.380ACP in your .38 special

[RevolvingGarbage]

Materials needed: .380 ACP rounds, rubber o-ring, approx 1/4 OD with thickness being about 1/32 or so.

The idea is, you slip the ring over the nose of the bullet, roll down till you have it in the extractor groove. The trick is getting the right size and hardness of o-ring. Too soft of rubber, or too skinny and the rounds will just slide down the cylinder when the hammer hits. Too thick or too hard, and the rounds might not allow the gun to close all the way, or the rounds may provide too much resistance to the trigger mechanism as they get dragged over the recoil shield.

When you get it right, it works great though. POI is lower than with heavier .38spl rounds, but accuracy is decent. the rounds fire and extract like normal, and they don't even bulge much.

The practical applications are iffy. You could use .380 in whatever .38spl or .357 revolver you want, at the cost of power and likely price. This is handy if for some odd reason you have no access to the proper ammo, or if you want a very light load for someone who is recoil sensitive or for pest control.

 

[Texan Scott]

Years ago, up in Michigan, a guy tried robbing a bank with a .38. Only ammo he had was .22lr, so he wrapped it in electrical tape until it fit the .38's charge holes... Police comment was that it 'probably wouldnt have worked' but they were 'glad to not find out'.

This looks better, but i'll still stick to weak-sister wadcutters.

 

[Stainz]

"Hold on, Mr. feral flatulant ferret, I have the wrong size o-rings for my .380 ACPs!. There... better! POP! Oops... shot below you!"

In the '...if it fits, you must acquit!' vein, er, wrong scenario. Well, as far as using ACPs in a revolver, try .32 ACPs, with their vestige of a rim, in a .327 Federal Magnum, etc, revolver. Of course, if your .327 Federal Magnum revolver is a bit hard to find it's designed for cartridge, it'll also take .32 H&R Magnums. Try to find them, too. Then there are .32 S&WL - perhaps a bit easier to find. Of course, they'll handle .32 S&W's, if you are good at finding hen's teeth. Five calibers... makes a modern 'Medusa' out of a .327 Federal Magnum revolver.

Stainz

 

[walnut1704]

Some moon clips for the Taurus M380 revolver would work in a J-frame I'm pretty sure. I have an M380 and I went the other way. I found the head space was the same.(I use a different user name on that board).

If you want a light load you could also load some .38 Short Colt.

http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/reloads/70480-wildcat-making-rimmed-380-case-m380-revolver.html

 

[rcmodel]

Clips will not work in a J-Frame S&W, or any other S&W unless the cylinder has been modified to allow room for them.

Otherwise, the cylinder won't close.

rc

 

[walnut1704]

That's true if you're using clips on .38 spl ammo. The head space on a .380 with the Taurus clips is the same as the .38 spl.

 

[pete950]

I think Taurs just came out wth a 380 acp revolver.

 

[Gatofeo]

Years ago I saw a photo of a 9mm Parabellum cartridge that had a "rim" peened all around its head with a small punch. The caption said that some enteprising Resistance member had done it, to fire 9mm cartridges in a .38 Webley revolver.
I don't know if it worked, but it was an interesting photo.
I've fired .32 ACP in my Colt Police Positive in .32 Smith & Wesson Long revolver. This cartridge is also known as the .32 Colt New Police, if the bullet has a flat tip (meplat) on it.
The .32 ACP worked fine. Hard to judge accuracy because the fixed sights on that old Colt are so tiny it's hard to maintain a decent sight picture.
I guess the most versatile revolver ever made would be the .357 Maximum. In it you could load: .357 Maximum, .357 Magnum, .38 Special, .38 Long Colt, .38 Short Colt and probably .351 Winchester Self Loading and .35 Winchester Self loading, these latter two are straight-walled rifle cartridges with .351" diameter bullets.
I'm talking "pull trigger, gun goes bang, shooter is still safe" kind of use. Accuracy, that's another matter entirely.

 

[rcmodel]

The head space on a .380 with the Taurus clips is the same as the .38 spl.

.380 ACP rim thickness - .045".
.38 Spl rim thickness = .058".

So the Taurus clips are only .013" thick??

Sounds dangerously thin & sharp!

rc

 

[Stainz]

A friend bought a new 5-shot .45 ACP Taurus Tracker on closeout, which was rated for only .45 ACP, some years back. His - like about one in three of the new ones we checked - would chamber and the cylinder would close with .45 Auto Rims - most would not close. It was simply manufacturing slop - they weren't intended to use Auto Rims.

In eyeballing a .380 ACP's extractor depression against a .38 Special's rim thickness, they are essentially the same size. The .380's thin thickness cylinder diameter rim will stand proud of the loaded .38's rim, perhaps preventing cylinder closure in a properly headspaced revolver. Some revolver brands may have enough headspace slop to permit their use, but I would be shocked if a S&W would.

Stainz

 

[Ron James]

Very interesting, but for the life of me, I can not think of any reason I would do such a thing. However, different strokes for different folks.

 

[Jim K]

.32 ACP will fire in almost any revolver chambered for .32 S&W, .32 S&W Long, .32 H&R Magnum, or .327 Federal.

But the .32 ACP runs a lot higher pressure than .32 S&W or .32 S&W Long, so old guns in those calibers might not survive firing the .32 ACP round.

Likewise, .38 ACP and .38 Super Auto will fire in many revolvers chambered for the .38 S&W, but the same problem exists - the auto pistol rounds will be too much for most revolvers in that caliber.

(The reason for the above is pretty obvious when it is realized that Browning started with the .32 S&W and .38 S&W when working on his pistol designs, and kept reducing the rim until he got the rounds to feed, then working up the pressure until the guns functioned.)

Jim

 

[walnut1704]

The Taurus stellar clips are .020-.021. They are thin and sharp. The very reason I wanted a rimmed case. Dead nuts on? no. Not enough of a difference to matter in my gun with the cases I used. There's all sorts of tolerances here. Rim thickness varies manufacturer to manufacturer (Tula is so thick it won't chamber in the Taurus revolver with the clips). There's a head space tolerance in the guns. But if you read my post on the other forum you'll see it worked for me.

All I can verify at the moment is that a .38 spl rim (Winchester or Remington, or Starline .38 Short Colt cases) head space fine in my Taurus .380. Logic would dictate the reverse would be true.

Will it work in every gun? probably not, you'll find an example of a tight head space where it won't. I don't have a J frame, but I know people who do and I'll try it to see if works when I get a chance.

It even makes sense. Taurus just cuts these cylinders the way they do all their .38's.

 

[JT-AR-MG42]

Thanks for the tip RG!

Never thought of it and will pick up a few o-rings to try.

JT

 

[GCBurner]

I'll file that info away for the post-Apocalypse period when ammo of the correct caliber is no longer available.

 

[Radagast]

If you have met internet standards of preparedness for the Zombiepocalypse you should already have enough spam cans of ammo to last the next three generations, even if you do have a 'target rich environment'.

OPs idea is interesting in a "I like gadets way", but I will never try it, in case it becomes interesting in a "train wreck" way.

.38 super will also chamber in some .38 special /.357 magnums. Probably not a good idea in a .357 and a very stupid idea in a .38 special.

 

[skoro]

hmmm...

Seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through in order to use a weaker load.

 

[il.bill]

Radagast summed it up very well:
OPs idea is interesting in a "I like gadets way", but I will never try it, in case it becomes interesting in a "train wreck" way.

The o-ring idea is one I too will file away in the recesses of my memory (those recesses get deeper and darker all the time, unfortunately) ... just in case.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

I swear some folks have too much time on their hands or they are way more adventurous than I am.

 

[kcshooter]

What the what what?

The practical applications are iffy.

I can agree with this if by "iffy" you mean "nonexistant".