Can .38/200 rounds be fired from a .38 Special revolver?

[Colonel Enfield]

A friend and I were talking about this the other day; one of those interesting discussions that comes up between enthusiasts.

Given the urgent need for handguns by the British in WWII, they were buying pretty much everything they could get their hands on, including .38 Special calibre handguns, despite the official Commonwealth service revolver cartridge beng .38/200 (well, .380" Revolver Mk IIz, but you know what I mean).

To the best of my knowledge, the S&W Victory revolvers ordered by the Commonwealth in .38/200 were identical to the .38 Special version used by the US military, to the point where S&W just stuck a .38/200 cylinder into the .38 Special frame revolver.

Given this obvious interchangeability, it does raise the question of whether or not it would have been possible to take .38/200 cartridges, load them into a .38 Special revolver, and fire them without any significant adverse effects.

A 1943 military small arms text notes you can fire .45 ACP from the .455 Webley Automatic Model 1911 pistols, although it's really not a good idea and should be kept for emergencies only.

Is the same true of firing .38/200 rounds from a .38 Special revolver? Or is there another reason it's not practical/advisable? (Beyond the usual caveats about not interchanging cartridges, of course...)

Information

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[RCS]

I am unable to chamber the 38 S&W cartridge in a 38 Special revolver.

[303tom]

NO, they will NOT chamber !..................

[browningautorifle]

As Tom and RCS say, simply no they won't chamber. It's a different cartridge. Not higher powered than 38 Spl, just bigger round.

[Bruce McAskill]

The only thing that was the same with the Victory models was the internals and the frame. The barrel and cylinder were different. The bullet diameter for the .38/200 aka .38 S&W is larger then the .38 Spl. bullet. The barrel on the .38/200 were 5 inch and the .38 Spl were 4 inch. Now I have seen some later model guns that were in .357 magnum that could take the .38/200 rounds and fired them fine. Could also chamber 38 Super
in them. Those were a couple of S&W model 66's from the early 1970's.

[RCS]

I am still having a problem with the 38 S&W cartridge chambering in a 38 Special or 357 Magnum revover. I load the 38 S&W for two revolvers and the 38 Special for three revolvers. Even with a plastic hammer, I still can not chamber a 38 S&W in a 38 Special revolver ! Maybe there is some confusion concerning the cartridge names: If you have a S&W 357 magnum, you will be able to chamber the following cartridges - 38 Short Colt, 38 Long Colt, 38 S&W Special and 38 Colt Special.

If you have a 38 S&W revolver you can chamber the 38 Colt New Police, 38 Super Police, and 38 S&W.

Average neck diameter of a 357 magnum is .379 inch while the average neck diameter of the 38 S&W is .386 inch

[browningautorifle]

The only exception to what RCS just pointed out would be a Winchester Trapper I had in 38Spl/357 Mag. I could hand chamber 38 S&W and fire them in it. Only one ever. All my other 38Spls and 357s...NO!

[Bruce McAskill]

I would normally agree with you not being able to chamber the 38 S&W rounds BUT these two did it. They did not just slide it as it took some pressure from the fingers to get them in. Then when he chambered .38 Super in it I was shocked to see it. I am guessing the chambers were a bit bigger then normal and since he had two of them close to each other in serial number that maybe the machining was off a bit when made.

[browningautorifle]

I have shot 38 super out of 38 spl and 357 as well.

[Colonel Enfield]

Interesting - thanks for the replies! The fact you can fire .38 Special out of a .357 Magnum is well known but I'm glad we've established you can't fire .38 S&W out of a .357 Magnum or .38 Special revolver.