What’s wrong with the wrong ammo?

You are shooting caliber specific rounds. Normally, a family of cartridges may be interchanged provided the gun is chambered for the strongest.
You don't shoot 38 S&W in any other 38, 32acp in other 32s, and so on. You're good.

Walkalong said:

Correct, case diameter is bigger.

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As is bullet, up to .361.

Yup, no adverse effects. I light off 44Spcl it in the 44Mag all the time. A quick pass with a brass brush through the cylinder if need be makes it all good. Only adverse effect is the POI change.

Unless you understand what your doing, it’s better to stick with what’s printed on the gun. Very few situations exist where things will create dangerous conditions (300BO in a .223 for example). Like walkalong said, I like to use what’s on the barrel, BUT I’m adventurous too. Using 327 cases in my 327 keeps it from getting super dirty inside the cylinder. Otherwise, I don’t really care.

Some people worry too much. In super tight chambers like a Freedom Arms revolver it can cause issues with seating a round potentially, but most production guns won't have any issues without very high round counts between good scrubs.

The old convention was that with enough use of short cases the hot gasses will erode the steel where the case mouth rests in the chamber, making later extraction of a fired long case difficult. This may have been true in the distant past with softer steel and more corrosive ammunition, but with modern arms and ammo I don’t know if it is still true - if it ever was common in anything but rimfires.


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I've shot a lot more 38s in 357 revolvers than 357. Never an issue. Why? I clean my guns on a regular basis. Lead and fouling never get a chance to build up in the cylinders.

Some say the long bullet jump causes inaccuracy. I don't know about that. If that were the case guns like a K frame 22 revolver would be the most inaccurate gun made...and it isnt.

As long as the deviation from the stamped cartridge on the gun is to a lower pressure round it should be fine in MOST circumstances. I'm not an expert on every possible gun/cartridge possibility though.
I only shoot 357 in my 357s and 38s in my 38s and so on. That's just personal preference and that's all. Most shooters are fine with 38Spl in their 357 and that's cool it's just not how I roll.

WestKentucky said:

Unless you understand what your doing, it’s better to stick with what’s printed on the gun. .

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Or you could go by what is printed in the catalog.
Once upon a time, a 38 Special Revolver would be shown suitable for everything from .38 Short Colt to.38-44 High Velocity.

Since I reload, I find it's better just to load .357 to whatever level I desire, rather than changing dies, powder measures, cases, etc.

Makes life easier.

There are some 'rarer' swaps that used to be more common.
For instance, some of the older .44 Russian revolvers did NOT have forward chambering limits in the cylinder. Which means the later .44 Special cases would chamber and fire. Consequently .44 Special factory rounds were underloaded for years. A 'Keith' .44 Special load or a .44 Magnum round (which would fit) would be quite exciting.

The same problem existed with early .38 Special revolvers (1895) that would allow .357 Magnum rounds (1935) to be chambered.

The European (mostly Spanish) pistols chambered for "9mm Largo" will chamber and fire "Super .38" ammunition. The Super round is a bit more pressure. The Largos will not explode in a fireball, but they will wear out a bit faster. On the same subject, Colt made - at one time - a .38 Automatic pistol. Super .38 (or .38 Super) uses the same case, but higher pressures. Do not use Super .38 in the .38 Automatic pistol. (The .38 Automatics are all collectors items anyway.)

In Italy a WWI handgun used by the Italian Army was chambered for 9mm Glisenti. The Glisenti round was reasonably similar to the 9mm Luger round, but the Glisenti was rated at a far lesser pressure - close to .380 ACP - levels. The Luger round will disassemble the Glisenti.

Similar problems occur in rifles. The biggest current bugaboo is firing the 5.56 NATO round in a rifle chambered for .223 Remington. The cases are identical, but the chamber of the 5.56mm is cut differently and allows the 5.56mm cartridges to be loaded to higher pressure. The original 8mm Mausers had a .318" bore, while later 8mm Mauser rifles had a .323" bore. Don't shoot the larger bullet in the smaller bore.

Almost any wild cat cartridge based on the .30-06 Springfield case can be fired in a .30-06 Springfield chamber. It likely will not cause an overpressure problem, but a small diameter bullet will allow a good deal of burning powder and gas down the bore and the bullet is more likely to careen off the sides of the bore. Not recommended.

Firing a standard .38 Special in a .357 Magnum is okay. There are more no-no's in this area. Usually exposed by specific research.

Mr_Flintstone said:

I keep reading posts where people say you should only shoot caliber specific rounds in each gun. . .

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Behold, the ignorant have opinions too.

My favorite example is the reliable knuckleheads who pop up on facefarm to answer every single .224-bore AR question (feeding, extraction, accuracy, pressure, etc) with disinformation about 5.56 vs .223 chambers. . .

Do your own research, figure out what you're doing, and go do it. Ignore the fools

Walkalong said:

Correct, case diameter is bigger.

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Be aware there may still be some S&W revolvers from the 'Fifties that were originally .38 S&W but were reamed for the .38 Special. Use of the .38 S&W is O.K. in these guns, and the .38 Special will chamber and fire. Usually results in a swollen case that may not be reloadable.

So far as I know, no Colt revolvers were treated this way. Also I've had one Belgian made revolver, sort of a double action copy of a Remington 1890, that took both the .38 S&W and .38 Special, as was so marked on the barrel. The one I had was marked "Cowboy Ranger."


Bob Wright

If you load I don't see a benefit. I use the longest case and load accordingly. The shorter brass lays to the side in case I could ever need it. Lower pressure, less cleaning and I believe better accuracy but that is debatable .

Yes there's some oddball combinations out there that can happen. The likelihood of you ever running into one of those is extremely remote. Like putting a 9mm Federal in a .38 S&W top break.

The way you are talking about doing it, there's no safety issue. Mostly this is the triumph of "Theory" over "Practical Experience". In theory, the shorter your .38 case the less accurate. In practice there are so many variables that one might not even be apparent.

Mr_Flintstone said:

I do like the idea of a rimmed 9mm though... in the appropriate gun. Same with rimmed .45 acp. As far as accuracy, at 10-15 yards or less, I've not noticed any noticeable difference in accuracy with most loads. Perhaps at longer distances it would be more apparent.

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Never done it, but I believe you can make rimmed 9mm out of .38 S&W. I have made rimmed .380 out of .38 cases for the Taurus .380 revolver. Kind of like a .38 Short Colt but even shorter.

Some use of .38 Short Colt in S&W M929 9mm Revolver in USPSA and ICORE.
You will have to get a specialist to explain the advantage.
Lots of .38 SC in M627.

I think a lot of that advice is aimed at shooters without adequate knowledge.
They don't know what they don't know.
You will hear similar advice if you load a low pressure cartridge (with adequate brass) to pressures the handgun it is used in is well capable of. If the brass is adequate for 35,000 psi and the gun is chambered for larger calibers of that pressure it may be perfectly safe to load the smaller lower pressure round to 35,000 psi assuming no significant difference in the firearm exist. It's not a good idea for a neophyte to take on these type projects. I personally would be leary of taking on such a project. However I know people who could do it without undue risk and I would not call them a fool just because it's out of my comfort level.