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.38 special accuracy in a .357 revolver?

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07 July 2007, 21:36
georgel98
.38 special accuracy in a .357 revolver?
Hi everyone,
I just began to load .38 special (158gr lswc 3.8gr of 231) and found that these loads shoot better in my smith model 10 than in my ruger gp100 4".

Is the distance the .38 has to travel before it reaches the forcing cone in a .357 a problem? Is the rifling different in a .357 than a .38? If I use .357 brass with the same load data as the .38, can I expect a difference in performance and accuracy? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks...
-George
07 July 2007, 22:53
butchloc
first its not suprising that the S&W shoots better than the ruger, but in general the 38's won't shoot as well in a 357 as they will in a 38 chamber. the other thing is that after you're done shooting 38's make sure you clean the chambers well. especially with cast lubed bullets, the will be an accumulation of gunk in the chamber that will make getting a 357 round in pretty difficult