"In the old days the bullets with two crimping groves, #358156, were used, by legend, allow 357 loads in a 38 Special case. Don't try it! Bubba may have come up with that one."
I guess that must me that the late Skeeter Skelton was bubba.
One of his favorite loads was a very hot loaded .38 Spl. case with that #358156 that by his own admission was what he used as a duty load. I run that bullet in .38 Spl. and .357 Magnums all the time as it's a favorite bullet. IIRC, Skeeter loaded those .38 Spl. loads to closely duplicate the old 38/44 load used in the S&W Heavy Duty and Outdoorsman revolvers. They were the predecessors to the .357 magnum and worked very well. Using those loads, IIRC 11.5 gr. of 2400 and the #359156 bullet in my Outdoorsman way back in 1959 I took a Black bear with one of those hot .38 Spl. loads. They work just fine today in my current Outdoorsman 6.5"and in a S&W M28 6".
Do I recommend then in a standard .38 Spl. revolver today. Not only no but hell no! My point is they can be extremely useful when fired in a proper .357 Mag. with slightly less recoil and usually very good accuracy.
The S&W 38/44 Heavy Duty and Outdoorsman were just plain old .38 Spl. revolvers on 44 frames, the "N" frame we all know and love.
Paul B.