Shooting 38super out of a 38 special.....

Britt,
the 38 Super is .005 inch larger in diameter and has a SAAMI standard pressure of 33000 CUP.

The 38 Spl has a SAAMI standard pressure of 17000 CUP with limits raised to 20000 CUP for the +p rounds

In a heavy frame 38Spl revolver the practice of firing 38 Super rounds would be inadvisable. In a light-weight revolver the results could be disastrous.

If you want advice, mine would be,"No way!" but if you are looking for wisdom - that has to be learned. . . and education is expensive.

PaulS

:grin: BRITT. Well,as a matter of course I tell everyone that ask me that question,wether it be .41 mag inna .410 shotgun,or putting anything in a chamber that aint designed fer it. DONT DO IT !!!!!!!. I have shot some 9mm out of a 38/.357 but I dont think ya would have wanted to be where I was at when that was occuring. A lot of guys will figure a .38 is a .38/9mm,.38super,.38 short,....... I would not do it,the gun is not chambered for that round.,and it is not like the .357/.38 or the .44mag/44 special. You friend may be doing it all of the time,but there is going to probably be a time when he is going to wish he had not done that. King. PS..If yer friend reloads...dont use his reloads either. I would much rather be safe,and keep my fingers,and eyes.

Considering cost and availability I cant see why anyone would want too. Except for last ditch survival or just to see if you can. Stick to whats stamped on the gun and be safe. I know people who shoot 22lr in 22mags because its cheaper and "only about every third case splits", still dont make it a good idea.

I read an article in a gun rag a while back (it was an older one I was re-reading) where one of the authors did this with a .357 Mag. He excplicitly stated that he would not advise it for any gun chambered in .38 Spl. and that it's really not adviseable to use it in .357 Magnum guns unless absolutely necessary. With that disclaimer out of the way, he went on to state that he did not find anything particularly unsafe in his test gun (K- or L-frame Smith, I think).

I personally would not do it in either of my .357 Mag revolvers, but then I have .357 Mag ammo on hand and plenty of components to reload for it. Also, I do not have any .38 Super ammo, and if I did, I would have a .38 Super chambered firearm of some flavor to shoot it out of. Stick to the ammo the gun is chambered for unless it is absolutely vital to survival to try something else.

38 Super in 38 Spl

Britt: I would listen to the others and never do this yourself. The pressure differences are the main issue. Years ago I tried chambering the 38 Super in revolvers of both calibers, 38 Spl and 357, and found they would chamber but that was all. I knew the 38 Super was a 35-38,000 PSI cartridge and the 38 Spl was NOT, and was not about to lose either a part of the gun or a part of my hand trying to find out if it would work.

IMHO. Mikey.