# Question! S&W 686, sku: 164224



## GunRunner (Jan 4, 2019)

I recently purchased a new Smith and Wesson 686 revolver! Model 686 sku: 164224. It says on the barrel S&W .357 Magnum. I’m assuming that’s just regular .357mag? That the S&W doesn’t mean anything? Also will it shoot any .38 Special ammunition?

I’m not new to .357mag/.38Special revolvers but new to S&W revolvers. I’m just making sure that even though the barrel reads S&W .357 Magnum that you just buy regular .357 Magnum? Thanks folks!


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## Rock185 (Oct 26, 2012)

Yes, Regular .357 Magnum.


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## denner12 (Oct 14, 2017)

Yes, any 38 and 38 Special + P as well.


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## hillman (Jul 27, 2014)

Wasn't Smith&Wesson involved in development of the cartridge? Probably wanted its official designation to be .357 Smith & Wesson Magnum. Failing that, S&W 357 Magnum on a Smith & Wesson revolver is both technically true and, witness the OP, suggestive.


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## rustygun (Apr 8, 2013)

It is also worth noting that the manual clearly states the type of ammunition that can be used. S&W also states do not use anything +P+.


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## pblanc (Mar 3, 2015)

Yes, you should be able to use any type of 38 Special and 357 Magnum ammunition. The SAAMI spec for the 357 Magnum cartridge dictates a maximum case pressure of 35,000. The SAAMI spec for 38 Special P is 17,000 and for +P it is 20,000. There is no SAAMI specification for 38 Special +P+, but it is very unlikely that commercially loaded 38 Special ammunition could be loaded to anything approximating the case pressure of 357 Magnum without blowing out the case. So any revolver that is robust enough to handle 357 Magnum will handle any reasonable load of 38 Special with ease.

Since there are no SAAMI maximum case pressure specs for any type of +P+, all that designation means is that the cartridge may be loaded to a higher pressure limit than that of the corresponding +P loads. So since with +P+ ammo "the sky is the limit" when it comes to pressure, virtually no gunmaker will condone using it in their firearms. Obviously, blowing out a case is not good for any type of firearm, let alone the shooter.

If you have not owned a 357 Magnum revolver before, or have owned one but not shot 38 Special through it, be aware that after shooting a bunch of 38 Special without cleaning your cylinder, you can have trouble loading it with 357 Magnum. Since the case of the 357 Magnum cartridge is 3.7 mm longer than that of 38 Special, both the projectile tip and the case mouth of 38 Special will sit farther back in the cylinder than 357 Magnum. A carbon ring can build up at the location of where the mouth of the 38 Special cartridge sits and unless removed, this can bind up 357 Magnum cartridges when you try to load them or extract the spent cases. Hoppes "Tornado" bore brushes are very effective at cleaning the carbon ring out of cylinders. Since the cylinders are of slightly larger diameter than the barrel bore, I usually use a .40 caliber brush on the cylinders rather than a .38 caliber.


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## rustygun (Apr 8, 2013)

I have heard of people who reload, loading .38 special loads in .357 mag. cases to eliminate carbon build up.


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## DJ Niner (Oct 3, 2006)

rustygun said:


> I have heard of people who reload, loading .38 special loads in .357 mag. cases to eliminate carbon build up.


To get similar velocity in the larger case, most folks will bump it up one or two tenths of a grain, and then re-check pressure and accuracy. I did my target loads that way for a while, then somebody gave me several thousand one-fired .38 cases, and I went back to.38 cases for light/target loads.


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