coworker relayed this to me today.
bought a Ruger LCR 38+P model.
thru a couple mistakes, loaded up and fired 4 38 super rounds. Said it was loud, and he got peppered with junk.
He noticed when he was removing empties and piled next to some 38 special empties and noticed the case length difference.

and this really is a coworker

anybody else do this? here of it? Have any thoughts on the matter?

I told him to find a good gunsmith, and do an inspection.
I am not familiar enough with the details to advise him more specifically, nor do I want to.

he is a fairly new hire, and I have not worked with him a great deal, but, he seems more detailed oriented than this would suggest.

My guess He didn't hurt it Ruger handguns are tough.

38 Supers will fit some, if not most, of those cylinders. It also has enough of a rim on it to hold it for the firing pin strike. With that said I probably wouldn't shoot them in a 38 Special as the Super is rated at a much more higher pressure. The 357 would be okay to do this in, in fact there was chart in some book of cartridges you could shoot in firearms that weren't chambered for them and the 38 Super in the 357 was one. I have fired 38 Supers in my 357 with very good result and reloaded them with cast bullet with even better results.

Remember when S&W made a 9mm revolver? I would assume the cylinder was heat treated for a higher pressure rating. So it's not so weird to shoot 38 Supers from a strong revolver such as a 357. I wouldn't shoot them out of a questionable strength 38 special, but if you reload them to the right pressure range you can shoot them.

thanks for the info...

Billinthewild,

you think I'm a troll?
you want to explain that?

I haven't used .38 Supers in a .38 Special revolver, but I HAVE fired 9mm Luger rounds in one. I wouldn't do it again, though. It definitely gave an unusually "sharp" report, flattened the hell out of the primers, and did not feel "normal" as to recoil either (kicked more than +P 158 gr. .38 Spcl loads).

Still, I'm sure the frame is strong enough to hold them...just don't know if the primers are sufficiently supported, etc. I know the frame is strong enough, because I carry an S&W small frame hammerless 9m/m revolver every day of my life.

AC,

S&W swears up and down that the 38 Special cylinder get a different heat treatment then the 357 mag. I don't see how that is cost effective, why heat treat them all a once. I think they say this for liability lawsuits. They don't want someone reaming out the 38 cylinder to 357. The 9mm case has a slight taper to it, the 38 Super is straight, although the 9mm is a tad fatter. Like I said before both those rounds are higher pressure then the 38 Special.

Another scenario is if you have 32 mag. You can shoot all the 32's in it plus the 32 acp because it's like the 38 Super case, has a slight rim to keep it from falling in the cylinder.

Smokin J -

Your logic makes perfect sense to me. But, for whatever reason, I didn't trust the 9 Luger stuff in my .38 Special. Something just wasn't right.

I think it may have been the lack of the thicker .38 Special rim leaving the cases with too much headspace. It is possible the Luger ammo was expanding enough to freeze the brass in the cylinder's chambers, while not yet back against the recoil plate. So then the primers would back out some (maybe a lot). Then when the pressure dropped enough, the brass may have been forced back over the primers, flattening them in the process.

Whatever, something felt wrong, and when that happens I don't do it any more if I don't HAVE to.

I DO have a .32 Mag, BTW...a 4" S&W M16 K-frame "Masterpiece"...a rather rare pistol. And, as I also have a Star progressive loader dedicated to .32 S&W Long, I just use that round for plinking & practice.

(The Star was obtained in a trade, and I intended it oiginally just for a possibly even rarer .32 which lives in my vault...a Colt .32 S&W Long "Officer's Model Target" revolver. IIRC, total production of that model was just over 600 pistols.

I also have a .32ACP Walther PP, but haven't had the need to try the .32 ACP ammo in the Mag or the Colt. Thanks for letting me know it would work okay though.

AC