartridge mouth in this application.
 
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