new revolver

[joeyj]

does anybody make a new pistol for the old 38 s&w. Looking on the net, I get confused about all the 38 cartrages out there.

[pennlineman]

I'm not aware or anyone making a new .38 S&W. If you mean .38 S&W special then sure there's plenty of new revolvers out there chambered for it.

[Dave_n]

I suspect the only "new" revolvers in this calibre were the run of Ruger's a few years ago for the Indian Gov't and reports of an occasional Indian Webley Mk IV, though that could be Pakistani, as I cannot remember the correct nationality of the group that brought Webley and Scott's machinery a few years ago. Let us just say "Indian Sub-continent". Dave_n

[WCMG]

does anybody make a new pistol for the old 38 s&w. Looking on the net, I get confused about all the 38 cartrages out there.

Our main distributor database shows 1,832 handguns with zero found for the 38 S&W caliber, so I would guess the answer is no from the major manufacturers. It did find 78 handguns in 38 Special and 9 handguns with 38 Super.

[indianjack]

Well technically no, but any revolver chambered for 357 mag or 38 special will fire 38 S&W with no issues. They are not backward compatible, IE revolvers chambered in 38 special will not fire 357, and one chambered in 38 S&W will not fire 357 or 38 special.

[mongo]

Well technically no, but any revolver chambered for 357 mag or 38 special will fire 38 S&W with no issues. They are not backward compatible, IE revolvers chambered in 38 special will not fire 357, and one chambered in 38 S&W will not fire 357 or 38 special.

38S&W case will not fit in to a 38S&W-Special chamber. I guess you could ream out the cylinders of a 38S&W-Special or a 357S&W-Magnum to take the old cartridge, but what would be the point. The names and interchangeability of ammo can be confusing, more so with the old stuff........

[knight0334]

Well technically no, but any revolver chambered for 357 mag or 38 special will fire 38 S&W with no issues. They are not backward compatible, IE revolvers chambered in 38 special will not fire 357, and one chambered in 38 S&W will not fire 357 or 38 special.

Most .38spl/.357mag guns will not chamber a .38S&W, some will though. They aren't the same caliber. .357" versus .361" for bullet diameter. Case diameters have a similar difference.

[R L Suehr]

Well technically no, but any revolver chambered for 357 mag or 38 special will fire 38 S&W with no issues. They are not backward compatible, IE revolvers chambered in 38 special will not fire 357, and one chambered in 38 S&W will not fire 357 or 38 special.

.38 s&w is not the same bullet diameter as .38 special or .357 mag. I wouldn't try this personally. The 38 special and .357 mag were developed from the .38 long colt not the s&w cartridge.

.38 S&W = .361 bullet diameter
.38 Special/.357 mag = .357 bullet diameter

It is a low pressure round so I doubt it would cause a catastrophic failure in a modern gun, but I wouldn't try it personally.

Edit: Haha, Looks like Night beat me to it. I really need to learn how to type faster.

[justashooter]

google "indian women's anti-rape revolver" and you will see a recently announced "new" revolver that is basically on an old webley design chambered for 38 S&W and retails for the equivalent of $2000 USD in india.

[Ecclectic Collector]

The .38 S&W is dimensionally the same as a 9mm parabellum with a rim added. Check a Lyman reloading manual or Frank Barnes "Cartridges of the World" if you don't believe me.

Major George Nonte's book "Cartridge Conversions" said you can use 9mm Parabellum dies to reload it. Yes, I have and it works fine for me.

Another oddity about the round is that is actually doesn't always use a .361 diameter bore. If you own a S&W Victory model (aka Model 11) made in the Commonwealth .38/200 chambering (That's what the Brits called the .38 S&W) you'll find they are the same old .358 diameter bore as a .38 Special has.

This is a cartridge with a working load in the 12-14K CPU pressure range, hardly a hot rod by anyone's standard. In a strongly made design it can produce much better results than the factory specs give for this round. I have loaded mine to standard .38 Special ballistics. I won't share data of my loads on-line, but you can do your own research and load accordingly.

Anyway, the others who have said this already but I'll repeat it; you cannot put a .38 S&W in a .38 Special chamber. The body of the .38 S&W is wider at the base so it will not chamber.