# shooting .38 in a .357



## kevinsmith1 (Oct 3, 2008)

I have thought about replacing my model 442 (.38) with the M&P340 (.357). for those who don't know, they are both J frames. I enjoy shooting, but i know i won't enjoy shooting .357 mag rounds out of this J frame. i have noticed there aren't alot of people on youtube who want to do it either. The reasons for replacing are for the sights that come on the M&P340 and its a little bit lighter. Anyway....do you lose velocity, accuracy, or energy shooting the .38 round through the .357 cylinder? thanks in advance.


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## Baldy (Jun 21, 2006)

The diameter of the cartridge cylinder and the barrel are same for a .38 & .357. Now the shell of the .357 is 1/10" longer than a .38spl. The cylinder of a .357 is longer length wise than a .38spl cylinder. Hope that helps.


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## James NM (Jan 4, 2007)

kevinsmith1 said:


> ....do you lose velocity, accuracy, or energy shooting the .38 round through the .357 cylinder? thanks in advance.


Not enough to make any difference.

The only real problem is the crud build up in the cylinder after shooting lots of 38's and then shooting 357's without cleaning in between. The 357's can be difficult to load in the chamber, or very hard to extract after firing.


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## Teuthis (Apr 9, 2008)

The two rounds are interchangeable in the .357. If you want to learn the trigger of your revolver, and keep up familiarity with it, shooting .38 Special wadcutters is an excellent drill. I have shot .38's in mine for many years with no problems. In my opinion, anyone who does not clean their firearms each time after shooting them, does not value them properly. I clean that .38 build-up out of the .357 cylinder before it becomes build-up. There are several excellent reasons for keeping one's firearm scrupulously clean. And no good reasons not to.


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## SigZagger (Aug 16, 2006)

IIRC, most of the data for bullet performance is obtained with the use of a 4" barrel. So, the shorter barrel models will suffer slightly. In long run, for up close and personal self defense, I doubt it would matter to the bad guy on the other end. Hence, a good quality performing 38 round carried in a 357 chamber is not uncommon.


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