A safety issue with S&W revolver.

skgltp · January 25, 2007, 09:41 PM

Hello all, I just bought a pre victory S&W revolver. It started life in late 1941 and was shipped to England early 1942. It was chambered in .38/200(38 S&W) but after the war it was reworked by the barrel being cut to 2 1/2" and the cylinders reamed out to take 38 spl. Knowing the 38 S&W is larger than 38spl. What are the safety issues? Has any one heard of cylinder failures? The bore mics at .359. After a good cleaning the ream area looks darker than the rest of the cylinder, not as smooth, will this be an issue as far as bullet release from the case mouth and cause increased pressures. Need good gunsmith advice. Thank you all.

**Mike Irwin** · January 26, 2007, 03:08 PM

No cylinder failures I've ever heard of, but you must NOT shoot +P or +P+ ammo through these guns, or you very well could get a cylinder failure.

James K · January 26, 2007, 03:58 PM

Many thousands of those guns were reamed to .38 Special. In spite of some dire warnings, I have never heard of any problem except slightly bulged cases and less than top accuracy. Of course, you can also still fire .38 S&W in them.

But listen to Mike and don't use +P or +P+ ammo.

Jim

Rimrod · January 26, 2007, 04:13 PM

Although the .38S&W is a little larger than the .38spl. the brass will expand to the larger diameter with no problem. I would shy away from the aluminum cased Blazers though.

BillCA · January 26, 2007, 06:40 PM

+1 on Mike's caution against +P and +P+ ammo.

My parents own one like this with a 5" barrel. The brass does "bell" out around the lower part of the cartridge case but you can resize them just fine. They will wear out faster than if fired in a .38 Special revolver however.

Some of the conversions were sloppily done. I suggest you carefully inspect the bore alignment with each chamber (or have a gunsmith do it). The rough chamber walls may mean a little stickier extraction unless they're very rough.

Your accuracy will not be anything to write home about either. The slightly larger bore diameter of the .38 S&W barrel will be a little loose for the .38 Special. I'd use lead bullets sized to .358". In fact, best accuracy was with soft lead hollow base wadcutters because the "skirt" could fill the void better. Cleaning was a chore however because we drove 'em to about 850 fps. A lot of ammo passed through our family Victory model and no signs of any problems with standard pressure ammo.

Gewehr98 · February 4, 2007, 09:46 PM

You can get a S&W Model 10 cylinder, or a similar .38 Special K-Frame cylinder, and have it fitted to your pre-Victory M1905 M&P .38/200 (aka. .38 S&W)

I had the same Lend-Lease revolver, Broad Arrow proof marks, rusty and all dinged up, with a horrible 5" barrel, and cylinder timing so bad the gun shaved and spit lead with every round fired. I ripped it apart to the frame, had a 6" Apex barrel installed and a Model 10 cylinder in .38 Special fitted. It became my PPC/Steel Challenge race revolver, and is an absolute blast.

skgltp · February 7, 2007, 11:37 PM

Hi everyone, went to the range and shot about 50 rounds of Winchester .38 spl. through my revolver. Had a slight uniform bulge in all the spent cases no splits no extraction problems, most fell out. Accuracy was really pretty good, it put 90% of the 158 gr. SWC in a 10" circle (slow single action) 10% fliers my fault, at appox.15 yards. I felt very comfortable shooting it after all the information obtained from everyone, thanks again.

January 25, 2007, 09:41 PM	#1
skgltp Junior Member Join Date: January 25, 2007 Location: CO Posts: 2	A safety issue with S&W revolver. Hello all, I just bought a pre victory S&W revolver. It started life in late 1941 and was shipped to England early 1942. It was chambered in .38/200(38 S&W) but after the war it was reworked by the barrel being cut to 2 1/2" and the cylinders reamed out to take 38 spl. Knowing the 38 S&W is larger than 38spl. What are the safety issues? Has any one heard of cylinder failures? The bore mics at .359. After a good cleaning the ream area looks darker than the rest of the cylinder, not as smooth, will this be an issue as far as bullet release from the case mouth and cause increased pressures. Need good gunsmith advice. Thank you all.

January 26, 2007, 03:08 PM	#2
Mike Irwin Staff Join Date: April 14, 2000 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 41,642	No cylinder failures I've ever heard of, but you must NOT shoot +P or +P+ ammo through these guns, or you very well could get a cylinder failure. __________________ "The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind" -Theodorus Gaza Baby Jesus cries when the fat redneck doesn't have military-grade firepower.

February 4, 2007, 09:46 PM	#6
Gewehr98 Senior Member Join Date: July 1, 2000 Location: Token Creek, WI Posts: 4,067	If you find the right gunsmith... You can get a S&W Model 10 cylinder, or a similar .38 Special K-Frame cylinder, and have it fitted to your pre-Victory M1905 M&P .38/200 (aka. .38 S&W) I had the same Lend-Lease revolver, Broad Arrow proof marks, rusty and all dinged up, with a horrible 5" barrel, and cylinder timing so bad the gun shaved and spit lead with every round fired. I ripped it apart to the frame, had a 6" Apex barrel installed and a Model 10 cylinder in .38 Special fitted. It became my PPC/Steel Challenge race revolver, and is an absolute blast.

January 26, 2007, 03:58 PM	#3
James K Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 17, 1999 Posts: 24,383	Many thousands of those guns were reamed to .38 Special. In spite of some dire warnings, I have never heard of any problem except slightly bulged cases and less than top accuracy. Of course, you can also still fire .38 S&W in them. But listen to Mike and don't use +P or +P+ ammo. Jim

January 26, 2007, 04:13 PM	#4
Rimrod Senior Member Join Date: October 19, 2005 Location: Behind enemy lines Posts: 1,309	Although the .38S&W is a little larger than the .38spl. the brass will expand to the larger diameter with no problem. I would shy away from the aluminum cased Blazers though.

January 26, 2007, 06:40 PM	#5
BillCA Senior Member Join Date: November 28, 2004 Location: Silicon Valley, Ca Posts: 7,116	+1 on Mike's caution against +P and +P+ ammo. My parents own one like this with a 5" barrel. The brass does "bell" out around the lower part of the cartridge case but you can resize them just fine. They will wear out faster than if fired in a .38 Special revolver however. Some of the conversions were sloppily done. I suggest you carefully inspect the bore alignment with each chamber (or have a gunsmith do it). The rough chamber walls may mean a little stickier extraction unless they're very rough. Your accuracy will not be anything to write home about either. The slightly larger bore diameter of the .38 S&W barrel will be a little loose for the .38 Special. I'd use lead bullets sized to .358". In fact, best accuracy was with soft lead hollow base wadcutters because the "skirt" could fill the void better. Cleaning was a chore however because we drove 'em to about 850 fps. A lot of ammo passed through our family Victory model and no signs of any problems with standard pressure ammo.

February 7, 2007, 11:37 PM	#7
skgltp Junior Member Join Date: January 25, 2007 Location: CO Posts: 2	Hi everyone, went to the range and shot about 50 rounds of Winchester .38 spl. through my revolver. Had a slight uniform bulge in all the spent cases no splits no extraction problems, most fell out. Accuracy was really pretty good, it put 90% of the 158 gr. SWC in a 10" circle (slow single action) 10% fliers my fault, at appox.15 yards. I felt very comfortable shooting it after all the information obtained from everyone, thanks again.