38 spec. out of 357 mag...

[loademwell]

I was just thinking about going out and buying a 357 mag. I have a whole bunch of ammo for both cal. I know that you can shoot the 38's out of the 357 but just wondering if ITS possible to load a full 357 charge in a 38 case? Would this be dangerous?
I haven't done any looking into this yet.. I could check a book and see how much powder can be put into each.
But just figured I would shoot this out there and see what you guys think...
Has anyone done this?

[Ccctennis]

Is it possible to load full 357 charge in 38 case. I would advise against it. Case capacity vs powder amount is a factor in pressure or over pressure. You could physically fit a 357 powder charge in the case but there isn't a manual on earth that will suggest it or say it is ok. The whole reason why 38 special exists and is different lengths is so you cannot accidentally load a 357 cartridge into a 38 special revolver.

For you digits sake only load what the book says to load. If you want to run a 357 case a little over book minimum and you worked up to it then you take the risk, but what you are suggesting should be avoided.

[Hammerhead]

Can it be done? sure!
Will your .357 blow up? Maybe.
Will someone else's .38 spl blow up if your loads end up in their gun? Probably.

[Misssissippi Dave]

There is no problem loading .38 special +P in a special case and shooting them in a .357 magnum. They should only be used in .38 special revolvers designed for the +P ammo. Trying to get full house magnum loads out using a special case is not something I would ever want to try. Too much can go wrong and probably will before you find something that could possibly work.

Now loading a .357 magnum to .38 special speeds has been done many times. Some people not wanting the carbon ring in cylinders you get shooting specials will do just this to get the lower recoil. Nobody says you have to load max loads in .357 magnum.

[Deja vu]

I often load a weak 38 special load in my 357 magnum brass (trail boss) It makes for easy shooting. But it would be very dangerous to do it the other way around.

[loademwell]

Good point on the "If I was to give someone some 38 Spec rounds and having a 357 charge behind it." That would suck.. Point taken. Not going to do it...

Thanks guys for the great points.

What can I say, I had a brain Fart....... lol

[Clark]

The case web is thicker on a 357 mag, so depending on the OAL you seat, the case volume might go down and the pressure up slightly.

But if one tries to blow up guns, 38 specials can be blown up in a work up before the brass flows, but they require a lot of overload. I have split the cylinders on at least 3. The tiny change in case volume will not amount to squat.


But 38sp brass is so cheap, it is not worth your time to do anything extra.
http://www.amazon.com/Special-Fired-.../dp/B005WGJ4X6

[243winxb]

load a full 357 charge in a 38 case? Would this be dangerous?

Yes, dont do it.

[g.willikers]

The 38-44 round, that preceded the .357 Magnum, was just that.
.357 equivalent loads in .38 cases.
But it was designed for the larger, .44 sized model, for safety.
Their existence didn't end with the arrival of the .357.
No doubt folks who reload still make them.
Hopefully, only for guns suitable for them.

[Bezoar]

its safe. it just requires two or three specific things.

1. a 357 magnum revolver
2. a specific 158 grain lead bullet with 2 crimping grooves designed with this purpose in mind.

3. seating the above mentioned bullet so that it has the same internal volume as a regular .357 case.

[Nick_C_S]

Has anyone done this?

I know one guy who did this. We call him "lefty" now .

Simply taking a 357's worth of powder charge and loading it into a 38 case would be highly ill-advised by any standard of common sense.

I could check a book and see how much powder can be put into each.

Both cases are cavernous. The 38 case was designed back in the black powder days. BP uses more volume per charge. Thus, the 38 case has a lot of "extra" room compared to most any other modern caliber. In the instance of my target rounds, I can put in 3 powder charges without overflowing the case. The 357 kinda followed suit. It was made .135" longer than the 38 as to not be able to chamber into a 38 gun - not for the extra powder requirement. Although, some full-power loadings with very slow powders can just about fill a 357 case.

But yes, if approached properly, one can safely load a 38 case to 357 magnum pressures. And yes, this created round could be fired safely from a 357 magnum gun in proper working condition. This has been done many times in the past and was the impetus for the evolution of the 357 Magnum gun. That said however, the practice is extremely - extremely - ill-advised. I would discourage any thought of this practice in the strongest terms. Don't do it. If you want to load a 38 Special round, use a 38 Special case. If you want to load a 357 round, use a 357 case.

Use your load manuals/published data; and more importantly, your common sense.

[243winxb]

http://www.photobucket.com/kabooom Dont forget to post the photos.

[Clark]

This reminds me...
When I started handloading ~ 15 years ago, within a few months I was overloading guns to see what would happen.
I started out pulling a trigger string.

I tied an S&W 60 38 special with 357 mag loads in it to a board and sat behind a concrete wall and pulled the string.

I knew that for good science, I needed to get straight what I expected to happen and why. Once I determined that, I pulled the string that was stretched over the wall.

The recoil tore the revolver loose and it came flying over my head as I sat there.

That was NOT what I thought was going to happen. But the trigger string was handy for finding the revolver.

[Slamfire]

Even if you don't plan on shooting mini nukes in your 357, I stopped shooting 38 Spl +P in mine because of the lead ring that developed in the cylinder. The shorter 38 Special round left a lead ring and when I shot 357 in the revolver, it was hard to extract the cases.

So, when I want 38 Special performance in a 357, I use 357 cases and load them light.

[Nick_C_S]

but the trigger string was handy for finding the revolver.

. . . ^^ ^^

[valleyforge.1777]

357 Mag brass, new or once-fired, is expensive. 357 Mag ammo is expensive if you can find it at all.

Many of us have 357 Mag firearms.

Many of us have way too much once-fired 38 Special brass; way more than we can ever use with reloaded 38's.

That, right there, is the reason that I have asked this very same question, and many others have also asked the same question: Can one safely shoot overloaded 38 Special rounds in a 357 Magnum firearm? And, many of us have done exactly that. At the very least, you can certainly make 38+P, and you can safely make 38+P+ in 38 Special cases. Some of us have pushed it to the 357 Magnum pressure level in 38 Special cases, fired from 357 Magnum firearms. I'm not saying that is OK, but I am saying that many of us are still alive, with all ten fingers. 38+P and 38+P+ should be fine in your 38 Special cases in a 357 Magnum firearm.

I will add, however, that a real eye-opener for me was when someone actually sectioned some 38, 38+P, and 357 Magnum brass, and posted photos of it on this forum. At least for the brass he showed, the cases for 357 Magnum were noticeably thicker than the 38's. It opened my eyes, but did not stop the experimentation. For reasons I've explained in other past threads, I settled on loading my 38 Special cases to just over the 38+P load level. It works for what I was trying to accomplish, explained elsewhere.

By the way: The historical 38-44 was NOT equivelent to today's 357 Magnum pressures or velocity. I'm not saying that a 357 Mag firearm, or a historical 38-44 firearm could not take a load with today's 357 Mag pressures, but I do want to make sure that the record is straight. The 38-44 was a forerunner to the development of the 357 Magnum, but the 357 Magnum of today is a much higher pressure round than the 38-44 ever was.

[Greg Mercurio]

Your post states you have a "bunch" of ammo for both. So do yourself a favor and just load the .38's as .38's and the .357's as .357's. It's really silly to do otherwise and invites a disaster. The guy standing next to you is expecting you to not slice his nose off for your experiment.