I need to convince a friend that you can shoot.38 special loads out of a .357

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JeffDilla

JeffDilla

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I'm going shooting with a friend this coming weekend and he recently acquired a blackhawk .357 from a relative. He's only been shooting .357 rounds out of it. I picked up a box of remington .38 special loads to shoot and when I let him know, he was a little iffy about shooting them. He is not real familiar with .357s and apparently didn't know you can shoot .38 specials out of them. Being somewhat new to shooting handguns myself, he's not ready to just take my word for it. How can I convince him that you can in fact shoot .38 special loads out of his .357 blackhawk? I guess me telling him, "I read it on the internet" isn't going to suffice :) Thanks.
 
Let HIM read it on the internet.. Maybe even on this site. It's understandable for a newbie to not know all about guns/ammo/shooting. Or maybe have him call a trusted friend/relative who might know and clue him in.
 
I didnt know that until a few months ago when I was talking with a clerk at the local gun shop.

Find someone older and wiser that can explain it to him
 
Yeah, I'll just have to tell him to ask someone with more experience. He got the gun from his grandmother, maybe she'll convince him. I only found out recently myself, and I learned it from this forum. I can understand why he's skeptical. Can his blackhawk handle shooting full house .357 loads on a regular basis or does it risk some damage from the constant higher pressure?
 
Why not just have him contact Ruger by telephone, and let the gun's manufacturer tell him so.
 
I'm guessing he doesn't have the owner's manual. It's an older gun that his grandmother gave to him. I could be wrong though.
 
The information you need is right in the Blackhawk Instruction Manual. If you don't have the manual it's available online from Ruger. Look at page 13 in the Manual and there will be no further doubts. ;)

*EDIT*
rcmodel, you are too fast!! The time it took me to post this you already had it posted!! LOL
 
It's an older gun that his grandmother gave to him.
Click to expand...

Then I might add, if it's a three-screw, only load five!

Hammer down on an empty chamber is the only safe way to carry it loaded.

To load:
Load one, skip one, load four.

Then pull the hammer back and let it down on the empty chamber

rcmodel
 
On another note, at the gun show we went to on sunday, he bought a box of .357 loads. Once we left, upon inspection, they appeared to be reloads, should there be any concern shooting them?
 
rcmodel nailed it - it's in the owner's manual that the engraving on his barrel exhorts him to read.

One is well advised to not believe anything on the internet. Even here the posts aren't vetted and we all get a little nuts in the "love" and "versus" threads. The internet is where we learn that dihydrogen monoxide should be banned and that we shouldn't vaccinate our kids.

I can usually pop into any random "versus" thread and provide a couple examples of unchallenged horribly bad advice inside 20 posts. We say things in front of each other that really shouldn't be repeated in front of the inexperienced. We're family and know when we're kidding and that family will "fill in the blanks".

The absolute last thing I'd do is try to convince him of anything based on the contents of the internet.

John Lawton said:
The irony of the Information Age is that it has given new respectability to uninformed opinion.
Click to expand...
 
rcmodel, thanks for the info. We're just going to the gravel pit out behind his house (he lives out in the boonies). I don't think he'll be carrying it loaded, just loading once we are there and ready to shoot, but I'll let him know anyway, thanks again, its good to know.
 
357/38

357s would be the same length as 38s except there were many 38 long colt revolvers that would be dangerous with the loads so they made 357 mag 1/10 inch longer.same diam case.:uhoh::rolleyes:
 
Once we left, upon inspection, they appeared to be reloads, should there be any concern shooting them?
Click to expand...

Are they factory reloads, i.e. did he buy them from a distributor stand, or did he buy them from one of the private sellers there? I've shoot plenty of factory reloads from both of my S&W's and Taurus .40 with no problems. It might still be considered an unkonwn source, but at least I know certain standards had to be met for the factory doing it.
 
He bought them from a private seller I think. I wasn't with him when he bought them, but I think he did mention the booth he bought them from.
 
I have a S&W model 65 which is a 357. I shot nothing but .38 at the range. Cheaper practice. No problem.
 
Is the FBI good enough to convince him?

For quite a while (before they went briefly to the 10 mm Lite and eventually to the .40), the standard FBI carry was 38 special +P out of a SW 19-3 .357 revolver.

The caliber change was prompted by the 1986 Miami Shootout. Any source you find will detail that during the shootout, the handguns used by the FBI included 9mm SW 459's, and .38 and .357 revolvers--all the revolvers were loaded with .38 special cartridges.
 
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