Can a .357 rifle fire a .38 special bullet?

Hoss Delgado · August 21, 2009, 10:55 PM

As I understand it, a .357 revolver will shoot either .357 bullets or .38 special bullets. Is the same true for rifles? Can I fire a .38 special from a .357 rifle?

Wuchak · August 21, 2009, 10:56 PM

It depends it it's setup to feed the shorter round. The Marlin 1894 will handle both 38's and .357's. I think most other will as well. Just go the website of the manufacturer of the gun you are interested in and it will tell you.

LHB1 · August 22, 2009, 12:01 AM

Bullets are the things which go down the barrel and hit the target. Rounds or ammunition, which you load into the gun to fire, consist of the case, primer, powder, and bullet. The .357 Mag rounds and .38 special rounds use the same bullets but the .38 case is shorter than the .357 case. The .38 round will fire in the .357 mag chamber IF the rifle will feed the shorter rounds. For obvious reasons, do not try to fire a .357 Mag round in a .38 chamber. Not only is the .357 Mag longer than the .38 Special (it was deliberately so designed to prevent such mischamberings) but the .357 Mag is loaded to a much higher pressure than the .38 Special rounds/ammo.

kraigwy · August 22, 2009, 12:11 AM

Quote:

Can I fire a .38 special from a .357 rifle?

YES

TexasProud · August 22, 2009, 11:04 AM

Agreed . YES WILL WORK

Hafoc · August 22, 2009, 11:42 AM

Agreed, it should work, for one shot at least.

The .38 Special is a shorter case and carries a lower pressure powder charge than the .357 Magnum. Otherwise they're the same. Once you get the cartridge into the chamber the Special will fire with no further problems. If your .357 rifle is a single shot-- some of the little rolling-block carbines come to mind-- end of story.

The only problem you'll have is if you're loading the cartridge into a repeater and that repeater is picky about the cartridge length. Some repeaters are designed (or adjusted?) to handle both the Special and the Magnum; like anything else you want to test the ammo in the gun anyway, before you trust it for any critical purpose.

I personally wouldn't be AFRAID to try .38 Special in a rifle chambered only for .357 Magnum. That's just me; I could be wrong about this, but my opinion is that it might work, it might be a jam-o-matic, but in any case the Special isn't producing enough steam that it's going to blow up a Magnum rifle, so you ought to be safe enough. Unless trouble with jams frustrates you enough to REALLY spike your blood pressure.

In my case, though, it's not a question that's going to arise. I handload, and I have no .38 Speical-only weapons, so when I want a .38 Special-level cartridge I handload them in .357 cases.

There's a good reason to do that (aside from the fact that I only have the .357s, which in itself is a good reason to use them). Since the Special is shorter, shooting Specials in a Magnum weapon deposits fouling in the front end of the chamber. This can theoretically make it difficult to chamber the .357 Magnums when you go back to them after shooting the Specials. The solution is simple-- clean your (emphatically qualified) gun!-- But even if the problem is trivial, it doesn't hurt to know about it.

kmrcstintn · August 22, 2009, 11:47 AM

I had a Marlin 1894C (.357 mag lever action) until something broke that held the foreend stock piece in place (wanted a .30-30 and traded it in); it didn't like semiwadcutter bullets with very sharp shoulder profiles and they got jammed on the feed ramp mechanism

kiwi56 · August 22, 2009, 12:30 PM

My Rossi lever action fires both with no problems and same goes for the 44mag version being able to fire 44 special however guns chambered for 38 special or 44 special cannot fire the magnum rounds as the cases for the magnum rounds are longer and and pressures generated are substanially higher.

Hoss Delgado · August 22, 2009, 09:56 PM

Alright, very good then. Thanks.

August 21, 2009, 10:55 PM	#1
Hoss Delgado Member Join Date: November 1, 2008 Posts: 42	Can a .357 rifle fire a .38 special bullet? As I understand it, a .357 revolver will shoot either .357 bullets or .38 special bullets. Is the same true for rifles? Can I fire a .38 special from a .357 rifle?

August 22, 2009, 12:01 AM	#3
LHB1 Senior Member Join Date: March 25, 2005 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 1,545	Bullets are the things which go down the barrel and hit the target. Rounds or ammunition, which you load into the gun to fire, consist of the case, primer, powder, and bullet. The .357 Mag rounds and .38 special rounds use the same bullets but the .38 case is shorter than the .357 case. The .38 round will fire in the .357 mag chamber IF the rifle will feed the shorter rounds. For obvious reasons, do not try to fire a .357 Mag round in a .38 chamber. Not only is the .357 Mag longer than the .38 Special (it was deliberately so designed to prevent such mischamberings) but the .357 Mag is loaded to a much higher pressure than the .38 Special rounds/ammo. __________________ Good shooting and be safe. LB Last edited by LHB1; August 22, 2009 at 12:07 AM.

August 22, 2009, 12:30 PM	#8
kiwi56 Senior Member Join Date: May 19, 2009 Location: Auckland NewZealand Posts: 350	357 vs 38 Special My Rossi lever action fires both with no problems and same goes for the 44mag version being able to fire 44 special however guns chambered for 38 special or 44 special cannot fire the magnum rounds as the cases for the magnum rounds are longer and and pressures generated are substanially higher. Last edited by kiwi56; August 24, 2009 at 03:10 AM.

August 21, 2009, 10:56 PM	#2
Wuchak Senior Member Join Date: June 1, 2007 Location: Shawnee, KS Posts: 1,093	It depends it it's setup to feed the shorter round. The Marlin 1894 will handle both 38's and .357's. I think most other will as well. Just go the website of the manufacturer of the gun you are interested in and it will tell you.

August 22, 2009, 11:04 AM	#5
TexasProud Member Join Date: March 2, 2009 Posts: 26	Agreed . YES WILL WORK

August 22, 2009, 11:42 AM	#6
Hafoc Senior Member Join Date: August 20, 2005 Posts: 552	Agreed, it should work, for one shot at least. The .38 Special is a shorter case and carries a lower pressure powder charge than the .357 Magnum. Otherwise they're the same. Once you get the cartridge into the chamber the Special will fire with no further problems. If your .357 rifle is a single shot-- some of the little rolling-block carbines come to mind-- end of story. The only problem you'll have is if you're loading the cartridge into a repeater and that repeater is picky about the cartridge length. Some repeaters are designed (or adjusted?) to handle both the Special and the Magnum; like anything else you want to test the ammo in the gun anyway, before you trust it for any critical purpose. I personally wouldn't be AFRAID to try .38 Special in a rifle chambered only for .357 Magnum. That's just me; I could be wrong about this, but my opinion is that it might work, it might be a jam-o-matic, but in any case the Special isn't producing enough steam that it's going to blow up a Magnum rifle, so you ought to be safe enough. Unless trouble with jams frustrates you enough to REALLY spike your blood pressure. In my case, though, it's not a question that's going to arise. I handload, and I have no .38 Speical-only weapons, so when I want a .38 Special-level cartridge I handload them in .357 cases. There's a good reason to do that (aside from the fact that I only have the .357s, which in itself is a good reason to use them). Since the Special is shorter, shooting Specials in a Magnum weapon deposits fouling in the front end of the chamber. This can theoretically make it difficult to chamber the .357 Magnums when you go back to them after shooting the Specials. The solution is simple-- clean your (emphatically qualified) gun!-- But even if the problem is trivial, it doesn't hurt to know about it.

August 22, 2009, 11:47 AM	#7
kmrcstintn Senior Member Join Date: June 15, 2008 Posts: 151	I had a Marlin 1894C (.357 mag lever action) until something broke that held the foreend stock piece in place (wanted a .30-30 and traded it in); it didn't like semiwadcutter bullets with very sharp shoulder profiles and they got jammed on the feed ramp mechanism

August 22, 2009, 09:56 PM	#9
Hoss Delgado Member Join Date: November 1, 2008 Posts: 42	Alright, very good then. Thanks.