S&W question

[ChasMack]

I saw a S&W model 13 with a 38spl barrel instead of 357 and 357 bullets fit perfectly in the cylinder. Would it be safe to shoot? Would it be as accurate as it would be with the correct barrel?

 

[Lucky Derby]

As long as it is a M13 with a correctly installed .38 barrel from a M10/14/15 it should not be an issue.
My concern would be that it is not a M13, but a mis-marked M10 to which someone has fitted a M13/M19 cylinder, or worse simply bored the M10 cylinder out.
The .38 barrel fitted to a true M13 is the most likely situation, but I would still take caution.

 

[HexHead]

Call S&W with the serial number to confirm the model number.

 

[skoro]

Would it be safe to shoot?

It certainly isn't worth risking w/o checking its true configuration with S&W.

 

[1911Tuner]

Call Smith & Wesson and give'em the serial number.

There were a few Model 10s chambered for the .357 Magnum cartridge. As far as I know, they were all heavy barrel models, marked .357 on the barrel.

 

[j1]

Caution above all else. Good advice is sometimes so easy to give. To me it is a 38 Special.

 

[Twiki357]

More questions than answers. You say you “Saw” a model 13 with a 38 Spl barrel… A 13-?. Was the frame actually stamped as a Model 13 or did a clerk say it was? Next, the “window” for the cylinder and the cylinder (357=1.67” - a 38 would be 1.56”) are longer for a 357 than it is for a 38. You said the 357 WILL camber so it is presumably a 357 cylinder. If it were a 38 cylinder reamed out for 357, many standard 357 rounds would stick out the front of the cylinder preventing it from closing/indexing. You didn’t say what the barrel length is. The Model 13 was only made with a 3” or 4” barrel. If the barrel is a different length, that would explain it being rebarreled with a 38 Spl barrel. As long as it actually IS a Model 13 frame and cylinder, it should be just fine, but I would be inclined to have a gunsmith check it out to be sure.

 

[StrawHat]

I saw a S&W model 13 with a 38spl barrel instead of 357 and 357 bullets fit perfectly in the cylinder. Would it be safe to shoot? Would it be as accurate as it would be with the correct barrel?

38 Special bullets are the same size as 357 Magnum bullets.

38 Special cartridges are .1" shrter than 357 S&W Magnum cartridges.

The bore diameter of the barrels are the same, the length of the chambers are different. Please let us know to what you are referring.

 

[BSA1]

Curious if has a pinned barrel and non-recessed chambers. 35 +/- years ago it was common to convert Model 10's to 357 magnum simply by recutting the length of the chambers.