If I wanted to buy a .38 S&W chambered revolver

[bandanabandit1]

You're not going to go wrong with a S&W Victory model.

[darkgael]

"Just make sure it has not had the cylinders bored out to accept .38 Special."

The .38 Spl and the .38 S&W are dimensionally quite different. The .38 Special case is longer than the .38 S&W but the .38 S&W is fatter
.38 Spl = 0.3790 dia.
.38 S&W= 0.3865 dia
Boring out is unnecessary/counterproductive...making a cylinder that is already too big even bigger.
.38 spl cases fired in .38 S&W chambers bulge and often split.

[Salmoneye]

Originally Posted by darkgael

Boring out is unnecessary/counterproductive...making a cylinder that is already too big even bigger.

Has nothing to do with boring 'bigger'...

It has to do with boring 'longer' in order to accept the longer .38SPCL case...

[Jeff #111]

I was lucky several years ago to find a British contract Colt Official Police in 38 S&W/38-200. Made in 1941 it's more than strong enough for the 38S&W. They're hard to find, but if you do you get lucky can't go wrong with a classic Colt Official Police. Good luck.

[darkgael]

It has to do with boring 'longer' in order to accept the longer .38SPCL case...

What would be getting removed?
The chamber is wider than a .38 spl case for its entire length. The Special cases drop right in. What you do have to take care about is OAL. It is possible for the .38 S&W cylinder to be too short for a paricular Special loading. Boring is not gonna make the cylinder longer.

If you wanted to shoot .38 S&W cartridges in a gun chambered for .38 Special, then you would have to bore out the chambers

[reddog81]

Originally Posted by darkgael

What would be getting removed?
The chamber is wider than a .38 spl case for its entire length. The Special cases drop right in. What you do have to take care about is OAL. It is possible for the .38 S&W cylinder to be too short for a paricular Special loading. Boring is not gonna make the cylinder longer.

If you wanted to shoot .38 S&W cartridges in a gun chambered for .38 Special, then you would have to bore out the chambers

The throat diameter needs to be enlarged.
38 S & W case length = .775 with a diameter of .3855
38 Special case length = 1.15 with a diameter of .379

A 38 S&W cylinder will have a chamber that can accept a case .775 inches long. After that there is either a step or a taper to the throat diameter of somewhere around .357 to .361. A 38 special case will fit into the charging hole and have wiggle room up to the case length of .775 but the whole case should not fit. I have half a dozen 38 S&W's - None of them accept a 38 special case.

If you have a 38 S&W that has the charging holes bored straight through it will work, and it's possible some were manufactured that way but it's not common. Otherwise you must bore out the throat diameter to accept the longer 38 special case. This was a very common practice done to returning British Service Revolvers originally manufactured by S&W in the 38 S&W cartridge so they would be more attractive to US buyers.

[Will_G]

Jeff in post #29, that is a really nice Official Police! I knew S&W made a 38 S&W during WWII, but I did not know Colt did. I may have to look for one of those!!! Thanks for posting the photos.

[TruthTellers]

Originally Posted by darkgael

The .38 Spl and the .38 S&W are dimensionally quite different. The .38 Special case is longer than the .38 S&W but the .38 S&W is fatter
.38 Spl = 0.3790 dia.
.38 S&W= 0.3865 dia
Boring out is unnecessary/counterproductive...making a cylinder that is already too big even bigger.
.38 spl cases fired in .38 S&W chambers bulge and often split.

What about .38 Short Colt cases?

[BillM]

Just remembered more possibilities. S&W Royal Hong Kong Police.
38 S&W There were a bunch that came into the country years ago--not expensive
at the time, but i haven't seen one for sale in quite a while.
And if you want a Unicorn---find a 6" S&W model 11

[Jeff #111]

Will G

Jeff in post #29, that is a really nice Official Police! I knew S&W made a 38 S&W during WWII, but I did not know Colt did. I may have to look for one of those!!! Thanks for posting the photos.

Thank you. Yes Colt made it from late 1940 to July/August 1941. Nobody seems to know how many were made. The British paid cash for the 38/200 Official Police. It wasn't part of the Lend-Lease Act so the numbers were considerably smaller.The general consensus is approximately 25,000, but again nobody really knows. Oh beware however of one thing. Some were imported in the late fifties and early sixties and they were "converted" to 38 Special. I was lucky with this one.

[otasan]

Originally Posted by TruthTellers

which would be the better choice: A Webley in .38/200 or an H&R Defender?





Or would the original .38 S&W revolver be a better choice?



I do plan to reload the ammo and shoot whichever revolver I may end up getting.

The .38-200 Webley nomenclature refers to the original factory load - a 200-gr lead bullet at 600 FPS.

[darkgael]

NEI hand tools makes a mould (#149a)that duplicates the profile of the .38/200 loading. Lyman makes a mould that drops a LRN 185 grain bullet at .361 in WW alloy (#35840?)

[TruthTellers]

There were some posts earlier in this thread that were talking about how .38 Special chambers and works in .38 S&W cylinders. I know that the Special case is too long to be shot from a standard .38 S&W chamber, but could .38 Short Colt chamber in a .38 S&W revolver and be shot from it? Would the case still bulge even tho the .38 Short Colt is a low pressure cartridge?

[darkgael]

Left to right: .357 Mag., .38Spl. WC, .38 Colt, .38/200

[CajunBass]

I used to have one of those little H&R topbreakks in 38 S&W. It seemed to be a nice little gun. I sold it before firing it, but liked it.

They do have a weakness in that the mainspring has a plastic "yoke" on the end that is prone to breakage. Numrich has them if you need one. If you do, get two.

In theory there is a version made with a metal "yoke" but I've never seen them in stock.